Last week I listened in on a webinar hosted by Accretive Advisor with guest speaker Julie Littechild, President of Advisor Impact. Julie addressed a very common issue among many sales professionals: what we think our clients want is completely different from what they actually want. In order to solve this problem, Julie suggested a pretty straight forward solution – listen to what your customers want!
Listening to your customers, however, is not as easy as it sounds. Here are a few ways you can enhance your customer feedback practices in order to use this information to improve sales efforts.
Receiving Referrals is a Long-Term Tactic
Do not expect to receive all the information you want about your services with one customer discussion. Instead, ask questions about how the process is going along the way. For example, are they happy with the strategy you’ve put in place? What would they like to see in terms of a timeline for completing a task/product, etc.? Are there any concerns with the person in charge of said project?
Stop Putting up Barriers
Yes, you must always stay professional in business, but you also need to be personable. Julie stated in the webinar that customers will usually refer someone/company if they are asked and they are usually doing it for friends and/or family. They are not going to recommend your services to a family member if they feel your approach was cold or you were disassociated.
Don’t Forget About Successful Clients
Gaining customer feedback should not only come from unsatisfied customers, but should also come from successful partnerships. There is great untapped potential in successful clients so instead of moving on with the satisfaction that your company has helped another, put together a strategy that allows you to gain feedback on their experience as well. For example, exit survey or informal exit interview.
Use Referrals to Your Advantage
Don’t solely use referrals at a networking event when you’re discussing the success of your company, use them on your website, newsletter or as a case study, where they will be noticed! Referrals in the form of stories (case studies) are a great way to engage readers and to give them a sense of how your business operates.
If you’re still stuck on ways to receive feedback from your clients, try putting simple questions such as “what did you think?” at the bottom of your newsletter. Ask people to submit remarks on how you could enhance your blogs. Crafting your marketing efforts doesn’t have to come solely from your marketing team; you also want to engage prospects by telling them how you work from someone who has worked with you.
For more information on driving your sales efforts, or to give us feedback on our website, newsletter, (or this blog), feel free to comment below!
