What’s the secret to attracting
and retaining the kind of clients you
enjoy working with most?
Picture yourself looking at your appointment book in the morning and smiling, because you are looking forward to seeing everyone whose name is on that list.
And then imagine that the majority of the clients you saw that day gave you more of their assets to manage, or stepped up the level of service they would now like you to provide.
Think how it would feel if you never had to actively prospect for clients again, because your current clients steadily refer all the business you can handle.
There are hundreds of financial professionals
all across the country
who are in this very position.
** And you could be one of them!! **
Because there is a mechanism for attracting and retaining the kind of clients you most want to have.
There is a technique that subtly but effectively influences the perception they build of you, and motivates them to want to be a client of yours.
There is a factor that influences them not only to stay with you year after year, but also encourages them to refer more clients to you.
And just what is this magical element?
It’s the Experience that prospects, who then become clients, have with you and your business. It begins the minute you first appear on their radar screen, and continues on throughout their entire relationship with you. Which, if you do it right, could be many, many years.
It’s the Experiences your clients and prospects have with you that influence how they perceive you, influence how they feel about you, and therefore influence whether or not they want to do business with you.
How do I do that??
One of the easiest and most common ways to influence a client’s perception of your business is through the physical appearance of your office and other visual cues, such as the way you and your employees dress. The personal interaction prospects and clients have with you and your staff also strongly influences any conclusions they come to.
Give me an example
Mary Anne, a 50-something administrative assistant to the senior vice president of the local television station, has just inherited a surprising amount of money from her great-uncle Horace and wants to invest it relatively conservatively because she has heard of too many people who have lost millions in the stock market. She feels she needs some help, and has three interviews set up with financial planners her colleagues have referred her to.
Option number one
The first firm she visits is a pretty substantial operation, taking up two floors in the fanciest office building in town. The waiting room and conference room are very polished, the receptionist is polite and attentive, and both she and the other staff Mary Anne sees are conservatively dressed, mostly in suits. There are quite a few people bustling around, the phones are constantly ringing, and numerous people who appear to be clients are coming and going.
The meeting with two of the planners on staff, one a senior person and the other a more junior person, is fairly formal, and the conversation is right to the point and focuses on her investment goals. They suggest a few options, but their explanations are above her head and she doesn’t get the feeling they would welcome questions, so she doesn’t ask many.
The senior person has to leave after half an hour, leaving her with the junior person, who is very nice but still formal, and she gets the feeling that most of her communications are probably going to be with him.
She receives a letter signed by the junior person a few days later, that, like the interview, is very business-like and reads like the standard letter they probably send out to everyone.
Option number two
The second practice she visits has a tasteful waiting room, and when she walks in the door, the receptionist stands up and with a warm smile on her face, greets her by name. The receptionist and the other employees are conservatively dressed, although very few of them are in suits, and there appear to be about 10 people in the office. They smile and say hello when they pass Mary Anne in the hallway, and the overall ambience is low-key and friendly.
The two planners she meets with, a man and a woman, are both partners in the firm, and the meeting itself takes place in the woman’s private office. Both are dressed conservatively in business suits. The partners ask her about her family, her work, and great-uncle Horace, before getting to what her investment goals are.
They offer a few different investment options or scenarios, explain how each one fits in with the conservative direction she has told them she wants to go in, encourage questions and answer them until she feels comfortable that she understands the advantages and differences among each one.
A few days later, she receives a letter, signed by both partners, thanking her for considering their firm; a brief, general overview of the options discussed; an invitation to phone with any more questions she might have; and a very warm hope that she will choose them.
Option number three
The third office is located in a large, open loft space in the trendy part of town, the furnishings are very modern and there appear to be approximately six people working there. Mary Anne meets with the two partners, both in their thirties, who are dressed casually, as is the rest of the staff, and their demeanor is fairly casual too. The meeting itself takes place at a big table in the middle of the room, which feels more private than she would have thought because the loft was so big and the employees were all located towards the front.
They listen to her concerns about investing conservatively and assure her they can do that, however their plan is general in nature and doesn’t offer too many specifics. She knows from her research that they are extremely successful and have, in fact, made a couple of her colleagues a considerable amount of money. She does not receive a letter from them afterwards.
All other things being equal…
The large operation might make a prospective client feel that the firm must be very trustworthy and successful, because it’s obvious a great many other investors have chosen them.
The second firm might appeal more to a prospect who is not necessarily very sophisticated, and who feels more comfortable in an environment where it feels like there is more of a personal connection with the advisors and the other people working there.
The hip and trendy practice might appeal to a younger investor not only because of their reputation, but because they feel more comfortable in that sort of environment and with younger, more laid-back people.
How does Mary Anne choose?
Mary Anne has heard only positive things about all three firms from people she trusts. She has no way of knowing which planner is “better” when it comes to their expertise, she’s only got the Experience she had when visiting each one to go on. It is the perceptions she gathers from the Experiences she had that are going to influence which one she decides to go with.
And this is how your prospects make their decisions too. The Experiences they have are what influence their perception of you and your practice, and whether or not it feels more right to choose you or someone else.
How do you motivate people to choose you?
So in order to tip the scales in your favor, you must positively influence the perception they develop about you. And the way you do that is to carefully orchestrate the Experience they have from the very first second you appear on their radar screen until they’ve signed on the dotted line.
And to stay with you?
It is also the Experiences they have once they have become a client, too, that further influences their perception of you and whether or not they are going to decide to remain a client. If the actual client Experience is not sufficiently satisfying, they’re going to look for someone else who gives them an Experience they do find more appealing.
WHY?
- Why is it the Experience they have and not the expertise you bring to the table?
- Why is it the Experience you deliver, and not the results you produce?
- Why is it the Experience you provide, and not the financial security they gain?
BECAUSE:
- The services or products you’re selling are intangible; there is nothing to see, to hear, or to touch.
- The service or product you’re selling is only an abstraction, a concept, something that only potentially exists.
- When a service or a product is invisible, it is the perception of the person or firm providing it, that influences whether or not the prospect says to himself, “This feels right to me, OK, sign me up!
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
As long as that perception continues to be positive, the client will remain pleased and satisfied with his decision, and will not only have no desire to leave, he’ll urge other people to make the same astute decision he did.
If all this makes sense to you, if you’re |
Designing an Experience that will attract the type of client you most want to work with, is not as difficult as it might initially sound. Executing it, however, is more of a challenge, and until you get the hang of it, you will need some assistance and guidance.
How do I go about doing this?
The Experience Formula is a short-term coaching program that focuses on planning and executing appealing and relevant Experiences for the prospects that you have identified as the segment of the market you wish to do business with, people you have determined are your ideal clients.
You’ll develop the kinds of Experiences that will attract the kind of clients you enjoy working with the most, keep those clients with you year after year, inspire them to invest more of their assets with you, and encourage them to refer their friends and colleagues to you.
Why should I choose to work with Sydney?
OK, you might be snickering at the idea of working with a former Madam to design appropriate and appealing Experiences for your prospects and clients. After all, isn’t it obvious that your business is different?!? What could she possibly bring to the table that you could legitimately (no pun intended !) use?
As you probably heard on the interview, Sydney’s former business was almost totally about the Experience she designed for her clients – and we’re not referring to the kind of prurient Experience you would associate with that kind of business, either!
She created an extremely specific Experience around that “other” Experience, and it was this overall Experience, not the “other” one that her clients returned over and over again to have. And paid top dollar for, too!!
Sydney is a recognized authority
It was her first book, the one that made it to number one on the New York Times Bestseller List, the same one that Fortune Magazinenamed one of the top ten business books of the year, that established her as someone who understood the importance of the Customer Experience, and how to create it.
Because of that expertise, she’s had a very successful consulting practice for two decades. Most clients first have her do a Fresh Eyes Analysis of their business, after which she works with them to develop and execute an Experience Renovation or an Experience Upgrade that will resonate with the kind of clientele they would like to attract and do business with.
In recognition of her success with working with entrepreneurs, small businesses and professional practices, Entrepreneur Magazine invited her to write a monthly column of the subject of the customer Experience for entrepreneur.com. Sydney is also a frequent guest on monthly calls for the members of a wide variety of business coaching groups and presents at numerous events all over the country on the subject of the client, the customer and the patient Experience.
FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!
You are invited to schedule a complimentary Business Strategy Session with Sydney to discuss what kinds of Experiences might resonate with your clients. Send an email to sydney@sydneybarrows.com to set up a personal consultation.
KEEP IN MIND THAT:
Just because you put off deliberately creating an Experience for your prospects and customers, doesn’t mean they aren’t getting one anyway.
If you are not in control of the Experiences your clients and prospects are receiving right now, you are not in control of the perceptions they are developing of you.
- It is those perceptions that influence whether or not they choose you.
- It is those perceptions that influence whether or not they stay with you.
- It is those perceptions that influence whether or not they give you more of their business.
- It is those perceptions that influence whether or not they feel confident referring other people to you.
So by doing nothing, you are still doing something, and that something is probably not be in your best interests.
Schedule a complimentary Business Strategy Session with Sydney today by emailing her at sydney@sydneybarrows.com and find out what ideas she comes up with for your business.
Or if you are already convinced that improving the Experiences your prospects and clients have with you is exactly what you and your business need, click on this link to get more detailed information about all of the exclusive member benefits and the special bonuses you’ll receive when you join The Experience Formula coaching program.
DOING NOTHING IS STILL DOING SOMETHING
Something that might not cast you in the best light, something that may not be advantageous to you or your business, something that does not positively influence the perception prospects and clients receive about you.
Something, possibly many things, that creates a negative influence, and causes people to develop a negative perception of you. You have no chance of getting or keeping their business that way!
SO DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW ABOUT THIS
Find out more about how being a member of The Experience Formula coaching program will positively impact your business by attracting more of the clients you most want to work with, motivate those clients to stay with you year after year, persuade them to give you even more of their business, and inspire them to regularly refer their friends and colleagues to you. There are lots of exclusive member benefits and bonuses you’ll get when you join too, so click on this link and find out more about it!