We live in a world of service mediocrity.

Because of this mediocrity, an opportunity exists for those service professionals who make the commitment to elevate their service levels to not only satisfy, but to delight their customers.

And because the bar has been lowered so dramatically over the past 10 years or so, excellent customer care and service represents an opportunity to differentiate your business in the marketplace and become the logical choice for the product or service that you sell.

Here are my top 10 ways to delight your customers, create repeat businesses and get more referrals than you ever thought possible.

1. Remember why you’re in business.  Making money is one of the reasons, but ultimately you are in business to serve your customer.  
2. Respect your clients.  Treat your customers exactly the way you would like to be treated.  Really practice the Golden Rule.
3. Create the proper expectations.  Under promise and over deliver …. period!
4. Be accessible.  Your clients hired you to solve a problem or enhance their lives in some way.  Be available for them.
5. Be responsive.  Respond to calls and e-mails in a timely manner.  I have a guarantee that I will respond to any inquiry within 24 hours.  Now, normally I respond much quicker, but this is a minimum standard that I hold myself to and communicate to my clients.
6. Make it easy to do business with your company.  Life is difficult enough. Make it easy to engage with your company.
7. Do what you say you will do.  Meet all deadlines and promises.  If you tell your client you will return his phone call later in the day, just do it!  
8. Consistently communicate to employees and customers.  Remember, the greatest enemy of communication is the illusion of it.
9. Make it personal.  Learn about your clients, their families, etc.  Your clients will appreciate that you took the time to care.
10. Share your story.  Your clients want to know your “why”.  Why you started your business, your vision, what your values and beliefs are.  Don’t be afraid to share some of your this to create a stronger bond.

Bonus- #11 Way to Delight

Train employees on all of the above.  Everyone who comes in contact with your clients and customers’ needs to understand the above principles.

Start today to install the above principles into you business and I guarantee you will realize the benefits immediately.

Think differently … ACT Smart.

All the best to you and your business development efforts.

Joe

P.S.  To download your complimentary copy of my ACT Smart Business Development System, please click below:

http://joecostantino.com/get-actsmart/

This is the step-by-step business development system that I help my clients implement into their business so that all their marketing and sales efforts are systematized. 

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If you’re a coach, consultant or independent professional you need a steady stream of new clients to have a successful business.

But, more importantly, you need a stream of happy or delighted clients that hopefully will refer you to others that you can also make happy.

And the happiness of your new clients depends almost entirely on the expectations you set at the begining of the engagement and then how you interact with your client going forward.

My experience has demonstrated that in when a coache or a consultant encounters problems with their clients, it is usually is the result of one of these two factors:

1. The coach or consultant is not working with their ‘ideal’ client
2. The coach or consultant didn’t follow a sytematic success process to deliver the engagement

So how can you easily improve your client engagements?

By sytematizing the client engagement process so that nothing is left to chance.  I believe business owners don’t create successful businesses, without first creating processes and systems that allow their businesses to become successful.

Here’s my 7- Step Systematic Approach to guarantee that your client engagements will produce better results:

1. Commit to only working with ideal clients   I wrote in detail about this in my last post, Stop Wasting Money on Your Target Market.
2. Understand why you were hired …. really understand this!  You were not hired because your client needed a coach or a consultant.  You were hired because your client had a problem that required resolving or they wanted to improve their lives.  You were hired to deliver a result for your client.  You were hired because your client had the confidence, faith and trust in your ability to deliver the desired future result.
3. ALWAYS use a written agreement that spells out the details of your working relationship.  I also addressed this topic in a recent post, 8 Reasons You Should ALWAYS Use a Written Contract   
4. Use a New Customer Kit that provides key information for your client so that they are able to get the most from your working relationship.  At a minimum your New Customer Kit should include important phone numbers, e-mails, payment details.  This is also a perfect time to ’Wow’ your new client with some ‘extras’ that were not expected.   For example, I know a marketing consultant that once he gets a new piece of business, sends out a pound of coffee with a note explaining that “this coffee is so that you are able to stay alert as you work on your marketing.”
5. Use an agenda for all of your sessions.  Your client has hired you to lead them to a better place in an organized manner.  An agenda will keep both parties on track, focussing on what needs to get accomplished in each session.
6. Provide your client with a weekly recap.  If your agreement requires you to implement on your client’s behalf, it’s important to keep your client updated on what has been accomplished.
7. Use an Achievement Checklist.  An Achievement Checklist is a periodic recap of what you accomplished for your client.  This document requires the client to answer ‘yes’ to all items that have been completed and a ‘no’ for any item that hasn’t not been completed.  All ‘no’ items require the client to commit to a completion date in writing.  I normally have a client complete the Achievement Checklist at the half way mark of the engagement and then at the end of the engagement.  For example, if my engagement was scheduled for a one year period, I would ask the client to complete the Achievement Checklist at the six month mark and then the twelve month mark.  This is a powerful document that allows you to demonstrate your value, hold the client accountable and helps position you to finish or continue your engagement for all the items that haven’t been completed.

The success you achieve with your clients is determined by the process you use with your clients.  You may already use a loose process, but take the time to write out your process step-by-step so that everyone’ expectations are met …. yours and the client.

Remember, business owners don’t create great business without first creating great systems.

Think differently …ACT Smart.

Joe

First, it is critical for you to understand and always remember why you were hired.

If you are a business coach, you were hired to improve your clients business.

If you are a fitness coach, you were hired to improve your client’s level of fitness.

I understand that this point may sound sophomoric, but you need to always understand this basic concept.

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“The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.  The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.”     ~Sun Tzu

Starting today, If you are a coach, consultant or independent professional, you should only spend money on attracting more of your ideal clients.

Not clearly understanding this idea and then putting it into practice results in wasted money, time, effort and can sabatoge the success you achieve in your business!

Did you ever see a race horse with blinders on?  Did you ever wonder why race horses wear blinders?

Here’s why:  According to trainers of race horses, blinders keep the horse focused on the race it’s in, rather than being caught up with other distractions, such as crowds.

Now, I am not comparing you to a race horse.  What I AM suggesting is that you narrowly focus who you engage with, talk to, or hang out with on a daily basis.  Otherwise, you may easily get distracted by the “crowd” and think they are all your target audience.  This dilutes your chances at success.

My father had a couple of phrases that he would constantly utter to me and my siblings when we were young.  His most repeated and memorable  saying was, “Who you spend time with on a consistent basis will ultimately determine the quality of your life”.

At the time, I didn’t full grasp the meaning of this.  But years later, I have come to fully appreciate the significance of this saying, especially as it relates to being a business owner.

Over the past 10 years, I have spoken to thousands of independent business professionals, and am convinced that one of the biggest mistakes they make in their practice is spending way too much time trying to attract the wrong prospects and not narrowly focusing on their ideal clients.

So how do you identify your Ideal Client? 

You commit to and develop a narrow focus.

Yes, you want to identify some of the demographics as a starting point.  Demographics are the physical characteristics of a population such as age, sex, marital status, family size, education, geographic location and income.

 But it’s much more than demographics!

While demographic information is a good place to start, in order to really find more of your Ideal Clients, you need to find those that VALUE and DESIRE what you have to offer.  So, it’s really two-fold:  Start spending more time with your ideal prospects, and less time with those who don’t value your services.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a business coach, a marketing consultant, or a Certified Public Accountant; it is so much easier to have productive conversations with people that already understand your language and actually value your services.  These are the prospects that don’t have to be convinced about the value of your service, because they’ve already conceptualized it.  They are already having this conversation with themselves …. in a good way.          

Let me illustrate this point more powerfully by posing a few questions.

If you were an exercise coach, do you think it would be easier to have a conversation about the value of a daily exercise regime with someone that is already exercising or someone that has never been to a gym before?

And the answer is…

Of course, it is easier to have a conversation about exercise with someone that already values exercise to some degree.

You have all probably heard the expression “Fish where the fish are”.  This is a saying used by marketing people advising business owners to use their marketing dollars to advertise where their customers are hanging out.

But, I suggest that you put the “fish where the fish are” philosophy on steroids and “fish where the fish are EATING!”      

Here’s an example for you to think about to illustrate what I am referring to when I suggest that you “fish where the fish are eating.”

I train the Duct Tape Marketing consultants how to build their marketing consulting practices.  Most of the consultants are one-person shows.  Like some of you, they have a limited amount of time, resources and energy.  It is important for them to adopt a laser beam approach rather than a shot gun approach.  This means to speak, connect and ultimately engage with more business owners that already value (or are already in conversations about) how marketing can help grow their business.

So, how would one of these marketing consultants find the business owners that already value marketing as a means to grow their businesses?

It’s easy.  They would find those businesses that are already spending money on marketing (yellow page ads, radio ads, direct mail ads, search engine optimization strategies, etc.).  These businesses are perfect candidates to speak to regarding hiring a marketing coach or consultant to help them grow their business.         

You can certainly still have a wider audience that you continue to educate about the value of your products and services. I just wouldn’t suggest spending a ton of time, effort or money on this segment.

The bottom line: In order to generate the most success, spend the majority of your time and efforts on “right” or ideal prospects…those that truly value what you have to offer.

Think differently …..ACT Smart!

Joe

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The ability to enforce a signed agreement in a court of law doesn’t even make my top 8 reasons list of why every coach, consultant and independent professional should use written agreement in all their client engagements.

So why bother?

Here are the top 8 reasons you should use a contract or agreement in every client engagement:

1. Provides a document that can be referred to as proof. The agreement is proof that can be referred to when some aspect of the relationship may be unclear. When memories aren’t as precise as they should be, the agreement clearly states what is what, helping avoid unnecessary stress and confusion.
2. Defines the scope of work. The deliverable in an engagement are the specifics of what is going to be accomplished by the time the engagement is completed. Defining the scope of work is really just an answer to the question, “What’s the intended outcome.” It helps to clarify what the project means and therefore how to complete it. Clearly understanding what the intended outcome can be critical to the project’s success.
3. Outlines responsibilities. The agreement clearly identifies who is responsible for what so there are no misunderstandings as to who is supposed to do what. During the course of discussing a potential coaching or consulting arrangement, many potential areas are discussed. It is important to clearly understand each person’s area of responsibility.
4. Defines time frame. The agreement outlines the time frame in which the objectives will be accomplished. At times, completing work is dependent upon another action being completed first. Defining the time frames provides some sense of the order required to complete the engagement.
5. Positions You as a Professional. All professionals use written agreements and this is standard operating practice in today’s world. The use of a written contract helps to build credibility and trust.
6. Outlines payment schedule. Let’s not forget that everyone involved needs to clearly understand the investment for the project or program and when the payments are due.
7. Provides an opportunity to sell additional services. Once you deliver results for your client, you can review the scope of work contained in the contract to identify additional areas that make the most sense to tackle next. As part of your last meeting with a client, you should include a recap of the successes you achieved and identify next steps.
8. Provides an opportunity for referrals. Once you have performed well for your client, the next logical step is to ask the question, “who else do you know that can I help achieve similar results”.

Now, that you have some very logical reasons to use a written contract, I will provide one important caveat …. keep your written contracts simple. They don’t need to be overly complicated or long. The content should be in understandable terms so that an attorney isn’t required to decipher.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

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Here’s the problem if you’re not able to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. You end up in a sea of sameness ….motoring along like a ship without a rudder.  Your target market is unable to understand what makes you better, or different than your competitors, so one of three things occurs.  Either your target market won’t engage your services often enough because they really don’t understand your position in the marketplace; they will choose one of your competitors; or they won’t act.<

But, there is a compelling strategy that coaches, consultants and independent professionals can adopt called the strategy of business preeminence.  This strategy is implemented when the coach or consultant positions themselves above the rest of the marketplace by establishing the criteria for buying a particular product or service that decisively differentiates their brand from all the other competitors.  Once this is done, the coach, consultant or independent professional needs to make absolutely certain that their services and products consistently meet this strict criteria.

A couple of examples will help clarify the strategy of business preeminence.

A marketing consultant may be the first to demonstrate how important it is to treat marketing as a step-by-step systematic process providing a clear differentiation from other marketing consultants about what is required for a business owner to grow their business.  The differentiation must be real and valuable to the business owner.  Offering a different approach to business marketing without providing value to your clients is not a long-term successful strategy for the consultant.  Therefore, the preeminent position adopted MUST provide value and results for your client.

A personal trainer may include a nutritional element to his training sessions positioning exercise and nutrition as the only genuine way for their clients to achieve the most success when beginning a personal training program.

An important point to keep in mind about this strategy is that the business owner doesn’t have to be the only business positioning their business this way, but only the person to communicate this difference to the marketplace outlining the criteria, then satisfying their clients before their competitors do.  If your competitors are doing something similar but not advertising this difference then the advantage goes to the coach, consultant or trainer that educates his target market about the importance of difference.

By advertising the buying criteria for your product or service first, and how it benefits the buyer, the coach or consultant will usually realize a first-mover advantage.  First-mover advantage is the advantage realized by being the first company to move into a new market or set the standard for doing something a certain way.

An effective tactical strategy to use once you have established a strategy of business preeminence is to consistently provide education-based content educating your target market about the criteria they should use to decide the worthiness of a particular coach or consultant.  Education-based content on your website, in blogs, white papers and with article marketing are effective ways to position your business in a preeminent position and position you as the authority.

Your articles should grab the attention of your target market by including what they need to know before hiring a coach, consultant or independent professional in your industry.

Examples of effective titles for your articles include:

What Everybody Ought to Know Before Hiring an Attorney

If Your Pharmacist Goofs, You Could Be Dead. How To Protect Yourself

The Three Lies You’ll Hear From Real Estate Brokers … Even Honest Ones

The 5 Things You Should Demand From Your Business Coach

Ask Your Stock Broker To Reveal The Three Most Important Ways to Make Money in the Stock Market

All the above headlines for reports or white papers entice the reader to want to know more about a particular industry and how to make the best decision when hiring a coach, consultant or independent professional.

Think differently, act differently and achieve amazing results,

Joe

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Let me give you an example.

I’m  staying at a hotel in Kansas City, Missouri helping train a new group of Authorized Duct Tape Marketing consultants, and I am again reminded how simple it can be for a business to differentiate themselves from their competition.

The hotel I stay and train at has a sign on it’s elevator door for the guests and visitors that reads, “Daily Special … Clean Bed”.

This doesn’t appear to be a compelling difference that even should require stating, because don’t all hotels provide a clean bed?

But, there’s more to the story.  The elevator sign is only the beginning of an orchestrated campaign to demonstrate that this hotel is doing something different for their guests.

The same message was reinforced, as I walked into my room where I found two sticky notes, stuck to the headboard of the bed that read, “Duvet Covers & Sheets are Clean For Your Arrival”.  The writing on the sticky notes appears as if it was hand-printed by one of the hotel employees, but upon further investigation, it looks like it was actually professionally printed with the goal of making it appear that it was hand-printed.

Hmmmm …. I’m feeling better about going to sleep already.

My first thought was what the heck was a duvet cover and sheet and do I even care.

So, my “I need to know” mode kicked in and I googled, “what are duvet covers”.

Here’s one of the top answers google provides for this search phrase ….

“To answer the question, “What are duvet covers,” one first has to answer, “What are duvets?” A duvet is a bag filled with down, feathers, wool or other natural stuffing to create a warm bed covering that takes the place of quilts and bedspreads. Duvet is the French word for down, as in down from birds. Duvets are rather like comforters, except that they have replaceable, washable covers – much like large pillowcases.

Duvet covers are useful because duvets usually cannot be washed. Water would ruin the stuffing. However, duvet covers can be laundered along with the sheets and pillowcases. This keeps the duvet fresh as well. Duvet covers button, zip or tie at one end to keep the cover secure.

Here’s my translation; a duvet is a pillow and a duvet cover is a pillow case.

I ask you again, doesn’t every hotel provide it’s visitors a clean pillow case on their pillows upon arrival?  Now, they may not be duvet covers, but is that really important?

Now, you may believe this is too much information and isn’t important.

I think what IS important is that this hotel chain has chosen to address and communicate what may be one of the most important things a hotel visitor wants (demands) when staying at a hotel …. a clean bed.  Not only that, but this hotel has done it in a way that positions their covers and sheets as being something unique ….duvet.  And maybe the use of duvet covers is unique in the hotel industry, but it doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that this is the only chain (that I am aware of) that is talking about this as a differentiator.

Here are the key takeaways:

1. Businesses need to differentiate themselves from their competitors
2. The difference doesn’t need to be one held exclusively by the business making the claim
3. The difference communicated needs to be important and benefical to the target market
4. The difference can be something very simple and obivious

As a business traveler I do want clean sheets and pillows.  And if they are duvet covers and sheets, all the better.

Think differently, ACT Smart.

Joe

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Here’s the good news ….  it is not as difficult as you might imagine.  It takes a change in mindset and then a bit of rolling up your sleeves to do the work and you will see improvement.

Drum roll please ……

My top 10 ways to become a better marketer for your business are:

1. Understand how important marketing is to the present and future success of your business.  Marketing, sales and innovation are the only three areas that produce revenue for your company; everything else is a cost to your business.  That is how important this marketing and sales stuff is to the success of your business.
2. Accept that as the owner of your business you have to be a marketer for the products and services you sell.  Now, you don’t need to achieve expert status as a marketer, but you do have to become somewhat educated about 21^st century marketing.
3.  Understand that marketing is a process not an event.  Most business owners view marketing as isolated events; direct mail campaign, newsletter, etc., when in reality all your marketing initiatives should be tightly woven together with an underlying core strategy.
4. Seek constant improvement with your marketing efforts.  There are tons of ways to get better educated about marketing on the web.  Also, you can attend seminars and workshops that will help enhance your marketing education.
5.  Understand and communicate your ‘why’.  Your why is your mission or purpose for being in business.  Understand this then communicate this to your ideal target audience on a consistent basis.
6.  Build a brand for your product or service that differentiates you from your competitors.   Unless you truly communicate what makes you different and beneficial to your target market, you will end up in a sea of sameness.
7.  Narrow your target and be able to clearly define your ‘ideal’ customer.  Only spend money on getting more of your ideal customers.
8.  Communicate the results you or your business has achieved for your customers.  Customers want results, not promises.
9.  Provide a low risk try before you ask you customer to buy.  Most people are risk-adverse when it comes to making purchases.  You will engage with more people if you can remove their risk.  A free sample, report, trial all will work well in this regard.
10.  Develop a systematic approach with all your marketing.  You should develop a process or system for every aspect of your marketing efforts so that nothing is left to chance.

Think differently,

Joe

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What exactly is a habit anyway?

According to Wikipedia, habits are automatic routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, without thinking. They are learned, not instinctive, human behaviors that occur automatically, without the explicit contemporaneous intention of the person.

Here’s the key for business owners when it comes to learning and implementing good marketing habits; they are learned and they occur automatically.

So, today, I will teach you how a systematic way to develop good marketing habits and then show you how to put these tasks on auto pilot so eventually they will become part of your everyday routine and you will do them automatically.

The key to developing effective marketing habits is to develop a consistent, simple, systematic approach.

Your marketing habit system should include daily, weekly monthly, quarterly and yearly habits.

Here’s an example of how I set this up in my practice:

Daily

• Facebook and Twitter daily update first thing in the morning, and maybe a posting later in the day
• Return phone calls

Weekly

• LinkedIn update at least once a week.
• Hand-written Notes – every Friday. Send at least 2 handwritten notes to colleagues, past clients, strategic partners etc.
• Develop a new piece of content
• Update content on your website
• Attend a networking event
• Blog 1 time per week – anything that’s related to your industry. Blogging might be written, video or audio

Monthly

•  Newsletter – email corporate newsletter at least once per month. Pick a target date like the 15th
• Run a monthly promotional campaign

Quarterly

• Speaking Event – set a goal to do a speaking event once per quarter
• Run a quarterly direct response advertising campaign

Yearly

• Client Appreciation Event – pick a month that works within your calendar and work with a few strategic partners to host a client appreciation event.
• Send out New Year’s Cards
• Survey my clients and get feedback

Once you develop your own system, you want to make sure that you commit to doing the habits you outlined. The best way to do this is by placing them on a calendar and then scheduling specific times to get the work done necessary to achieve what is on your list.

One the most valuable parts for me in developing this habit routine was the actual scheduling of the times to carry out the work.  This process forced me to make an appointment with myself to ensure I was stay committed to what needed to get done, especially with those items that I didn’t always want to do.

Make a commitment today to start your own business development habits and watch the difference it will make to your productivity and success.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

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I believe that if you spend more than a couple of minutes wringing your hands over the distinction between the two, then you’ve wasted time you can’t get back and you fail to focus on what is really important. In fact, I would suggest that you adopt the attitude espoused by Lefty (Al Pacino) in the movie Donnie Brasco . . . . “Forget About It”.

Understand that both marketing and sales systems are critical to the growth of your business, they are connected and they should actually come under the category of Business Development.

So, what is Business Development? “Google” the term and you won’t get one consistent answer. What you will find is a myriad of answers that, in my mind, don’t adequately answer the question of what business development really encompasses.

So before we go much further, I would like to provide you with my definition of business development and one that I truly believe will help make this idea much easier to understand:

Business Development is the system that connects marketing and sales. It allows you to communicate your unique value and difference to your prospects and customers so that you can generate revenue and growth for your business. Let’s explore the components of this definition a bit further to really bring this idea to life.

System – Everything you do in your business should be a step-by-step systematic process so that nothing is left to chance, your consistent in your interactions with prospects, customers, and referral partners. Some of the key systems you should develop in your business include lead generation, lead conversion, and referral programs.

Connects Sales and Marketing – They are both critical to your business and connected to fully grow your company. Stop worrying about the definitions of marketing and sales and what comes first.

Communicate your unique value and difference to your prospects and customers – One of the greatest mistakes that I see business owners consistently make, is their lack of a compelling, unique and useful brand and positioning strategy. This results in marketing communications that are weak and do absolutely nothing to show their prospects and customers why they should choose them as the best choice in the marketplace. If you can’t express your unique value and difference, then how in the world are you prospects and customers going to know and understand what you bring to the table.

Generate revenue and growth - Now this one is easy. The purpose of your business is to generate revenue, profit and growth. I do understand and acknowledge that, for most of you, your ‘why’ was to make a difference and help people at some level. But, unless your generating revenue, profit and growing, you want be around long enough in business to help anyone.

I hope this helps you understand that BOTH marketing and sales are connected, and critical to building and growing a successful business. Define all your marketing and sales efforts as BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT and ‘forget about the rest’.

Think differently to achieve amazing results.

Joe

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I think the key issue that seems to be lost in the discussion about Inbound vs. Outbound marketing conversations and is not addressed adequately by the gurus on both sides of the fence is the fact that what you say, how you say it and who you say it to in your communications is the key element that really brings either one of these strategies to life.

Does it matter what tactical approach you employ, whether you are the hunter (outbound tactics) or the hunted (inbound tactics), if you don’t have a compelling message of differentiation of why someone (customer or client) should choose your company over your competitors in the first place?

A business owner can develop a ton of leads from both inbound and outbound tactics, but if you don’t have a clear process for your prospect to know you, find you credible and ultimately trust that you are the logical choice in the marketplace to provide the product or service you sell, then it doesn’t make any difference what method you choose.

The biggest problem most business owners have when it comes to marketing and business development efforts is not about choosing inbound vs. outbound tactics as many would have you believe.  It is about first building your brand, your positioning in the marketplace.  It is about powerfully communicating what makes you the better, the obvious choice for the product of service you sell over your competitors.  It is about getting more people to raise their hands and say, “I want to know more about this company”. 

Folks, until you get this right, your marketing tactical approach, whether inbound, outbound, a combination of both will never be as effective.

An example may help to illustrate the point.  One of the greatest tools a business owner has at their disposal to clearly make their case, to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and to be perceived as an expert for the product or service they sell is their company website.  Very few would argue this point.  This is the hub of all your marketing activities.  If this is true, and it is, how come so many business owners use this valuable tool as a static billboard that doesn’t say much of anything expect, ”here we are world, buy from us!”             

Let’s cut to the chase.  Both inbound and outbound marketing initiatives should be included as part of an overall  marketing strategy.  But, you shouldn’t do either inbound or outbound marketing until you develop your brand and positioning in the marketplace.

Think differently to achieve amazing results,

Joe

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