Saturday, July 5, 2008

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

By Scott Nelson

Dan Kennedy is known in business and marketing circles as the "millionaire maker". His fame comes from his results. He takes his clients and shows them step by step how to take and idea and turn it into money.

Entrepreneur Magazine says that Dan Kennedy has "at least 101 moneymaking ideas for any business owner." 'Millionaire-Maker' Dan Kennedy moves with remarkable ease from one very different field to another, working with clients in 62 different businesses, industries and professions, earning as much as $250,000.00 in a single month providing unusual direct-response advertising and direct marketing advice, strategy, copywriting and marketing materials, video production and infomercials, and profit improvement systems.

Kennedy's clients include everything from sole entrepreneurs to huge corporations. Here are just a few examples - there's the husband-and-wife couple who came to Dan with an idea, a mountain of debt, and failing advertising. Less than two years later, they have zero debt and a home-based mail-order business generating over 200 000.00 a month at about a 40% profit margin.

Or, there's the now-giant Guthy-Renker Corporation, famous for its celebrity infomercials with Victoria Principal and Vanna White, and its Tony Robbins infomercials. Guthy-Renker is a 200-million dollar+ a year business now, and Dan's been a key member of their brain trust since their very first infomercial (Think And Grow Rich). Or there's U.S. Gold, a company that has twice increased its sales by millions with Dan Kennedy provided marketing breakthroughs. And the list goes on and on and on.

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.

We turned our whole business around by focusing greater attention and energy to providing excellent customer service. One of the skills that goes with this focus is handling customer complaints. Learning how to handle customer difficulties in a way that grows the customer's loyalty rather than fractures it.

It is no surprise that customers can complain about any number of things. It could be the product, prices, or your service. Also, even when all those things are excellent, some customers just find things to gripe about. Whatever happens, avoid the temptation to simply ignore them. Instead own up to the problem and calm the situation by:

Thanking them. Thank him/her for their comment, even if it was expressed in an impolite manner. Try to remember that their attack is not personal, and it's best that you don't treat it that way. Keep your composure and remain cool.

Start your response with: "Let me see if I understand you completely." Then restate the person's complaint back to them. What this accomplishes is vitally important. First of all, it gives the customer a chance to cool down. It also shows the client that you are truly listening and are serious about their concerns.

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 problem. The only reason a client picks a fight in the first place is to let you know that they have a problem. It's your job to play along and solve that problem. Remember, this is your chance to turn a negative situation into a positive one and actually gain your client's loyalty.

I have no doubt that these lessons saved my business. Refocusing and staying locked on the concept of total customer value can, by itself, turn your entire business around. It can go from dull and pain inducing to exciting and profitable. Dan's "Magnetic Marketing" is loaded with these sorts of techniques. Simple, inexpensive if not free, and having a quick noticeable impact on profits.

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.

About the Author:

No comments: