Read an Extract: C is for Client Delight
One of the concepts I have been thrilled to discover during my business career has been the opportunity to delight clients by under-promising and over-delivering. I did this once accidentally, and got wonderful feedback so now I always try to find ways to do it.
But if you already feel you deliver one hundred and ten percent to your clients, how can you delight them further? I know that one. I think I would call the team together for a little brainstorm, and even better - ask your clients what would make dealing with you even more delightful? I think we often hesitate to ask our clients what they appreciate about us, all too grateful to hear nothing from them because it means nothing has gone wrong! But what if we harness them to our marketing effort, and request their input so we can become even more successful by delighting our clients? And ultimately charge more money to even more delighted clients. It’s got to attract clients too, hasn't it, because your word of mouth referrals will soar. Under-promise and over-deliver? How might that work in your business? Here are a few clues. Don't always assume your clients want the cheapest and the fastest. Ask them how much they are prepared to pay and when they would like to take delivery. Give yourself room to improve on that, but don't allow them to expect it. Check out your own experiences where this has happened to you recently. What surprised and delighted you about something your service providers did for you? How can you bend that to fit your business? Know the difference between good enough, excellent and perfect, and spot those clients for whom no matter what you do, it's never enough. Do you want those clients? Not ever going to be able to surprise and delight them, are we? It's exhausting to ALWAYS go the extra mile, so create a system where you can add that on for clients as a special - it will make you both feel great about the deal. Don’t give away all your special bonuses upfront, keep something in reserve. Make it easy for clients to hire and pay you; don’t put barriers in their way. Have a wonderful fun, surprising and funky website, gift-wrap, logo, delivery format etc. if appropriate to your business. Go against the "norm" - set your own style, think fresh and refreshing for your clients to deal with you. Who are your brand favourites, and why? Could you be more like them? Teach your clients how to be good clients, I will write separately about this. It means you will always be delighted to hear from them and working with them will be wonderful for you too which means these things will occur naturally. If you tell them the answer and they are not prepared to wait for you, you will either have to reject the work opportunity, or put yourself under strain which may mean the finished product is not acceptable to your client and necessitate a compromise on your price, for a job which has been difficult for you to complete. Yuk! How are you going to feel then?
I think the main thing to remember when an opportunity pops into your in tray or inbox is to ask yourself "When can I get this done for my client in a timeframe which is comfortable for me, bearing in mind all my other commitments?”
Think ahead. If you offer a deadline which works for both of you and then you suddenly discover you have some spare capacity, you get that chance to deliver ahead of schedule and that always surprises and delights.
Let's ask ourselves: "How can this be delightful for all concerned? What would make this piece of work a joy for me and my client?"
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