Tips for growing professional services firms (3)

3. Online offers

Forward thinking professional services today offer top-quality e-books through their web site so that visitors will willingly pick up a marketing message and pass it on to others. These free materials contain hyperlinks that will draw more prospects to your web site. The e-books can have subjects that extend behinds the immediate professional’s services.

For example a financial planner may offer a book on the challenges facing migrants and in that book reveal how a financial planner fits in to the picture. The audience picking up the book can be an entirely new source of clients that would otherwise not have come across the services of the firm.

Tips for growing professional services firms (2)

2. Email newsletter marketing

The professional firm’s newsletter should not be an excuse to release the latest tax changes or legal precedents. They should have a strong emphasis on the needs of the clients; their aspirations and concerns. In the areas of financial services, for example there are few things more concerning than building a nest egg for the future, so current thought “leadership” here is an imperative. A newsletter which reflects this will have its own response with the clients but more importantly if it works for them they will invariably flick it to a friend or colleague.

That means, potentially, a new client.

Tips for growing your professional services business

The ability to expand a business without limits is called scalability. In the traditionally bricks and mortar business this usually meant more staff, more physical resources and expansion via geographic, physical expansion.

Here are some ways to grow your professional services business without investing in bricks and mortar or more people and infrastructure.

1. Viral online marketing

One modern marketing process that makes scalability possible is viral marketing, the use of social networks to quickly and broadly increase brand awareness. Thanks to advances in online media technology, your professional services firm’s marketing message can easily be spread far and wide. Partners and executives at a minimum should have:

• LinkedIn membership
• Facebook page

These will be platforms for “spreading the word.”

A number of progressive professional services firms now upload interviews and podcasts of their partners or subject matter experts. Online videos and viral e-mail can be picked up and sent round the world, often within a matter of minutes if the content is evocative. Viewers will pass on to others, if the content is useful, entertaining or informative.

Can Do to No Can Do

There’s no industry that demands customer service more than the hospitality industry — hotels, restaurants and related sectors. The kinds of experiences customers have in hospitality determine whether they will frequent the establishment again, and, even more importantly, whether they will recommend it to their friends and colleagues. It is a brutal fact of life that in business, we are more inclined to tell of a horror story than a feel-good one.

A sad anecdote

Consider this customer services experience: This week I stayed at a 5-star, branded hotel and noticed how otherwise smaller things had become too much trouble for customer service staff. In the Executive Lounge I asked for a Diet Coke at 5.15 pm and was told “we don’t start serving guests until 5.30 pm.” When I explained that my mini-bar had not been restocked the person reluctantly got the drink.

The mere fact that I am telling you this is worrying. There seems to be an increasing tendency to short-cut on service delivery.

A ‘can do’ attitude will create a positive customer experience; a ‘no can do’ attitude will sullen the experience and result in a totally different word-of moth message. Clearly the above story had nothing to do with resources at hand (the good were there, as were the staff) but all to do with mindset and training.

Recession response

Some businesses – especially those that rely on discretionary spending - cut back on staff as a first response to a loss or threatened loss of revenue. For sure a business must “right size” itself but there is more work to be done before customer service levels are compromised.

One specialised Sydney based furniture retailer, rather than cut back staff, took them to a sales seminar which had a strong customer service training element. The proprietor said that she built her business on giving superb customer service knowing that this brought referrals.

In a recession the word of mouth channel becomes the critical revenue generator as new revenue dollars would be hard to justify.

The idea that cutting back staff in order to maintain margins does not cut it in a service oriented industry. As the store proprietor said, “The recession gives me the opportunity to buy stock well (at hefty discounts) and thus maintain my margins. I didn’t need to cut back staff.”

Illustration

Staying with the hospitality industry gives us further insights to ‘can do’ and ‘no can do’ mindsets. Have you ever wondered why some restaurants have a loyal customer following while others limp along? The answer is not in the ambiance or even in the quality of food. Today, those are taken for granted — every “good” restaurant is expected to have these. The difference between restaurants that build a loyal following and those that don’t is all in customer service. That special ‘can do’ attitude that permeates all the best establishments.

You know it at the very first interaction with the staff. The ‘can do’, successful restaurant will resonate from the moment you enter the place. An impression is made that either enhances or detracts from the experience. Successful establishments recognize the importance of customer service and spend time training their staff on exactly how to work with customers. They will not put at risk customer loyalty through a lack of delivery of a ‘can do’, high level customer service.

The TV series Faulty Towers had the bumbling Basil (a “manager”) always speaking before he thought. Is it not basic that Customer Service 101 would be to think before you speak? Consider the impact of your words on the customer or client and how they might be interpreted. If you want your clients or customers to a have a memorable experience or to genuinely experience your service as “above expectations” then you need to be sure to think about the words you use – at all times.

What customers take away when they leave a restaurant is an overall impression of the quality of the experience. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the total customer experience.

Final thoughts

Finding new customers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones. Cost saving expeditions would do well to discover that customer service is too valuable a function to put in the “items to be cut” list.  Customer service is more than just keeping customers happy.  It’s about revenue, because a lost customer means lost revenue and an unhappy customer can damage your reputation.

Some aspects of effective customer service are: 

• knowing your customers’ needs;
• identifying your key service activities;
• delivering superior service;
• follow-up.

Oh, and don’t think this just applies to hospitality.

Promoting Your Business on the Web

How do you look for information? You search the internet, right? And you’re not alone. With two-thirds of all Australian households now broadband connected the “always on” internet is now the preferred option for searching out all services and products.

A majority of consumers regularly use search engines when looking for information online. If you want your site to rank high in search, you need to put a family of strategies called search marketing–a catch-all term for search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising–to work for your business.

Search engine optimisation

SEO encompasses the strategies for earning top rankings in free search engines. With “Googling” now embedded in our every day language, it is the organic search or the “natural” listing that is the most highly sought prize. This is the essence of SEO. You can improve your website’s ranking by giving the search engines what they’re looking for.

Here are some key SEO strategies:

Read the article at http://tinyurl.com/rb44bb

Hotels - what do you expect?

As a consultant and professional presenter I spend about 100 nights a year in hotels.

In fact, in the last two weeks I have spent 11 nights away from home. Most of the hotels have been great but every so often something goes wrong. That’s when you find out just how well the staff are trained. 

What I look for is:

• Fast check-in
• A clean room with everything working
• A comfortable bed
• A hot shower with good pressure, and
• Fast check-out

I am seldom in the room so I don’t care about the view.

Oh, and it’s nice to have a general manager who is actually available if there is an issue.

What do you look for in a hotel?

It Pays to Make Your Customers Look Good.

Fans of Basil Fawlty who are in the service industry will cherish what they learnt from Basil; and how we both laugh and cringe at the bumbling character of Basil as he manages to offend customers, employees and suppliers. 

How often do each of us, as customers, experience service providers who are clueless? 

Consider the case of an owner of a beach-frontage house in Byron Bay who, when seeking the advice of a local real estate agent recently, was told. “Oh no you won’t get over $1 million in this market.”  She had her own idea: it was only one of a few dozen frontages and despite sluggish sales would have definite “scarcity” value. She offered the home to a buyer’s agent in Sydney who told her she ought to pitch the house as a “lifestyle home with holiday income potential”. This complimented her strategic thinking. He thus augmented the offering and got a share of the eventual commission. 

She eventually sold the property for $1.2m. Whose services will she use in the future? Not the first agent!

Closer to home

Recently my local council (government) got a contractor to remake the road. Everything ran late. No communication with residents. Driveways left half done for two months. Dust and dirt. It had the obvious outcome of making the local council look bad. Why would they use the contractor again? Good communications and more customer care could have ameliorated any delays or problems. 

A smarter way

Now consider the other side of the spectrum where clients will go the extra mile to deal with people who make them look good. Imagine you are a “boutique” travel agent in Hong Kong handling discerning customers looking for their next ‘experiential’ holiday. You discovered an Australian ‘experiential tourism’ operator - Wild Bush Luxury - and have received rave feedback from your first group who experienced one of the operator’s Northern Territory bush safaris. The entrepreneurial operator has gone to great lengths to ensure that each guest’s experience is first class, because HE knows that word of mouth is far and away the best means of promoting his business. 

Communication

Good communication and continued good relations with the operator and a strong methodology of tracking feedback is a winning business formula. 

In many industries there is almost a resignation to being let down by business suppliers - missed deadlines, project delays, poor service delivery, cancelled appointments, slow payments, become par for the course. Such “cultural norms” are warning signs for a business service provider. 

It is only with a mindset of delivering ‘optimal customer experience’ above all else that will determine customer retention rates, referral rates, and up-sale potential that can vastly increase the ‘lifetime value’ of a customer. 

It’s an oft-used mantra in personal development work (think Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) that doing the basics in person-to-person interaction, requiring mutual respect, integrity as the building blocks of trust: doing what you say you’ll do may be a simple mantra but it may also set you apart as the go to service provider in your industry. And if unexpected delays eventuate, then immediate and clear communication that reframes delivery milestones are of paramount importance.

In the illustration of Wild Bush Luxury the operator, Charlie Carlow had many years experience as a “buyer” of tours when an employee for a large multi-national travel business. He understood from first-hand experience, the buyer’s needs. In grappling with the challenge of differentiating the business from other travel companies he needed to take measured risks often with unproved operators in destinations “off the beaten track.” Once a decision was taken, the buyer wanted peace of mind of mind, and certainty that the expectations of the client were not only going to be met but exceeded. This formed a great bond of trust between buyer and the operator, one where the operator could offer additional products and destinations having secured all the necessary mechanisms to ensure service delivery to the end customer.

Furniture retailer

Consider too the case of high-end furniture retailer Moss Furniture who sells such items as Caesar Stone bench tops and dining tables. In establishing supply arrangements with the supplier, Caesar Stone, the shop owner had to ensure that quality and delivery milestones were not only achievable but met. The customer, paying thousands of dollars for the product, would not think kindly of either Caser Stone or Moss Furniture if expectations were not met. Moreover, a good outcome wins word-of-mouth endorsements for both companies.

Long term retention marketing and is created through exemplary customer service. It’s that basic.

Ease of Use is a critical Perception Builder

Lost Opportunities Abound

Last Friday I had the privilege of being the MC at a young business forum - attendees under the age of 40.

The speaker was Michael Fazini from the AMP, a great presenter speaking about the current financial crisis and how we got into this mess. His topic was “Will Your Super (Pension) Survive”. 

There were 40 in attendance. Accountants, lawyers, recruiters, business owners but NOT ONE financial planner. 

A great prospecting opportunity lost. Makes you wonder!

The Rocky Fiscal Horror Show

You’ll scream in HORROR at the ZOMBIE BANKS!!! 

You’ll cringe as TOXIC ASSETS ooze closer to your nest egg!!! 

You’ll SHIVER IN FEAR at the CREEPING NATIONALIZATION!!! 

DON’T MISS 

THE ROCKY FISCAL HORROR SHOW 

coming soon to a cinema near you 

(Okay, a bit cynical but an apt metaphor for what’s taking place in the global economy.) 

With U.S. President, Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package in place – all 1,000 pages of it – global economists have had the opportunity to pore over this dry (as Adelaide’s current weather) document to discover some frightening facts and figures.

The Nationalization of U.S. Banks? 

Citigroup is the 800-pound gorilla among U.S. financial institutions, providing consumer and institutional services across all sectors of the global economy. The money-based conglomerate has already received $65 billion in “buy-out” money from the feds, who currently hold an 8% stake in Citigroup.

American taxpayers and foreign governments holding U.S. bonds now have a small ownership position in the largest financial entity worldwide. However, the prognosticators have determined that this 8% ownership stake in Citigroup was necessary to keep financial markets afloat.

The new stimulus package, dubbed “The Stim” by the U.S. media, shows more tax dollars and more borrowed money going in to failing banks with the government possibly taking a 40% stake in Citigroup. Creeping nationalization!

Read the article here