Everyone
is in a client service role.
Whether you work for
an advertising agency, a marketing consultancy firm, or a professional
services organization that deals with clients, you have a stake
in the satisfaction of those clients--regardless of your specific
role in the company. If you are a client, you have your own clients
in the form of management, shareholders, customers, and/or consumers.
And if you're in the job market, everyone is your client.
If
you want to catapult your career, you must find a way to captivate
your clients.
The best way to captivate
clients is to significantly exceed "service" and give
them what they really want: passionate and proactive leadership!
The word "service" reeks of reactive behavior--someone
asks for something, and someone else responds by filling the request.
When client service providers remain in this reactionary mode,
as too many do, their clients see them as nothing more than "order
takers." These employees provide clients what is requested--but
nothing more. As a result, they are seen as old-fashioned
sales people who simply take and fill orders. They are not perceived
as adding value, and form transactional relationships instead
of strategic partnerships.
Three easy
steps to providing passionate client leadership!
Step 1: Start with a model mindset
A model mindset provides the foundation upon which to build the
proper fundamentals. The proper mindset starts with recognizing
that you are the "face" of your agency or company--and,
as such, you control the impressions that clients form. Everything
you do--however big or small--reflects upon your company and impacts
your clients' perceptions of it. Everything, from a proactive
and strategic business-building proposal to an e-mail strewn with
typos can, and will have an impact--good or bad. It is critical
to keep this in mind at all times to ensure you are forming positive
client impressions that will lead to ever-improving client partnerships.
Step
2: Develop quintessential qualities & skills
Once you have firmly adopted a model mindset, you must continually
develop the key qualities and skills that will help you succeed.
Success starts with being passionate and proactive
in how you approach every aspect of your client relationships.
Along with a model mindset, think of these qualities as your foundation
upon which to build. There are a host of other qualities and skills
that are essential building blocks to becoming a well-rounded
and high-impact partner on whom your clients can count, including,
but not limited to, being: positive, buttoned up, consultative,
confident, strategic, a leader, a relationship builder, a great
communicator, a great listener, curious, accountable, fun, consistent,
and, most importantly, yourself. The last thing you want
to do is appear insincere or artificial. As in any relationship,
you succeed by letting your unique personality shine through.
People don't warm up to a perfectly honed and balanced set of
skills and qualities; people warm up to other people. And clients
are people, too. So, be human. Be yourself.
Step
3: Apply proven practical tips
A great way to continually develop the quintessential qualities
and skills discussed in the previous step is to put them into
practice and apply them every day. Here are my top ten practical
tips for doing so:
1. Exceed expectations every day. Simply meeting clients'
expectations will not separate you from the horde of "order
takers" out there.
2. Stay in constant contact with clients. In order to lead
clients, you must be with them. E-mails and phone calls don't
count; do it face-to-face.
3. Keep current on clients. Knowledge of your clients'
businesses is a critical foundation to providing consultative
thought leadership.
4. Lead long-term client planning. Demonstrate to your
clients your desire to grow their businesses, not yours.
5. Strategically sell in new services. A strategy is a
choice, so be selective. Be client-centric, not a used-car sales
person (unless you actually are one!).
6. Prepare uniquely for all presentations. Each presentation
is different, depending on what you are presenting and to whom.
Avoid off-the-rack and re-purposed materials. Take the time to
tailor each talk.
7. Always send meeting summaries. Each client project is
a journey, and you're the leader. Keep everyone on the same page…literally.
8. Frequently solicit client feedback. Feedback is critically
important to the process of building client partnerships. Solicit
as much as you can as often as you can.
9. Maintain good manners. Proper manners are just as important
in business as they are in your personal life. Good manners show
that you are a good person, and good people garner trust and respect.
10. Communicate in a clear and compelling manner. If you're
going to tell your clients where to go, they must understand and
be motivated by what you have to say.
If you follow this
simple 3-step process to exceeding "service", you will
captivate your clients and catapult your career!
Copyright
2008 by Todd Sebastian (Edoc published with permission)
TODD
SEBASTIAN is the passionate leader of LINK, a unique training
& consulting company that provides practical solutions to
create stronger connections between marketing agencies and their
clients. He is also the best-selling author of “Tell Your
Clients Where to Go! A Practical Guide to Providing Passionate
Client Leadership.” John E. Pepper, legendary retired chairman
and CEO of Procter & Gamble, enthusiastically endorsed this
indispensible book. Todd has a proven track record of improving
agency-client partnerships from both sides, and he loves showing
others how they can, too! Please visit http://www.strongerLINK.com
to learn more, or contact Todd directly at (513) 240-8383.
Inc.