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We all know marketing doesn’t end when the retainer agreement is signed. But we often forget that enriching the client’s experience is a work in progress, and the job is never done.
I had the pleasure of a long car ride some weeks ago (as a New York City resident, I don’t own a car and so seldom get to drive anymore) and took the time to do one of my favorite things. I called one of my coaching clients unannounced, just to chat and see how things were going.
Like me, this client is a bankruptcy lawyer. We started working together about a year ago as he began to get serious about marketing his bankruptcy practice, and we currently speak about once a month.
So, I asked, how’s it going?
It’s good, he said, but not fabulous. My referral rates are anemic, and I can’t figure out where I’m going wrong.
First we ran down my standard checklist to improve referral rates from prior clients. Everything was in place, firing on all cylinders. But then I asked him how he was creating an indelible mark on his clients.
He went silent. I’m getting their cases filed, getting their debts discharged, and doing good work. What else is there?
What I told him is this:
If you don’t help your clients get what they really want then you’ve lost the war for their referrals.
By that I don’t mean, “I got them a discharge in their bankruptcy case,” I mean, “I made it so pain-free and easy to work with me – and did it in an unexpected and delightful way – that my client was astounded.”
So how do you know what they want? In a recent post at Marketing Tech Blog, Travis Smith advocates that you start off by asking your clients. But I don’t think that’s going to yield any serious results.
Asking your client what they want will likely result in the same old, same old. People base their desires on the state-of-the-market now, not on what will truly help them. For example, before Gmail came out nobody would have asked for threaded email conversations. Prior to the advent of the iPod not too many people would have asked to have a clickwheel to get through their music libraries. The list goes one and on.
True, asking a client what they want is a first step towards improving their experience. But in order to truly get to the heart of the matter you need to continue down that road and probe. Why do you want this? How would it help you? What is the worst part of the experience of working with my office?
By asking these questions and more I was able to change the way I do business to suit the needs of my client base. I made changes they never expected, did things they didn’t think could be done, and made their lives easier. In the end, their experience was improved to the point where I became remarkable. And that spurred a growth in word-of-mouth referral marketing that continues to this day.
What do you do to improve your client’s experience?
Photo courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt.
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Jay,
I do think that a good first step is talking to your client. But you are absolutely right. Giving clients what they want will usually result in the same old, same old. The trick is really listening to what the client's goals and needs are, and not just give them all the cool stuff they think they want.
I also cannot agree more with continuing down the road and asking questions to stakeholders and users all along the way. You can never ask too many follow-up questions when you are trying to understand the actual motivations, goals and needs of a client or customer. You can't start improving your customer's experience until you understand your customer's motivations, goals and needs.
I am glad to see experience work being done is other industries. Everyone has customers that need to be treated better.
I am actually amazed that a practicing bankruptcy lawyer has the time to blog as much as you do. I have seen a real uptick in the cases coming in (with money). By the end of the day I am just whipped. I have all kinds of intentions for the weekend, but my wife has her intentions. Guess which get done.
More on point. I think this is an amazing post. It really gets to the root of the bk experience from the client perspective. This site always gives good information. This post is solid gold studded with diamonds.
One of these days I will have to put up a more recent picture for my gravatar. This one is about 20 years old, but I always liked it. I think it was the hat. My biggest problem is that I am always the guy behind the camera. As your children grow you will experience that as well.
I studied customer service techniques at the uni, and I think that it's really a big and difficult area, and if someone thinks, that it's easy and everyone can work in this area, I'd say that he is wrong. Remember, that clients are always right.
Travis, thanks for the comment and the insights. Customer service lags in all fields, and with posts like yours we can hopefully open up more eyes to the need to help the client in new and better ways.
Travis, thanks for the comment and the insights. Customer service lags in all fields, and with posts like yours we can hopefully open up more eyes to the need to help the client in new and better ways.