More Clients More Profits

Okay, hear me out. It’s not your customer service that sucks; but as a business advisor and marketing coach, I believe it’s the concept of customer service that sucks. And it’s because of this fact that those who market themselves by proclaiming they provide excellent customer service are shooting themselves in the foot.

Providing excellent or even good customer service was once acceptable. But back then, competition wasn’t as fierce. People hadn’t been exposed to superb customer experiences. The world wasn’t as small a place as it is now.

Now, people want experiences. It doesn’t matter if they are in a restaurant, working with a CPA, or having their houses painted; they want good experiences, if not amazing ones.

Look at the Apple stores. There is a reason that they are the leading retail stores when it comes to revenue per square foot. When you purchase a product, there’s no standing in line to check out. An employee comes to you with a handheld machine and conveniently processes your transaction. They even instantly send a copy of the receipt directly to your e-mail, if you like.

Then there are those who make it difficult to buy or get information. Those who make prospects and clients jump through hoops. Those who set up their systems based on themselves, as opposed to their clients wishes and desires. And it’s not restricted to personal interactions. Unfortunately, many companies provide less-than-satisfactory experiences on the phone and on the web.

Are you still trying to provide good customer service, or are you ready to provide excellent customer experiences? To get ideas on accomplishing the latter, take notice of your experiences. Which are amazing and which are poor? Which make you want to tell others about them — good and bad? Take lessons from the good ones, alter them to fit your circumstances, and implement them with great zeal. Your clients will take notice, do business with you more often, and become your raving cheerleaders.

Are you using both sides of your business cards, or are you wasting 50% of the real estate you paid for. As a marketing coach, I see leaving the back side of business cards as a waste of valuable space. When presenting your card to someone, you have the opportunity — possibly the only opportunity — to give them information. This could include your name, your company name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Or it could also include a special offer, a menu of your services, or other information they would use to make a decision to further interact with you.

How adamant am I about this? Let’s do this. The next time you are going to have your business cards printed and utilize only one side, send me the file and I’ll have the cards printed for you … at my expense. As part of the deal, I’ll have my info printed on the other side. Is it a deal?

Jeanne (my wife), Sophie (my basset hound) and I just got back from a vacation in the North Conway, New Hampshire area. We had a wonderful time, and it began when we arrived at the Village House, a bed and breakfast in the village of Jackson.

We selected the Village House because it is listed as a dog-friendly facility. It was that and more. Our hosts made the three of us feel welcomed from the moment we arrived. After checking in, the first thing we did was take Sophie’s bed from the car and move it into our room. There was no need, however. A dog bed was waiting for her. Then we noticed that two seemingly-new dog bowls were also there for her. How thoughtful this was.

They had us. Not only are the owners of the inn — Sally-Anne and John Partoon — animal lovers, but they also understand that people who travel with their pets are close to being — if not actually — fanatical about their pets. Please the pets and its almost impossible not to please their owners. As a result, I have told numerous people about our experience at the Village House, and we’ve been back less than one day.

So here’s my question for you. What is it that you can do for your clients that will get them talking about you? You can determine the answer to this in a couple of ways, and I suggest both. One is to stop thinking like a service / product provider and start thinking like your clients. The other is to simply ask your clients. It’s that easy.

The point is to get your clients raving about you — telling just about anyone who will listen how you go above and beyond. At that point, the amount of word-of-mouth marketing you garner is sure to steadily increase.

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System

2010 … has a great ring to it, doesn’t it? It’s a new year … a new decade … a fresh start!

Many of us, although we want this year to be different from last 2009, are going to do little — if anything — different. That’s so unfortunate. As Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Some of things you can change include:
- your services
- your products
- the way to deliver either of the above
- your marketing
- how and where you network
- developing referral partners- your pricing (higher, I hope)
- number of employees
- how many hours you work (fewer, I hope)
The list goes on.

Perhaps the most important thing — more important than determining exactly what to change — is knowing deep down that things have to change. Many of us know his on an intellectual level, but few of us truly internalize it. We think about it, acknowledge it, and then wait until the moment passes. Please, don’t be one of these business owners. Take the necessary actions to your business the one you envision.

So what are you going to do to make this year — this decade — different? Need some help? Give me a call (401-742-1231) or send an e-mail. I’m always happy to discuss your opportunities!

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System

“If Johnny jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too?” I can’t remember how many times my parents asked me that when I was a kid. So many times I told them that I did something because my friend Johnny did it first. I bet you remember similar times from your childhood. Perhaps you’ve done something similar more recently.

It happens all the time. Businesspeople base their marketing on others — their competitors, companies in dissimilar industries, much larger businesses — to name a few. Few things could provide a worse marketing strategy. Few things could harm a company as deeply when it comes to promoting themselves. Few things leave me shaking my head in such wonderment.

Here’s an example that’s literally close to home for me. A couple of years ago, there was a company that was pounding the local airwaves … radio and television. They were getting a lot of attention. People were talking about this small company and the exposure it was getting. Many of the same people concluded that the company must have been doing great and that the advertising must have been providing at least an acceptable return on investment. “Why else,” they concluded, “would a company invest so much money in marketing?”

In fact, as a result, a number of competitors decided to step up their marketing. They were going to compete on the same playing field. Then they too would get a share of the seemingly valuable business the other company was getting. What they did not take into consideration was that the highly-visible company may have been spending money it didn’t really have or didn’t get back in sales. What they did not take into consideration was that even if the highly-visible company was marketing effectively, it didn’t mean that the same would hold true for others who tried similar tactics. What they did not take into consideration was that they most likely didn’t have the same budget or goals as the highly-visible company. All they wanted to do was jump off the bridge because they saw that company doing it and assumed it was successful.

So, after a while, the highly-visible company’s marketing came to an abrupt end. No longer were you seeing or hearing all the commercials. In fact, unless someone brought up its name, the company was out-of-sight and out-of-mind. Recently, I drove by their location and noticed that they have gone out of business. Likewise, some of the companies that jumped off the bridge after them did not survive. They suffered the same fate as would be expected for anyone who indiscriminately jumps off a bridge.

So my advice to you is to take others’ marketing into consideration, but plan your marketing based on your goals, your budget, and your capabilities. Do not jump off a bridge just because Johnny did it. If you do, in fact, blindly follow their lead, you may not like how the trips ends.

Here’s to your success!
Peter George
Creator of the More Clients More Profits System