Empowering Your Clients
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 07:03
I live in an old house with an old heating system. It seems I am constantly having problems with my boiler. This past week the boiler just stopped working. It wouldn't fire up and it was pretty cold outside. I called my plumber, A. Fagundes Plumbing and Heating and Al walked me through some things to check. It turned out that he had to come out. While he was here, Al walked me through the steps he was taking and answered all the questions I had.
Everytime Al comes out (which has been way too often), he has a bunch of advice for me. Al knows I like to do what I can myself and is quick to let me know when this is possible and even provides instructions when needed.
This is a big difference from many of the businesses out there. There are many businesses trapped in the outdated practice of trying to keep clients through strong-arm techniques. Sorry guys, but this is becoming more and more difficult to do. As the Internet levels the playing fields between small and big businesses and local and distant businesses, customers are no longer forced to stay with you because you are the only provider in the area. I doubt you are the only provider in the world.
A side effect of holding your customers hostage is that once they find a new service provider and see what they were missing, they are not going to keep quite about your business practices.
So, how do you know if you are empowering your clients or keeping them hostage?
- Do you answer questions and give tutorials?
- Do you recommend free products, competitors' products, or other alternatives even if it means you lose a sale?
- Do you provide clents with the information they need to make a sound decision about your products or services?
If you answered yes to the above questions, good for you. You are most likely the type of person/business who empowers their clients. If you answered no, all is not lost. All businesses are a work in progress, work on it.
Let's all take a lesson from my plumber Al. Empowering your clients is a way to create trust and a lifelong client. I may not be calling Al when I need to replace the air valves on my radiators, but when it's time for a new boiler, I already know who's getting the job. And guess what? It's time for a new boiler.
Dislcaimer: I pay Al to do my plumbing and heating, he pays me to help him with his website and online marketing.
