Customer and Client Satisfaction Utopia

Every business owner wants completely satisfied customers or clients. Here are four realizations I’ve experienced we can all use to help us reach this Utopia.

Realization #1: I can’t be everything to everyone.

This was a tough one for me to learn. There was a time I truly believed I could be all things to all people. But as time has passed, I’ve realized the power of the niche. If we decide who we are and what we’re about, we can create a following in just about any space we choose.

Realization #2: I can be the best at one thing.

In the movie, “City Slickers,” Jack Palance’s character, Curly, tells Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch, the secret to life is one thing. When Mitch asks what the one thing is, Curly tells him that’s what he has to figure out.

So is the challenge for each of us. When we each figure out what the one thing is for us, we can move forward with full confidence and achieve greater success than we have previously imagined. I looked for my “one thing” for a long time before understanding it was right in front of me. It has proven to be increasingly powerful as I’ve acted on it.

Realization #3: I must consistently make up-front agreements.

We’re all products of our experiences. Because of this, many situations in which a person feels mistreated isn’t because another party is trying to do the wrong thing, but rather because we all have different opinions as to what is acceptable or expected. A simple, but not necessarily easy, way to overcome this hurdle is to consistently make up-front agreements with those with whom we are doing business.

Assume nothing. Disclose everything. Re-check levels of understanding and agreement often.

This may seem like overkill, but when a misunderstanding does arise, the chances of being seen as a fair person who works hard to avoid such conflict just may be the difference between saving or losing a client.

Realization #4: If a shortcoming is mine, I’ll eat it.

No matter how hard we try to foresee every possible contingency, life is just too fast and unpredictable to always be right. That may be a hard fact to swallow, but it’s true nevertheless. Despite our best efforts to be focused, to be the best at what we do, and to make meaningful agreements with others, we’re going to misstep from time to time. When a shortcoming is ours, or even when we see that from another’s perspective it could be ours, we should be quick to take ownership and make things right.

This may mean some extra time on our part, it may require the addition of some value to a transaction to create compensation for the misunderstanding, and it may even take money out of our pockets at times. In the end, we lose little (and often gain a lot) by being stand-up and watching out for the best interests of our clients and others with whom we do business.

Should we become door mats for every abuser who comes our way? Absolutely not. But that’s a topic for another day…

Here’s to your marketing success!

Bryan Waldon Pope

Making the Most of Trade Shows, Expos, and Conferences

I spent a few days last week at an expo and a separate conference and, as always, was surprised at how few exhibitors and speakers had properly prepared for success. And that was just from my surface observations.

Although this isn’t an exhaustive list of possible preparations and actions, simply following these few key items would have made for a much more successful event for many of the companies that spent plenty of time and money to be in these shows. Here’s my short list of tips:

:: Decide what you want out of the show/expo/conference at the beginning of your planning, then create targeted actions based on your strategy. Capturing every attendee’s business card for a TV giveaway isn’t necessarily a good idea if your target audience is a small segment of those in attendance.

:: Give passers-by a reason to engage with the people at your booth. Far too many people set a table up at the front of the booth and sit behind it. Bad idea. Be accessible. Getting people out of the flow of traffic in the aisles into your booth can bring much better results in most cases.

:: Have a 3-second pitch to stop qualified attendees in their tracks. “How you doing?” isn’t what I’m talking about, either. At one show I helped a client prepare for, their pitch was this simple question: “Did your company have to fire more than 10 employees last year?” Everything about their booth asked this question and drew people in. They only talked to their target audience (HR managers with pain points surrounding employee turnover due to performance problems). The quality of their leads was impressive. No, they didn’t leave the show with the 1,500 business cards the people in the neighboring booth had; but they did leave with a few hundred qualified leads with whom they had meaningful conversations and specific follow-up agreements. They didn’t have to wade through the looky-loos to get to the serious prospects after the show.

:: Follow up. I’ve gone so far as to create business cards with specific, trackable contact information on them to give to exhibitors at events just to see how the follow-up is handled. Sadly, by far the majority of vendors never follow up at all. Why do the show and gather the information if you’re not going to proactively use it after the show?

Having a complete plan that addresses strategies and activities before, during, and after trade shows, expos, and conferences will help you meet the right people and achieve your desired results. Maybe I’ll write a book on this topic some day. For now, I hope these tips are helpful.

Here’s to your live event success!

Bryan Waldon Pope