Gift of the Month
Posted Tuesday, January 19, 2007
Just heard from another reader responding to my gift of the month concept.
Allan Zeeman, Regional Sales Manager at Blumberg Excelsior Inc, had a brilliant idea.
He gave a hard-working client of his a 6 month gift certificate for a house cleaning service. Can you imagine the appreciation that probably overwhelmed client felt to have such a regular chore covered for the next 180 days! How do you spell relief? A-L-L-A-N!
Another gift he likes to give is a 1 or 2 year subscription to a client’s favorite magazine – like Sports Illustrated. It’s true, they remember you each and every month they receive their issues.
Allan, in thanks, a gift’s coming to you – the Coach Nick Championship Selling Guidebook.
Client Reviews – So Worth Doing & Here’s How
I was talking last time about January being the perfect month to line up your Client Reviews. I was a sales person for a long time and I have found these customer ‘temperature takings’ to be a phenomenal way of increasing my rapport with clients AND gaining additional assignments. Plus it’s a way to ward off competitive threats and maybe get referrals to NEW customers as well.
So here’s how I recommend you go about it:
- Schedule the meeting off site by sending a formal invitation to your top clients– nothing off the cuff will do. Instead be deliberate and put it in writing – an e-vite is a smart and speedy option.
- Invite your day to day contact person and any influencers at the firm with whom you have some regular interaction or who use your product or service often.
- Bring anybody on your staff that has a direct effect on the client’s satisfaction – whether that’s an operations manager, a customer service person, or even a 3rd party vendor.
- Create a written agenda – it should review past performance and current projects as well as anticipate future opportunities.
Your agenda could look something like this:
Past Performance
- Itemize projects completed
- Report results
- Review the contract or agreement
- Gauge the level of client satisfaction
- Audit the regular communication process
- List which staff/suppliers were involved in specific projects and processes
- Examine sore feet – reporting, pricing, accounts payable issues, etc
Current Status
This is your chance to find out what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ at the client – are there any new players involved? Did someone leave the firm? Are there new methods of doing things which could directly impact your service or product provision?
You can set the stage for talking about the future here too – tell them about anything NEW on your end – a product in beta stage? An innovative concept that they will be the first to hear about? Check too if there are any projects in limbo which could be moved forward with a quick ‘next steps?’ query.
Future Opportunities
Now that the client has been satisfied that you have comfortably ‘owned up’ to any mistakes and will earnestly seek improvement, it’s a perfect opening for you to bring up the future. You’ll interact like partners now. You can look at potential threats to the business in the coming year. Together. Consider how to amplify the strengths of your product or service at the company. Together. Get an understanding about the client’s strategic and tactical plans for the coming year. Together. Discuss the expectations that both sides have of each other. Together. Solicit referrals to new business contacts – both within the client’s organization and his/her wider circle of influence.
You’ve been above board and now you’re ON BOARD!
Follow Up
The client shouldn’t ever feel that this annual, bi-annual or quarterly review was a waste of his/her time.
So follow up. Summarize everything you agreed upon in writing. Put priorities on the action steps. Schedule a conference call in two weeks so that you maintain the cooperative feeling and keep the momentum going. Schedule the NEXT client review.
One Last Thought
You could see this exercise as work – or -you could see it as a chance to enjoy yourself and establish a stronger bond with your important clients. Like anything else, it’s all in how you see it. What’s the worst that can happen – your client may have a complaint about your performance? At least it’s brought out in the open. Don’t be defensive. Thank him or her for being candid. And then move on. Keep your motivation up – you are doing this because other suppliers DON’T. Clients appreciate it. They feel listened to.
Yes, it takes courage, but you will be seen as ultimately professional, heads and above your competition – and someone focused on the future.
Your client’s future!
People talk partnership – but how many really apply the principle in their daily business lives? Make the idea tangible today. Schedule that client review now!
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