Listening To Clients Can Benefit Your Business – Are You Good At It?

by Francis | Uncategorized

Did you know that listening to clients is one of the most valuable weapons in your marketing arsenal?

We often take “listening” for granted…

But, when you become good at it and when you listen to– and understand what people REALLY say, you gather important information that can shape the future of your business.

We can compare “listening to clients” with eating a jawbreaker – those round sweets that consist of several layers and are so hard that you just cannot bite through them without breaking a tooth. When you eat a jawbreaker you have to suck through the hard shell and the different colored layers to eventually reach the soft, yummi core of the sweet.

It works the same with  listening when you want to create a connection with your clients and experience that unique client chemistry where you truly understand them and they truly trust your abilities. You have to figuratively suck through the hard shell and the different layers of your clients to eventually reach the core essentials (the soft, yummi part) of what they really want….and you can only reach that core through attentively listening to clients.

When your clients are doing the talking, you gain a window into what he or she is thinking and by carefully listening to what they say, you gather valuable information that can help you:

• understand their needs
• connect with them better
• provide tailor-made support
• solve their problems
• create more trust and understanding
• tailor your marketing message
• improve your marketing strategies
• and eventually get more clients…

So, next time you have a discussion with a prospective client; are on the phone with an existing client… or even when you are just in a social conversation with someone else, keep the following listening tips in mind:

1.      Listen with concentration

Be fully present in the conversation. Open your mind and ears and be receptive to the messages the other person is giving.  Start listening from the first word and give the person your undivided attention. When people talk to you, listen and concentrate to make sure you hear what they are saying.  Good listeners are not passive and they do not drift away with thoughts of their own.

2.      Listen without interruption

 The purpose of listening is to understand the message.  Although you might think you know and understand what your clients want to say, avoid the urge to interrupt or finish their sentences.  Be polite, listen carefully and always “put your brain into gear before you put your mouth into motion”.

3.     Listen with the mindset to discuss

 Effective listening is not a one way street.  Make notes of what is being said and ask open ended questions.  By asking the right questions, you are not only encouraging your client to do the talking, but it also allow you to get the key information you need about what your prospect is really looking for. Then take part in the conversation.

Ralph Nichols said “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

So now it is over to you…:)

Share with us below how listening to clients has helped you in the past….and if you liked this post please do share it.  Thanks!

~ Francis xo

5 Tips To Use Google Alerts And Create Client Chemistry For Your Solo Business

by Francis | Uncategorized

Google Alerts is a nifty little tool that you can use as your own personal research assistant. As a woman solo preneurs, you often need all the help you can get. So having a research assistant (for free) that can adapt quickly and efficiently to each and every command you give and help you stay on top of all the latest information in your industry, is just priceless.

Google Alerts is a system that searches the web, news sources, blogs, video sites and groups for any new information related to any search term you specify. Then, as the name suggests, it “alerts” you via an automated email about new results.

Whether you are just starting out and want more information about your industry or a savvy business owner who wants information to do some brand management and / or keep up to date with your clients to create additional client chemistry, Google Alerts can help you out.

Here are 5 great ways for using Google alerts to create client chemistry in your business.

1.     Strengthen Client Relations / Protect Your Brand :

Do you know what people are saying about you? With Google alerts you can set alerts for your own name, your business name, your website / blog URL.  For example, by setting an alert for you website URL, you receive notifications when your site is mentioned or appears across the internet and can then monitor who’s linking to you and who’s talking about you. Alerts on your name or business name furthermore makes it easy to see what people are saying about you and your business. It can help you to quickly pick-up and correct any client concerns, thus protecting your brand and calming down the fires with prompt customer service. In addition sending a thank you note to clients who make a positive mention about you or your business strengthens client relations

2.     Enhance Service Delivery to Your Clients;

Setting alerts for specific keywords or phrases pertaining your industry / niche / specialty / new training / new developments / technology etc. help you to stay up to date with what is going on. By being informed you have an added advantage to get new ideas for blog posts and content to share. When you are notified of new developments and upcoming products or discover new business related tools that you can use, it helps to give better service and information to your own clients.

3.     Create Ongoing Client Chemistry With Present And Past Clients

Wow and impress your clients by setting up alerts for their names and businesses. Send them a note of congratulations if they had some media coverage or catch a negative mention about their brand and offer ways to help them remedy the issue. Alerts on previous clients can help you to keep in touch and is a great reason to catch up with them. It can perhaps lead to repeat business.

4.    Find Potential Clients

A way to drive targeted traffic to your website, building authority and loyal followers is to create alerts for search phrases that monitor the most common questions your target market ask in forums and groups about the specific services you deliver. Then jump in to provide an expert answer and provide a link to your website. These types of alerts are great for finding out what potential clients want and are struggling with and give valuable information to determining an effective marketing strategy.

5.     Keep an eye on your competition. 

It is always good to know what your competitors are doing so you can stay ahead and maintain your unique spot in your market place. Alerts for competitors help you to know about new products and services they offer; where they get their back links from (to help you with your own website linking strategy); know who is talking about them and ultimately help you with fine-tuning your own marketing strategy.

All-in-all, using Google alerts will have you tracking down anything you can think of in no time.  Apply some creativity, try it out and see what works best for you and your business.

Tell us below, how you use this little research assistant to benefit your business.

Tips to Get Awesome Testimonials That Get You More Clients

by Francis | Uncategorized

If you don’t like to sell your services, there is some good news! Your testimonials can do the selling for you. That’s because testimonials are considered as excellent social proof – i.e. if someone else is saying how good you are, then it must be true.

This type of social proof reassures prospects that you deliver on what you promise in your marketing materials and conversations.  It instills trust and adds to your credibility which ultimately makes it easier for potential clients to start working with you.

But how do you get those awesome testimonials that sell?

Here are my tips.

#1 Make It a Routine to Ask For Testimonials

Most of the time when you don’t have enough testimonials is because you don’t ask for them! There is nothing wrong to ask a client to give you feedback on the work you’ve done together. They will be more than happy to do so.

The best time to ask is when clients are full of praise for you; you’ve just completed a project or program with a client or just right after an event when they are full of enthusiasm and excitement. You can have a formal “testimonial/feedback” form ready to send to clients or you can ask them to give feedback while you are on the phone.

The important thing is just to ask. Then depending on your work together and the time they need to get results, you can schedule a reminder to follow up with them on their progress and ask them to compare their situation before to where they are now. When you can compare the before and after on paper it reinforces the results and successes they received from working with you.

#2 Make Your Testimonials Results Orientated

For a testimonial to do the selling for you, it needs to say more than “You Rock!”. It needs to say why you rock. Just think about TV infomercials and how impressive it is when you see the before and after photo of someone who says they dropped 20 pounds in just 5 weeks! Well, you can do the same with your testimonials when you show your clients’ before and after stories.

So when you ask for a testimonial encourage clients to share what their situation was before they worked with you and what it is now in terms of e.g. increased revenue, more clients, more confidence, more time, better health, more happiness etc.  If they can state it in measurable results so much better, e.g “As a result of ABC, I doubled my income over the last 2 months”.

#3 Make It Easy For Clients to Give a Powerful Testimonial

Clients want to give testimonials and praise you for what you’ve done for them, but often they don’t really know exactly what to say. Then they provide a really “nice” testimonial on how great YOU are, but forget to state what you’ve done for THEM. And although it can boost your self-confidence to get these “nice” testimonials, they are not the ones that get the sales. You want a powerful testimonial that outlines the results a client received from working with you.

To ensure you get what you want and in the process also makes it easier for clients to formulate their testimonial, ask them to answer a series of specific questions so you are able to extract the results of working together from their answers. Answering a few questions is much easier for clients than writing a testimonial. Afterwards, you can edit their answers into a formal testimonial and give it to them for approval.

Then showcase your testimonials on your website for potential clients to see and to be inspired about what you can do for them too!

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In the comments below, let me know if you are currently using testimonials in your business and what you’re going to do this week to create some client chemistry with this piece of your marketing!