Information

You want to find information, it’s all there.  More information is available for free today than ever before in history.  Whatever you’re interested in, you can Google any questions you have and you’ll be able to access a whole range of information that is specific to your topic.

So are we any better off because all this information is available?  Maybe not.

If I want to find information on setting up a company, I can find it on the web, for free.  The information is available.  But I have to find it, read it and understand it.  That’s where the next bit comes in – knowledge.

Knowledge

Knowledge is understanding information.  Knowledge is taking the information contained in multiple sources and putting it together so it makes some kind of sense.

A lot of MBA students have knowledge.  Say they’re taking a marketing subject.  They can learn all about positioning, the four P’s, value propositions, distribution channels etc.  They can obtain information from different sources and convert it into knowledge. 

But knowing about something and actually being able to do something are two different things.

And that’s where expertise comes in.

Expertise

Expertise is being able to take the knowledge and learnings from past experiences and being able to apply it to a particular situation.  You can’t buy expertise – you earn it through years of doing.  Gladwell talks about needing 10,000 of practice before you become proficient at a skill – that’s expertise.  You can have all the knowledge and information, but actually using it and learning from it is how you gain expertise.

• Expertise comes from making mistakes – and learning from them.
• Expertise comes from having huge successes – and understanding what made them successful.
• Expertise comes from learning from other experts and watching them operate.
• Expertise comes from applying your knowledge and information and watching the outcomes.

What Do You Sell

This blog is aimed at people who sell professional services. 

In professional services, if all you sell is information, you’ll quickly become redundant.  Because if it’s not already available for free, it soon will be.  A great example is mutual fund ratings.  For years financial planners had exclusive access to mutual fund ratings – if you wanted a five star fund you needed to see a financial planner to find out who the good fund managers are.  That information is now available for free.

If all you sell is knowledge, it’s not enough.  Many potential clients think they’re able to do it themselves because they can access the information and convert it into knowledge.  But knowledge without experience is dangerous.  It’s the investor who knows who the five star funds are and invests blindly into those funds without stopping to think about whether the performance is likely to continue.  It’s the difference between reading about how to fly a plane and having actual experience in the air flying.

If you’re selling knowledge and you’ve been around for a while, you can sell expertise instead.  Expertise is hard to quantify, but clients value it.  Your job is to make the benefits of your expertise tangible to your clients.

Legal services is a good example.  Say you need to write a Will.  Of course you can obtain the information and knowledge to write one.  You can even buy a DIY Will kit and complete it yourself.

But you lack expertise.  The lawyer doesn’t.

It costs a bit more to get a lawyer to draw up your Will, but you gain peace of mind.  If you did it yourself, you wouldn’t know about any problems until it was too late (then your Estate would find out about those problems).  You may forget about the tax implications of selling assets, you may mention assets in your Will that won’t actually form part of your estate – there are a range of things that can go wrong in even the most simplest of estates. 

So if I was a lawyer, I’d be promoting my expertise to potential clients.  I’d be highlighting potential problems and then explain how my advice could prevent them.  I’d be selling the benefits of my experience – this is my job, it’s what I do for a living.  Sure you can try and do it yourself to save some money now, but it may turn out to be more costly in the long term.

So what do you sell?  Information, knowledge or expertise?

Which ones do you think are worth more?

How do you differentiate between the three when you’re speaking with clients?

How can you make your experience more tangible to your clients?

Let me know what you think and leave a comment.

photo credit: mangee 

 I’ve been reading The Invisible Touch by Harry Beckwith.  I like Beckwith’s books – he’s one of the few writers around who writes specifically for those of us who sell services.  In the book he looks at four keys to selling a service:

1. Price
2. Brand
3. Packaging, and
4. Relationships

In today’s article I’ll share some of his thoughts on Price.  Over the next week I’ll blog on the other three points.  As I outline some of these ideas, have a think about how they could apply to your business.

Beckwith explains how price is seen as an indicator of how good the service is likely to be.  He says

A price tells us how good a service probably is, then convinces us how good the service probably was.

I’ve read other articles through my MBA studies that back this up.  When you buy a physical product i.e. a TV, you tend to shop based on price unless there are other factors that you see as highly important to the overall deal.  When you buy a service, it’s difficult to compare apples with apples as the service you buy will be slightly different depending on who delivers it.  I’ve spoken before how consumers look for things that make the service become more tangible – one of these factors is price.

Harry uses the example of how in the 80′s Gibson were losing share in the guitar market.  They tried lowering prices and that actually led to a further reduction in sales.  They decided to increase prices and, you guessed it, sales increased.  Faced with a choice, if a consumer can afford to, they are more likely to pay a higher price for a service to gain the benefit of the perceived higher quality.

Harry is also against discounting, arguing that the discount buyer is only buying your price and doesn’t value your service.  He suggests if you offer a discount once, the client will expect it every time.  And the won’t value your skills or abilities – they only value the price.

He speaks about pricing based on the value you create instead of an hourly rate.  My last article touched on something similar.  He suggests creating a tiered pricing structure, where clients can pick from a menu of services that are combined in a set of pre-determined packages.

So have a think about these ideas.  Are you guilty of discounting prices to gain business when in fact you should be increasing them?  Is the service you sell sufficiently differentiated from your competitors that you’re able to charge a premium price?  Are there opportunities for you to change the way you charge and introduce service packages?

Please feel free to leave some comments on this article and let me know what you think.

In the financial planning world, I’ve seen a lot of planners who still feel that sending regular statements to clients is valuable.  If the clients already get reports from their investment providers, and they can log on to the fund manager’s web site 24/7 to get up to date details of their balances, why would they find the stuff that you send them of any value? 

Surprisingly, there’s some stuff that we do for clients that they find incredibly valuable, yet costs us very little to deliver.  Things like:

• Alerting them to any legislative change that may affect their future plans (easy with a segmented client base and a good CRM)
• Monitoring the fund managers who manage their investments and letting the clients know if we think they need to move managers.  In practice, it’s not very often we actually need to move managers, but clients have peace of mind knowing we’re still monitoring things.
• Being available to talk on the phone or in person when they need to run something by us.  Clients I’ve spoken with find this very valuable.
• Helping them complete paperwork for tax or social security.  Whilst we don’t provide tax advice, we can help them collate the paperwork for their accountants to use.  Again, it’s easy for us to do, but the clients who require this service (generally the elderly) value it highly.
• Another thought about things clients find valuable – our knowledge!  I’ve been involved in the financial services industry since 1987.  I’ve seen high inflation, low inflation, bull markets, bear markets, investment scams, legislative change…the list goes on.  My clients see value in using my experience to help them. 

My knowledge is the most valuable thing I can offer my clients, yet it is the thing I most often undervalue.

I’m often in situations where I meet with clients and discuss their current situation and plans for the future.  With my experience and knowledge, sometimes it isn’t hard to suggest three or four strategies or ideas that will be suitable for them to achieve their goals.  We can discuss them in a general way in that inital appointment, but we always need to put our advice in writing.  This gives us time to better research the strategies and double-check the numbers.

Here’s the issue – a lot of the time, the things we put in writing aren’t that different to the numbers we talked about after a 30 minute discussion with the client.  I sometimes feel like we do a lot of extra work, but the initial ‘hunch’ proves correct.  Interestingly, the clients still find the process of receiving a written report very valuable, and like receiving something in writing.  More often I feel funny charging them a fair fee for something I’ve thought up relatively quickly and then asked another staff member to prepare. 

What I’ve been making an effort to do better is to sell the value to our clients – ‘this strategy will save you $10k every year in tax’, or ‘investing an extra $1k per month up to your retirement will give you an extra $10k when you retire’.

The whole area of client expectations and value fascinates me and I’ll be writing more about it in the future.

We’ve put this story on the last page of our business brochure – I think it sums up the concept of value and experience nicely.

Picasso was painting in the park one afternoon. A woman recognized the master, and wished to capitalize on her good fortune. She politely asked Picasso if he would please sketch her portrait, as she had so long admired his work. He agreed, and within five minutes, handed the woman a lovely portrait.

“Thank you! Thank you!” the woman replied. “What do I owe you?”

To which, Picasso replied, “That will be $5,000.”

The woman, taken aback, said, “Five thousand dollars? But, it only took you five minutes!”

“No, madam,” replied Picasso, “it has taken me all my life.

Many people in service industries forget that the product they sell is based on their knowledge or abilities.  We tend to undervalue that, or not understand where our clients see value.

Have a think about your business.  Do you know what the services or products are that you can deliver which are most valuable to your clients?  How do you know they’re valuable?  Have your clients told you, or are you guessing?

Be Prepared

All the major retailers prepare for Christmas months in advance.  In your business, how far ahead do you plan?  There are probably events or dates that are busy times in your business.  What can you begin doing now, to ensure you make the most of those times when they happen?

To Discount or Not

Of course, many of the retailers have their % off sales – 20% off toys, clothes etc.  In a service business, I’m not convinced that discounting is the way to go. 

Something I’m seeing more retailers doing this year is offering gift cards instead of discounts i.e. spend over $100 now, and we’ll give you a $20 gift card to use in the future.  Is this the same as a 20% discount? No!  You see, if they give you an extra $20 to spend in the future, they know you’re more likely to spend more than just that $20.  You might find a shirt you like for $50, and buy it using the $20 gift card.  You feel like you’ve got a bargain, and the store is happy because you just returned to their store and spent another $30.

What’s the equivalent in your business?  What can you offer that isn’t a discount but still represents good value to your clients?

When An Offer Sounds Great

There’s a women’s health club I drive past on my way to work.  Every year in December they put out a sign that says “Join now – free for rest of year”.  The first time you read it you get excited, then you realise it really doesn’t amount to much, especially later in December.

What the gym knows is that if it gives away the service initially, the new members get locked in to the gym routine, and see the value in it.  Come January 1st, most will join for the full year.

In your business, are there things you can give away with the confidence they’ll lead to more revenue in the future?

Christmas Cards

Finally, how do you feel about Christmas cards? At home we’ve received a Christmas card from the real estate firm that sold our old home.  The agent we dealt with has long gone, and we don’t know the people who sent the card.  They’re doing what they feel is the right thing by staying in touch.

In our business, we try to stay in touch with our clients regularly, and we send them Christmas cards each year.  My wife and I had a discussion about this today.  When you receive a Christmas card from a business, do you appreciate it or wish they wouldn’t send it?  I’ve no doubt that a number of our clients love receiving their cards.  But there would be others who wouldn’t care if we never sent them another Christmas card.  What do you think?

At home, we have a swimming pool. Here in Australia, we’re coming to the start of summer so we’ve taken the winter cover off the pool and are starting to clean it and get it ready for the first hot spell of summer.

My wife took a sample of our pool water to a pool shop earlier this week and came home with a bunch of chemicals and instructions on how to clean up the pool water.

We started adding the first round of chemicals and tested the water and discovered the ph levels – which had been too high – were now very low. We’d obviously added too much acid and reduced the levels too far.

So today (Sunday) I took another sample to a different pool shop. You see, around where we live there aren’t too many pool shops open on a Sunday.

I walked into the shop and discovered two things – it was empty (apart from me and the staff), and they had a big sign up that said “No Water Testing On Sundays”.  I talked with a staff member and they agreed to test the pool sample and tell me what was wrong with the water.  10 minutes and $45 later I walked out of the shop with a fresh lot of pool chemicals and directions on how to increase the pH level of the pool.

Here’s what I find a bit strange about this experience.  Firstly, I’m quite surprised that very few pool shops actually open on Sundays.  The way I see it, most people do their pool maintenance on weekends, so I would have thought that would be a peak time for pool place to be open.  Most hardware shops experience their busiest times on the weekend – why would a pool shop be any different?

Secondly, if you’re going to go to the effort of differentiating your business by bothering to open on Sunday, why don’t you test water?  You see, the home test kits for pools only measure the chlorine levels and ph levels.  So if I do a home test and then decide I need to buy some chemicals, I’ll go to the pool shop with a set shopping list, buy what I want and then leave.  The tests that the pool shops do, are a lot more comprehensive and test the alkalinity and calcium levels.  This means that the more things they measure, the more things I need to fix in my pool and the more chemicals I have to buy.  By doing a pool water test, the pool shops have the opportunity to open up a conversation with me that could ultimately result in them making a bigger sale.

So why don’t they offer the water testing?

Maybe they’re concerned they don’t have enough staff to cover the selling and the testing?  That’s the only reason I can thing of.  The solution to that is pretty simple – employ more staff if you need to, but promote the fact you’re open and testing water on a Sunday.  This particular pool shop has a good mailing list (I know because I’m on it), and they could easily write to hundreds of customers telling them about their Sunday pool testing service and the benefits of getting a comprehensive water test done monthly.

As a side note, I was impressed with the fact that the staff member had the initiative to test my pool water.  I’ve talked in previous articles about the things to do to exceed your client’s expectations, and I was impressed that she did.  She was responsiveness and she did demonstrate empathy.

So, in your business, what things do you do that aren’t customer friendly?  What’s your equivalent of not testing the pool water on a Sunday?  In my financial planning business I’m wondering if there’s an opportunity to stay open late one night a week, so clients who find it difficult to come in during the day have a chance to come in to see us.

What do you think?  What can you change to become more client-friendly?

There’s a quote that stands out in the book.  He says:

“When you buy a product, you purchase something tangible.  When you buy a service, however, you buy the people who perform it.”

A few paragraphs later he makes this observation:

“You buy products based on your feelings about the product; you choose your services based on your feelings towards the providers.”

Think about what he’s saying.  If you sell a service, how much of what you sell is based on the person who delivers the service?

If you’re loyal to a doctor, when he or she moves to a new clinic do you follow them, or remain at the old clinic with a different doctor?

The big challenge with this text is figuring out how we can connect with our clients better.  If it’s true, and they’re really buying us, then surely if we’re able to connect with them more strongly it can only enhance the relationship.

I’m a big fan of client surveys.  Ask them as often as you can about all facets of your business.  You may be surprised about the things they value the most.  In our industry (financial planning) one of the key things clients are looking for is a relationship with a planner they can trust.  How do your clients feel about you and your brand?  What elements of the sales process can you control and what tools can you use to help their feelings towards you and your staff?

Here’s a link to Harry’s book.  If you haven’t discovered Harry Beckwith yet, you need to buy his books and read and then re-read them.  You won’t be disappointed.

How much is a can of Coke worth?  In Australia, it could cost you around $2 if you buy it cold from a store.  If you buy a can as part of a box of 24 from a supermarket, the cost per can might be as low as 60c.  On the other hand, if you’re at a sporting event or a concert, the same can may cost closer to $3.

Why does the same object vary in price by so much?

It’s all about the value that the customer sees in the product.

If I’m organised and plan to buy cans in bulk, I’ll be more price sensitive, because part of what I’m trying to do is save money. The value in that instance is to be able to buy in bulk.  If I’m out and incredibly thirsty and decide a can of Coke is what I’m after, I’ll pay more.  I’ll gladly pay extra for the convenience.

Value is an amazing concept.  People will gladly pay more for something that is of value to them.  The big problem is working out what it is that they find valuable.  You may actually be surprised.

If you sell a service, in many cases the service consists of knowledge.  You may write that knowledge down in the form of a book, you may verbalise it in an audio program, the knowledge may be used to prepare financial statements (accountant) or argue a point of law (lawyer).  In any case, your clients will happily pay for the information you have, if they see the value in it.

A few weeks ago I met with a client, aged 60 who is saving for retirement.  In the course of our conversation I learnt how much he was contributing to his retirement plan.  In Australia, there are limits that apply to how much you can save into your superannuation fund (like a 401k).  This man was on track to exceed the maximum allowable amount by over 50%.  Had I not picked this up and advised him to stop, he would have had to pay penalty tax on the excessive component.  This could have cost him around $20,000 extra.

What is that advice worth to him?  If you calculated my fees based on time, it would be worth only around $400.  If you calculated it based on value, conceptually, it could be worth up to $20,000.

Here’s another example to get you thinking.

A few years ago in the MBA I studied an accounting subject.  We were learning about how to ascertain the cost of producing goods.  They gave us the example of a manufacturing company who discovers a new way to make a gasket that goes into its machines.  This new design of gasket costs only 30% of the cost of the old one, and lasts up to 3 times longer.  The question was – how much do you sell it for?  We were given details of the company’s labour costs, and their desired profit margins.

Almost everyone suggested selling it for less than the cost of the existing one.  They all worked on the assumption that the company wanted to keep the same profit margin. 

I took the opposite view and suggested they could charge more than the existing gasket.  I figured if it lasted three times longer than the existing one, the buyer of the product could happily pay up to three times more.  They wouldn’t care about how much it actually cost the company to manufacture the gasket – they cared about the fact it would last three times longer – that’s where they saw the value.

Think for a minute about the service you sell – what to customers find valuable?

The easiest way to find the answer is to ask your customers and potential customers.  I know financial planners who have surveyed their clients and discovered the things the clients really valued were far different to what they thought they would value.

Clients are looking for things like peace of mind, trust, ease of doing business, experience etc.  Planners are thinking of things like good returns, products, quarterly statements etc.  Why would a client value a planner sending them quarterly statements of their investments when they can get that information every day off the web?

Many clients see a high level of value in planners monitoring their investments – letting them know if a fund manager is underperforming and recommending something new.  This is something most planners do, but few actually tell their clients they’re doing it.

I’m fascinated by the range of e-books and programs available for sale on the internet.  There are resources available for almost every topic.  Again, it’s a question of value.  How much will I pay for a book that enables me to make an extra $10,000 pa?  Is it worth $100?  $10?  $1,000?

Then answer is that it depends on the value I place on it.

Your role as a marketer is to help clients discover the value in the product or service you sell.  In our financial planning business, we talk a lot about our skills and experience – our clients see value in this.

There’s value in specialisation.  If you’re a lawyer who specialises in personal accident cases, a client who has a need in that particular area of law will place greater value on your knowledge.

If you’ve got a track record in a particular field, clients will place greater value on your knowledge or product.

Challenge yourself.  Ask some clients about the things they see value in.  Are there things you aren’t currently doing that they would see value in?  Are there things you currently do, but your clients see little of no value in?

Have a complete re-think and make your decisions based on fact, not just on what you think the truth is.

And next time you’re calculating a price for a client, think about the value you’re creating, and price according to that, rather than by your usual method.

He makes this comment.

Saw this in one of your articles. “Even the best bands get it wrong on stage sometime, and I’m not suggesting you control the service delivery so tightly that the individual personalities of people get stifled.”

Miles Davis once said something like – “It’s not about the mistakes you make but how you recover from them.”

I think Miles was on to something there.

In a previous article we talked about how clients make decisions about the quality of a service.  One of the points was that if you wanted to exceed the client’s expectations of service, you need to be able to demonstrate the qualities of Tangibles, Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy.

One point I didn’t make is that when the service delivery goes poorly, you have an opportunity to make it good and, through that opportunity, you can exceed the client’s expectations.

If you run any business that involves people delivering the service, things will go wrong from time to time.  There’s a lot you can do to reduce the instances of service failure, but as long as there’s the human element involved, you won’t be able to eliminate it.

Think about a time when you bought a service – or a tangible product – and something went wrong with the service.  Let’s assume you said something to someone in the organisation about it (if you don’t provide clients with an opportunity to provide feedback then you need to start thinking about how you can begin to).

This is where things get interesting.  You tell the company that the service delivery was not great.  This is their opportunity to make it good again.  What do they do?

The poor companies either do nothing, make you feel like the mistake was yours, or grudgingly try and fix the problem. 

Other companies will do what they have to do to fix it – nothing more, nothing less.  In one sense, they’d argue they’re doing what you paid them to do (albiet late).

Good companies see service breakdown as an opportunity to exceed the customer’s expectations and win a customer for life.  You see, they know how to use the qualities of Tangibles, Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy to their advantage.

Think about it.  A customer has complained about something that went wrong at your business.  Can you demonstrate empathy – putting yourself in their shoes and thinking about how they may feel.  Can you provide assurance to the client – a sense of confidence in your abilities to fix the problem. 

Can you be responsive – there’s nothing worse than complaining about something, and then having to follow up on the complaint because no-one seems to be doing anything about it.  One organisation I worked at at a slogan called TOFU – Take Ownership and Follow Up.  In one respect it’s a bit sad that these things need to be said – they should be common sense, but at least the TOFU concept reiterates the importance of being quick to fix a problem.

Finally, when there’s a breakdown in a service delivery, the tangibles become more important, because now more than ever your client is looking for visual cues to reassure them that your organisation can provide the service they’re looking for.

The important concept here is that service breakdown actually provides you with an opportunity to exceed the customer’s expectations and provide exceptional service.  It’s possible to develop a stronger client relationship out of a service breakdown than if everything went well the first time.

So, maybe Miles was right.  Mistakes are going to happen.  Accept that.  It’s what you do about them that can make your business great in the eyes of your customer.

What are some examples of how you’ve either been a customer and received poor service and then had your expectations exceeded, or done it in your own business.

Our financial planning business has an architectural firm as clients.  I visited them in their office the other day and was impressed by what I saw.

I guess if you’re an architect it could be hard to sell your value to some clients.  A lot of what you’re selling is intangible.  The plans you draw up may look ok, but how can I be sure the building you’re designing will look good once it’s built?

How do I know that you can do the job I’m asking you to do?  What’s the risk if I pick you and it turns out to be the wrong decision?

This firm has some smart ways to help the client feel at ease and relaxed with their ability.

When you walk into their office, the reception area is modern and stylish.  The seats are comfortable (there’s nothing worse than having to sit in a waiting room on an uncomfortable seat).  Their receptionist is well presented and polite.  She asks if I’d like a tea or coffee and lets me know when she’s told my clients I’ve arrived.

The colour scheme is modern without being too over-the-top.  Instead of the usual paintings on the wall, they display photos of the buildings they’ve designed.  In the past they’ve had framed architectural drawings on the walls.  Thinking about this point they seem to change the wall art every 6 months or so – perhaps a subtle indication to clients that they’re progressive and always looking for new ideas?

Their boardroom is well laid out – again the artwork on the wall consists of photos of their successful projects and framed drawings. 

This business has worked on a range of high profile projects here in Adelaide.  Because the photos provide images of such a range of projects, most clients would see a picture of at least one building that they’d know of and be familiar with.  This firm has worked on that building.  What a great way to build credibility.

Finally, the offices look great.  Whilst clients would usually only spend time in the front boardroom and interview offices, today I got to look behind the scenes and I was impressed.  You expect an architectural firm to have good looking offices, but so often only the public areas look great.  Not with this firm.  Their back office area looked great and provides a fantastic environment for their employees to work and learn in.

The overall impression you get from visiting this firm is that of quality.  You see the evidence of their past work, the care they take in designing their own appearance and you walk away with the confidence that they can help you with your project.

How do you show prospective clients that you’re good at what you do?

Are you able to show examples of your work?  Does your work environment look professional and convey the right image?  Or does it show that you’re out of touch and don’t care about your staff?

Think about the first impressions a client receives when they enter your office.  What do they think when they first walk in?

Have a think about how they’re greeted – who does the greeting, do you script what they say?

One financial planning firm I used to visit had a sign on their front desk that said ‘Welcome Mr & Mrs Client Name’ – they updated it before each scheduled appointment.  When the clients walked in they immediately felt special.

Another business invested in a good coffee machine and created a menu of all the drink options ranging from water, soft drinks to different teas and coffees. 

New clients are always looking for clues about the quality of the service and these little ideas help them feel more confident in the person they’re dealing with.

Do this exercise.  Pretend you’re a new client visiting your business for the first time.  What’s the experience like?  What do your premises say about your business? 

Have a think this week about the experience of visiting your office.  Is it good or bad?  How can you improve it?

It stands to reason that if we want to provide great customer service, we need to understand what our clients think great customer service looks like.  Spending time understanding their expectations can lead to more effective results.

The authors summarise customer service expectations into five areas: reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.  We’ll cover these in more detail below, together with some examples.

Reliability

This aspect of service delivery is all about doing what you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do it.

Have you ever waited at home for a tradesman to arrive hours later than they’d promised?  Or been frustrated that the person on the phone who promised to call back with some important information regarding your insurance hasn’t called?

When you’re selling a service, customers use reliability as one of the important clues to make a decision about whether or not to use your services.  You see, when they can’t see your physical product, they look for other cues that demonstrate whether you’ll be able to deliver the promised product.  Do you do what you say you’ll do?  This means when you say you’ll call them tomorrow, you actually do.  Or when you promise to post some documents, they arrive on time and the clients don’t have to call your office to follow them up.

If you say you’re going to do these little things and you actually do, then people have faith that you’ll be able to deliver on the big service they’re buying from you.

As an absolute minimum, if you want to meet your clients expectations, do what you say you’re going to do.

If you want to exceed their expectations, read on and do the next four things well.

Tangibles

How do you make your service come alive?  It’s hard for me to show a client a mutual fund, but I can talk about the companies they deal with every day that the fund invests into. 

As a client interacts with your service experience, they use the tangible things they see to make decisions.  If your offices look messy and untidy, this affects their perception of your service. 

What about when you stay in a hotel and they put that paper sash across the toilet lid.  It’s there as evidence that the toilet has been cleaned.  You wouldn’t necessarily notice the clean toilet by itself, but the sash draws attention to it.  The implication is – if the toilet is clean, the rest of the room must also be clean.

I’ve been in waiting rooms that have magazines from 5 years ago in the magazine rack.  Maybe it’s just me, but my brain thinks that maybe that business is stuck in a mindset of five years ago, and maybe they’re not up with the latest ideas and strategies that I need to know about.

Have a good hard look about the physical elements to your service – your office, appearance, documentation you use etc.  Does it convey to your clients that you’re professional and capable?

Responsiveness

Are you interested in helping customers?  Being responsive means understanding that when a client calls with a query, they are responded to quickly.

We recently changed the provider for our home phone.  It was an interesting experience.  When we called the sales area, we spoke with a live person very quickly.  Once we were an existing customer and had queries about the service not working properly, we were on hold for over 20 minutes before we got to speak with someone.  This shows to me that the company really isn’t that interested in me.

How do you show that you’re responsive?  One thing we do is try and return all phone calls on the same day we received them so our clients understand they’re important to us. 

How willing are you to help clients?  How can you show this?

Assurance

When a client deals with your organisation, do they have the confidence that the employees are capable and able to do their jobs well? 

We recently took our dog to our regular vet to get them to look at a lump that had developed on her side.  We were seen by a younger vet (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) and, after a brief feel and a quick blood test, she made a diagnosis that involved surgery.  To be honest, we felt that she’d rushed things a bit and maybe hadn’t done a complete diagnosis.  Of course, the cost of following her advice would involve a significant financial outlay as well as the mental pressure of having a dog have surgery.  As a result, we took our dog to another vet for a second opinion.

You see, when I haven’t got faith in your ability to deliver, I’ll question the things you suggest.

In your service business you need to find ways to convey your credibility to clients.  One very effective way is through the use of client testimonials.  Potential clients can read about how you’ve helped someone similar to them, and this gives them confidence that you’ll be able to help them in a similar fashion.  If you don’t have any existing clients who will give your testimonials, use case studies instead that show how your advice could benefit a particular type of client. 

Empathy

This last point is all about showing the client that you care about them and their personal situation. 

In our business we have a phrase “It’s not about the money”.  As financial planners, in one sense it’s actually all about the money.  But it’s not.  It’s about wanting to understand what the money represents to our clients – what are the things they want to do with it.

At the moment we’re dealing with the extreme market volatility.  We have clients who have lost 20% or 30% over the past year.  In our conversations with those clients we’re taking a lot of time to just sit and listen, and find out how they really feel.  We understand the pain they’re going through. 

We’ll say things to them that other clients in a similar position have already said.  If they’re retired, a popular phrase is ‘I can’t go back to work to recoup my losses’.  I’ll say to clients ‘I understand that you can’t just go back to work to recoup your loss’.  Most clients will nod their head and agree – they’re seeing that we understand how they feel.

Most people just want to be valued as an individual – that’s what empathy is all about.

Putting it Together

If you want to meet your client’s expectations, the best thing you can do is be reliable – deliver the service you say you’re going to deliver.  In other words, give them the outcome they’re expecting.

But if you want to exceed their expectations, you need to have a service process in place to deliver the elements of tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Think about a time in your life where you’ve had an experience where your expectations were exceeded.  How did they do it?  Chances are it wasn’t from just doing what they’d promised, but it involved one of the other four elements we’ve discussed.

Have a thought about your business and think of innovative ways you can deliver these five elements of service so that you don’t just meet the expectations of your clients, but you exceed those expectations.

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.