What are you really giving to clients?
Winning their hearts and minds
Like most of us, my wife and I enjoy dining out from time to time. I’ve visited a lot of eateries and restaurants over the years. On some occasions, but fewer than you would expect, I have been let down by the meal. We try new places, but we do have a couple of favourites.
In my hometown Adelaide, I really like an old ‘Adelaide’ favourite, The House Of Chow. We’ve been going there for 30 years.
More often than not when friends or family ask us to nominate, we put our hands up for The House of Chow. Now, if you’ve never been there, when you visit Adelaide, you have to go because we believe it has some of the best Chinese delights. Great, tasty dishes and some of which I’ve never seen on any other Chinese restaurant menu – and surprisingly their pricing is quite reasonable.
I love going there, the restaurant location is fairly central and usually it’s not too hard to get a park (unless we want to make a night of it and get a taxi), and it’s in a good part of town.
Usually Ros, the owner and maître de, greets us with a warm smile and by name. She will talk as long or as short as you need. Then a smiling wait staff directs you to your table and organises your drinks and in good time your meal order.
As we sit and talk, we feel comfortable in the surroundings. Sure that’s partly because we really know the place but it’s also because of the not overstated and yet somewhat ‘silver service’ feel of the decor.
The wait staff are usually very attentive, even when it’s packed, which it usually is Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
Nothing is too much trouble. If you want a favourite dish that doesn’t happen to be on that day’s menu, it doesn’t take too much convincing to get your serving. Certainly it’s rare to run out of drinks before the staff know and approach you regarding another.
Normally throughout your stay Ros makes her rounds, stopping to discuss her own and your daily events. She doesn’t intrude, just stays long enough to bring a little warmth and make you feel welcome. Usually I feel very relaxed and comfortable and I know we’re in ‘safe hands’.
Then suddenly, a great night ends and it’s time to go home. More often than not we’re not quite ready because we are really enjoying the ambience.
So, what’s my taste in restaurants got to do with you, your business and your marketing? Well everything!
The food is great but restaurants serve more than food. They provide experiences.
The results win our minds but it’s the experiences that win our hearts. And the better the experience, the more likely we are to return.
The reality is that as a professional adviser, the same is true for you too.
The end product, result and outcomes are very important but it’s the experience they receive along their journey that really determines the totality of their outcomes, their total satisfaction.
You may well provide great advice and results, but if their experience is marred, so is their attitude and your reputation may suffer.
So, if you haven’t put a lot of time into designing your client’s successful experience, there’s no time like now. Here’s a couple of tips:
1. Decide on ‘who you want to be
The way you promote yourself through your marketing, your website, your social media, your office stationery, your emails, newsletters, etc. all paint a picture about you and who you are. So take some time to ensure that it represents the way you want to be perceived.
What ‘brand’ are you portraying? What values and persona are you proudly displaying? What is your positioning? When you know ‘who’ you want to be, then make sure all of your marketing ‘assets’ represent the look and feel you are seeking. Ensure that they are all congruent – don’t send ‘mixed messages’.
2. Plan the whole client experience
Craft and design every step of the way. From even before you meet, right through to the end and ongoing. And ensure that your staff are as deeply involved in this as you are. After all, in many cases they may communicate with and ‘touch’ your clients more than you.
Decide on your language – your word craft. The whens and wheres. Who is going to do what, when? Who is going to say what and when? How will you look and what will be the ambience of your meetings? And again, deliver a congruent experience.
To ensure you deliver a robust and consistently good experience, your meetings, advice and consultative selling process need to be choreographed. Every step, every marketing piece, every communication should be designated, mapped out and rehearsed.
This helps to optimise the chances of your clients coming away from the experience they have with you feeling confident and comfortable with your advice and feeling totally satisfied. The feeling that they are in ‘safe hands’ and that you have made a significant difference in their lives!
Will you take the time, effort and resources to think, plan and implement your client’s successful experience? You may be one of the few.
The team at Capstone can help you to take your business to the next level. To find out how contact:
Kym Turner
Head of Coaching & Development
Capstone Financial Planning
P: 03 8622 0719
E: k.turner@capstonefp.com.au
