Now you’ve done it. You really messed up this time, and the customer is mad. Or maybe it wasn’t even your fault, but something did not turn out the way it should have. Maybe the customer isn’t angry, but you know that you did not deliver the results you should have.
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Creating Trust in Client Relationships
People do business with those they trust. That trust can be developed in many ways. If they can visit your place of business, see you face to face, get comfortable with you, and know they can come to you if they have a problem, they will be more likely to trust you and to buy from you.
But what if you do business with people over the web, or by phone or mail? How can you build trust?
Of course, it is important to provide excellent products and services. Whenever customers decide to do business with you, they will know their trust was well-placed.
Here are some ways you can encourage them to make that first purchase:
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Building Client Relationships
What happens when you take 20 randomly selected people from your contact database, introduce them and ask them to help each other? According to Phil Morabito, CEO of Pierpont Communications, you create friendships and lasting client relationships.
Pierpont, one of the largest public relations and marketing firms in Texas, regularly brings clients and others together for a variety of events. Each is an opportunity to create connections among some of the 10,000 people in their contact database, and to strengthen Pierpont’s relationships with these people. [Read more…]
Free or Fee?
How much should you give away for free, and when should you charge? This question comes up for service providers when deciding what content to put on a Web site, presenting to a potential client, or even answering the phone.
The justification for giving away free information and services is that by demonstrating your expertise, clients will see how you can help them and will then be willing to pay you. However, every service provider has horror stories of potential clients who strung them along, getting all of the freebies they could, and never becoming paying customers.
It is up to each business to decide how much they want to give away, and when they will start to charge. Providing free information can certainly be an effective marketing method, but when is enough enough? [Read more…]
How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?
Are you ever tempted to do something “just for the money”? At some time in our lives, most of us do things that we would not do if we didn’t need the money. It might be staying in a job we do not particularly enjoy, or accepting a client with whom we would prefer not to work. However, there are things you should not do if you value your reputation.
There are people who will sell anything, and will say anything to sell something to you. Although you may encounter them anywhere, the Internet seems to be a breeding ground for those who continually hype the latest and greatest way to separate you from your money. [Read more…]