Thursday, June 12, 2008

Can customers really be drawn to you, almost like a magnet?

By Scott Nelson

The "Millionaire Maker" Dan Kennedy didn't get that nickname and the acclaim that goes with it by being mediocre. His focus is to show his clients the exact road map to take their ideas and turn their ideas into a successful business.

When entrepreneur magazine says about you: "Dan Kennedy has 101 money making ideas for any business owner.", that is powerful stuff. He is able to take his principles and put them to work for his clients in any industry or business. He currently works with clients in roughly 60 businesses. In any given year, he'll make as much as a quarter million dollars in a month providing strategies in direct marketing, copywriting and marketing materials, video production and infomercials and profit improvement systems.

Kennedy works with small businesses and huge corporations. A small operation littered with debt and failed advertising will turn to Dan's instruction. Less than two years later, the business has zero debt and a home-based mail-order business generating over $200,000 a month with insanely high profit margins.

Dan is best known, on the other hand, for his marketing consultations with billion dollar information marketing companies. He has been a prominent member of the Guthy Renker marketing brain trust for years. U.S. Gold credits Kennedy with increasing it's sales by the millions.

Dan taught me the principle of total customer value. Basically, Dan stressed that it easier and faster and ultimately more profitable to focus on developing the existing relationships with current customers.

The thing that made the biggest difference in turning around our business was learning about what it meant to give excellent customer service and to set out to doing those things consistently. This means dealing with the customers in all states of emotion. Customers are just easier to deal with when everything goes the way they want it. The fact is that things don't always please them. So customer service is really about managing the times when they aren't happy. It is a much harder skill to master but with the potential for great rewards. The goal is to take the difficulty and grow customer loyalty by how you handle it.

A client can take offense to a number of things when it comes to doing business with you. Whether it be the actual product, your prices, or your customer service, some clients just find things to gripe about. And you can't ignore their complaints. Instead, acknowledge their problem and defuse the situation by:

Thanking them. Often the customer will express themselves impolitely. Start by thanking them regardless. None of this is personal. Stay calm and composed.

Beginning your phrase with, "Let me see if I understand you completely." Then restate the complaint of the customer. This accomplishes two things. First, it gives the customer pause and a moment to calm down. Second, it shows that you are listening and taking their concerns seriously.

Finding at least one thing in their complaint that you can agree with. Regardless of how unfounded their complaint is in your mind, you should pick out one major point that you can agree with. Then, build your rebuttal on that point. For instance: "Well, Mr. Harris, I can certainly understand you being upset about delivery being late. I will personally make sure that it doesn't happen again. Now, about your other concerns..." This lets them know that you are not defensive about the situation, and you would rather help solve their problem than make excuses.

Solving the customer's problem. The client picks a fight, not to fight, but to be heard and make you understand that there is a problem. It's your role to play along and stay locked in on solving the problem. These situations handled correctly are when true customer loyalty is build. Success here adds to your total customer value and your profits.

I will tell you without hesitation that these techniques saved my business. I knew nothing about total customer value and what it meant to my bottom line. The understanding of the importance of TCV will make you stronger in customer service all by itself. Dan's "Magnetic Marketing" is the ultimate resource for marketing principles that work to change the fortunes of your business, fast. It is these simple, low cost to no cost strategies, which make the biggest difference. Before Magnetic Marketing, I was ignorant to these concepts.

He'll let anyone try it for 1 year with a full money back guarantee with no hassles or fuss. Sometimes when you come to the point where things aren't working and you have nothing to lose. That's when the right teacher appears. Or maybe you are just starting and can't afford set backs.

I am not a fan of trying to be a pioneer in a field where there is so much saturation of information and strategies. It only leave me shot up and full of arrows. When I picked the right teacher, the one who makes people money again and again, my fortunes turned. It totally pays to stop guessing and to simply copy the way people are making money.

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