Two scenarios:
A. You’re in your office making
up a new client folder for a client who doesn’t yet exist. Your
thinking about how you’ll work together and the phone rings. It’s a
prospect who’s interested in working with you.
B. You’re sitting
at your desk deeply involved in a project and the phone rings. It’s a
prospect who’s interested in working with you.
Which one of the above prospects will get the *best* you? Who will you spend more time with?
If your business is designed for success, the answer is NEITHER.
Successful
businesses have systems and processes which result in prospects and
clients being treated the same way every day, every encounter
regardless of what you’re doing.
Here are a few simple
systems/processes that you can put in place this week which will make a
huge difference in the experience for your prospects and clients:
1. Your voicemail.
Your
voicemail should say a little about your business and offer the caller
to send you an email (use your general business account). Whenever
possible, you want to provide an option for your prospects.
2. How you handle prospect inquiries.
When
someone is interested in coaching with me, there is a process that she
goes through. It’s the same process for every potential client and
insures the same experience for each of them while insuring that I get
the same information to assist in whether or not someone is accepted
into my coaching program.
3. Your new client "welcome packet".
You want to reinforce that a new client has made the right decision in hiring you.
In
addition to any email communications that you have with your new
client, send something via mail. Something that she can touch and flip
through is always better than electronic only and it gives you yet
another chance to reinforce your branding.
W. Edwards Deming
tells us that “97% of all failure is due to the SYSTEM and not the
person.” Yet so many skip over the critical step of creating systems
and processes. Don’t be one of them — your success depends on it. 🙂
For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing
self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by
implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot.
Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com
for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple
and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.