Do you take a one-size-fits-all approach with clients, or do you design your product offerings and services to benefit their specific needs? Flexibility is a must if you have competition. When you are rigid with what you offer, you are giving your competition an edge, and they will most certainly accommodate your client’s needs. Don’t give your competition the opportunity.
Keep in mind that flexibility doesn’t stop with what you are offering; it also applies to how you conduct business. Find out what your client’s preferred method of communication is and use it. While you may like email, Joe Customer might prefer a phone call. It’s your job to find out preferences to keep your clients happy and to maintain an ongoing image of being flexible and ''easy.''
Responsiveness
Don’t underestimate how your success is affected by your ability to respond to a phone call or email. Let’s put it another way: being slow to respond is a surefire way to lose a client. Even if you don’t necessarily have an answer to what your client is asking, returning his or her call or email promptly is paramount. It’s always better to respond with an ''I don’t know'' than to not respond at all. Develop a time frame in which you return all calls and emails and stick with it.
Availability
Availability goes hand in hand with responsiveness and is vital to keeping relationships strong and functioning properly. The goal should always be to make it as easy as possible for your clients to reach you.
If you have a receptionist, make sure that the person is professional, friendly, polite, and knowledgeable. Your clients should feel welcomed each time they call. If you have an auto-attendant, make it user-friendly. Don’t drag your clients through a lengthy and unwieldy menu. If you are unreachable, have a default person or solution that can help your client.
About the Author
Adrian Miller is a speaker, a consultant, and president of Adrian Miller Sales Training. Her firm works nationwide, providing highly customized sales training solutions and business development consulting to companies across a wide diversity of industries. Adrian works with companies that range in size from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, and her high-energy programs are well known to be practical, informative, results driven, and fun. Widely read in business publications, Adrian is also the author of The Blatant Truth: 50 Ways to Sales Success, and she is currently at work on her next book. She can be reached at 516-767-9288 or amiller@adrianmiller.com.
