Page 38 - Flathead Beacon // 12.17.14

38 | DECEMBER 17, 2014
BUSINESS FLATHEADBEACON.COM BUSINESS IS PERSONAL Mark Riffey
Creating Client Loyalty W Means Depending On You
HAT’S THE EASIEST WAY not just think, that your business has of creating client loyalty? their back. Consider the vendors you use The “easiest” way will dif- that are so dependable, you don’t feel the
fer by business. The key is to keep using it once you determine what’s easiest for yours.
I can’t promise that one way is easi- er than others, but one of the ways I’ve found is to be the business your clients depend on to the point of rabid depen- dence.
I don’t mean that the relationship should be unhealthy, or that you should depend only on that client’s business. What I mean is that their dependency on you should be as strong as you can make it for as many top tier clients you can handle.
This will require systems because delivering this level of service manual- ly rarely scales well much less remains consistent across employee changes, va- cations and family crises (etc.).
ISN’T THAT DEPENDENCY UP TO THEM?
No, not if you’re paying attention.
The level of dependency is up to you because you’re the one who makes deci- sions about how you serve them. They might decide WHAT, but you decide the HOW. Only you can make the strategic decision to deliver more than they ex- pected and do so with an owner’s mind- set.
That owner’s mindset is critical: “We did this because if I was you, I’d want to watch out for this situation.”
It’s tough to quantify for you how much value this can create in the rela- tionship with your clients, so I’ll say “a lot”.
You might be thinking that you can’t do this because your car wash business isn’t like my business, but this doesn’t matter. You could hand dry the cars after they pull out of the wash, even though that isn’t what your clients are paying for. Incremental cost – almost nothing. Value delivered – plenty.
Anyone can apply this mindset.
ASK THEM
Have you asked your customers if they depend on you? Ask.
You want to know what they depend on you for, and when you last disappoint- ed them. Ask them how they depend on you and if there are things that they wish they could depend on you for. If they’re a good match, that’s new business on a sil- ver platter.
Ultimately, you want them to know,
need to check up on them.
Do you even have any that good? Is
this a choice (perhaps due to your selec- tion of service level or pricing) or is it be- cause no one offers as much as you’d like to get? Have those vendors asked you if you could depend on them more?
Have you asked your clients that question?
I CAN’T AFFORD TO BE THAT DEPENDABLE
Maybe you’re thinking that you can’t afford to provide dependency-class ser- vice to your clientele. While you prob- ably can’t provide it to everyone at your current price structure, there’s always going to be a group who needs more and will invest in better products and servic- es. All they need to know is better offers exist.
What would you have to deliver to make it perfectly reasonable to add a zero to the price you get for your product or service? Add a zero = 10x. Since I sus- pect most aren’t going to easily see a 10x change, let’s start smaller.
What could you do to double the per- ceived value of the products and services you provide for the clients that you most want to depend on you?
For example, if you’re an attorney who charges $3,000 for a document, you might be struggling with the idea that you could charge $6,000 much less $30,000 for it. Key: Start by chang- ing the perception that the price is for a piece of paper.
PERCEPTION OF VALUE MATTERS
Perception of value includes service level.
For example, if I buy a car and it breaks down, what happens when I call the dealer for help? Whether they act as my personal car genie or blow me off doesn’t change the value of the car (or does it?), but it certainly affects the per- ceived value of my purchase.
Over the long term your rewards are always proportionate to the value you provide. Premium pricing for the clients who need / want dependency provides you with the margin necessary to pro- vide extraordinary value, while provid- ing leeway to guide lower-tier clients up the ladder.
How are you creating client loyalty?
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Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a business, operations or marketing problem? See Mark’s site, rescuemarketing.com, or contact him via email at [email protected].