How do you turn a client complaint into a positive, word-of-mouth prospecting opportunity? It is amazing at how simple it can be (but not always easy…!) —to turn a negative into a positive. It is all in how you choose to respond.
No matter how hard you work to provide the best service for your clients, there will always be times when problems arise. If a client calls you and is obviously distraught or even angry, how you respond at that very moment will impact your ability to resolve the situation—and turn a negative complaint into a positive outcome.
You have heard it said a hundred times, and in a hundred different ways: You can’t beat referrals. If you don’t seek referrals, you are missing one of the simplest, yet effective ways to prospect. So it begs the question…can there be something better?
While St. Teresa of Calcutta did not toot her own horn, there were plenty of others so inspired to do that for her–and share her message and example of love and mercy.
Ultimately, it’s ALL about prospecting. If people didn’t need to prospect, business networking web apps such as LinkedIn wouldn’t be as popular and useful as they have become.
You see, too often, in both the B2B as well as B2C environments, sales professionals tend to want to begin the relationship by proposing marriage. In other words, they go in and after a short introduction, they propose a long-term, big ticket service, purchase or transaction of some kind that requires a level of trust that just hasn’t been fostered yet.
I recall a conversation with a client who owns a bookkeeping service company. While their client base is consistent in terms of size (small businesses, of course), they are still fairly diverse in the kinds of individuals and businesses they serve. That said, the owner was describing one client whom…
We have all been tempted to give up. For some of us at times in our lives, just playing the game is far more important than winning it.
Good, original content is like a soybean. There is virtually nothing that can not be done with it. If yours is a relationship-driven business (especially in the B2B space), then it is likely to your advantage that your communication media focus on serving your prospects through meaningful content, rather than just trying to sell to them.
When it comes down to it, a leader can only be driven by one or the other; he or she can only be driven by power, or purpose.