The Article HighwayDelivering a Wealth of Information

If you provide professional services, remember that your customers are relying on you to do something critical for their business that they can’t do themselves. Because they are not experts in the service they are probably have no idea about what it should cost, how it should be done, and in some cases, why it should be done.

What can you do to improve the chances that this customer will ultimately become a raving fans and the source of many future referrals? Eliminate the mystery of what you are doing. The degree to which you can give your customer confidence, clarity and control will result in a great experience for you and your customer.

Your job is to demystify the changes your customer is facing. Most customers prefer that any mystery in their life is limited to best-selling books and film. As entertainment, mystery is a lot of fun; in the workplace it is a recipe for disaster.

Provide and Guide – From the very beginning, spell out what is going to be happening. Walk your customer through the various steps and milestones. Have a checklist; it provides comfort to your customer. The first time you explain the process, just assume that the customer may have some confusion. With your patient guidance, they will begin to get clarity with each step. Seeing progress on the checklist will give them larger and larger chunks of confidence. This means greater confidence in you and their decision to engage you.

Explain and Ask – Keep returning to and explaining the process. While it is very familiar to you, it’s brand new to the customer. Remember that your explanations serve to educate them and give them greater understanding of what is happening and why. You are also educating the customer. Short term, this education will go a long way in soothing the pain of change. But keep in mind that long term, the better educated the customer is, the better able they are to refer you in an intelligent and meaningful way. Don’t forget to ask questions and probe for areas that are still unclear to them. Again, much of what is going on in the customer’s mind is unspoken.

Review and Celebrate – Review significant milestones with your customer regularly. This is good practice for several reason; it demonstrates the accuracy of the “map” you provided in the beginning, it reinforces that steady progress is being made, and it allows you to celebrate with the customer. They are closer to realizing the change that is going to make their business better; you are building the excitement of your mutual success.

Be sensitive to how stressful change can be. New customers may enter into the project with many unexpressed emotions that could range from concern to fear, mild stress to anxiety, will this cause pain, will this cost me my job.

Proactively addressing the unspoken worries of your new customer by providing and guiding, explaining and asking, reviewing and celebrating will give them the control, clarity and confidence to get through the process with more success and less stress. As a result they will be thrilled with you and much more likely to rave and refer.

Dawn Westerberg has been developing effective Marketing Strategy for business owners for twenty five years. She helps business owners focus on the right target audience to attract ideal profitable clients who do repeat business and are happy to refer.

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