14 Tips for Exceeding Clients’ Expectations

“Under-promise, and over-deliver.” That’s the old adage. If you want to exceed your clients’ expectations on a regular basis, it’s important to find strategies that don’t require too much time or money. After all, you’re a small-business owner, so you probably don’t have a huge staff to help you work with clients.

While getting clients is always important, keeping clients is absolutely essential!

Try these 14 tips for exceeding clients’ expectations:

1.    Always meet your deadlines. This makes your clients feel that you value them and that they are important to you.

2.    Always fulfill your promises. Do what you say you’re going to do. This may sound obvious, but it’s the number one reason why clients are unsatisfied.

3.    Return all emails and calls. You want your clients to feel that the lines of communication are open. If you don’t have time right away, send a brief message saying that you’ll get back to them in detail as soon as you can, and fulfill this promise.

4.    Keep your client up-to-date on all progress. Send regular updates, even just to touch base and let them know that you’re working. If you’re just starting out, make it clear that you’re excited to get started and that they can communicate with you about any concerns. Doing these things will make your client feel well taken-care-of and important.

5.    Build relationships with all your clients. It’s not a good practice to only reach out to clients when you have something you want to sell them. Make sure they’re signed up for your newsletter (which is not just marketing material, but mostly useful content). Regularly check in with them, even if just to say hello. If you come across an article that is relevant to your client, forward it to them.

6.    Teach your clients about the best buying practices for your industry. This will make them feel more confident and satisfied to be working with you. Don’t keep them in the dark about these things. Be honest and open.

7.    Be your clients’ best resource. Refer them as much as possible. Share your proven contacts with them. Assist them in finding the expert help they need (which will also help you form your own strategic alliances).

8.    Offer more. Any time a client purchases something from you, make sure they know that you have more to give.

9.    Seek your ideal clients, and work with them. This way, you’ll be in the best position possible to have satisfied clients.

10.    Meet their needs. Make sure that what you’re offering is exactly what your clients want. Talk to your loyal clients about what more you could do for them or if there’s something else you should be offering.

11.    Welcome feedback. This is one of the best ways to improve your business. Listen to what clients have to say about your work, and don’t take it personally. Make sure they know you want their opinions.

12.    Offer suggestions. You are the expert. Share your expertise by offering your clients relevant suggestions.

13.    Be pleasant to work with. Being warm and friendly goes a long way for your business. Treat clients as you would like to be treated.

14.    No surprises. Don’t add sneaky fees or extra costs. Be upfront with all financial matters.

Learning Business From TV Shows

Okay, while I’ve never been a huge TV watcher, I have to admit that I’ve recently been sucked in by a few shows. Most recently I’ve gotten a bit hooked on American Pickers.

This show features two guys with a company called Antique Archaeology who travel around the country buying random, often rusty, antiques people have collected. Then they resell the items later for a profit through their store in Iowa.

It’s fascinating to see the “junk” that has real resale value. And it’s even more fascinating to hear the stories behind the antiques they see and buy. But in addition to that, there is a huge sales lesson to be learned from watching how these guys operate.

You see, while sometimes they have a hot lead, often they’re doing cold calls. They just pull up to a house with a ton of random stuff in the yard (you know, rusting cars or tractors, old signs, hubcaps, you name it). Then they knock on the door and hand the owner a list of the sorts of things they’re interested in.

If they have what the American Picker guys are looking for, the “junk collectors” are typically thrilled to show off their collections and share their stories with a couple of interested and knowledgeable fellow “pickers” like Mike and Frank. So you get a glimpse inside history as they unveil garages packed with old cars, bikes, signs, pottery and who knows what else.

The real lesson for us entrepreneurs though, comes when you watch the guys try to make their first purchase. Because, the amazing characters they meet aren’t always willing to let go of their treasures (any more than your clients want to part with their dollars)!

Whether it’s for sentimental reasons or simply because they are hoarders by nature, it’s often hard to break the ice and get them to part with that first item in exchange for cold, hard cash. So while the guys on American Pickers might be buying instead of selling, you can learn a lot by emulating what they do.

1) They don’t try to buy right away. Mike and Frank don’t just walk into someone’s shed and make an offer. First they work to develop a real relationship and connection to the person. They make it clear they share the collector’s passion for antiques. And that creates that know, like and trust factor that’s oh so important.

This works equally well in any business. Get to know your clients, then let them get to know you, and it’s much easier to make a sale down the road.

2) They start small. Rarely do the guys throw out an offer for a big-ticket item (a car, or motorcycle) right off the bat. Instead they try to break the ice with something that’s less consequential (oil cans, a small sign). Once they get the first yes, it’s much easier to get the next one, and the one after that.

You can do the same by offering options at a variety of price points. Then start by trying to sell something at the low-end. Once you get the first sale follow up immediately with a second offer at the same price or higher. And stay in touch with more offers down the road.

3) They don’t give up easily. I’ve watched those guys get no after no before finally finding an item the collector is willing to part with. But they don’t let those first few no’s stop them. They just keep making different offers on different items until they get a yes.

If you want to make sales you have to do the same.

4) They make sure it’s a win-win. While Mike and Frank are clearly trying to make a buck on the resale of the items they buy, they never try to screw the other person to make that buck.

They understand that if the other person doesn’t feel there is value in the deal—and they’ve been treated with respect—they won’t be able to buy anything else. This is always true whether you’re on the buying or the selling side of the deal.

5) They know they’ve done a great job when they get asked back to a place to pick it again. You know you’ve done a great job when people come back for more. 

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 4

There are a lot of theme parks in Southern California. The competition for Disneyland is tough. Yet, for over 50 years now, the pattern has been the same. People plan their vacation around Disneyland, spending 3 to 5 days at the park, and may add a day at one of the other parks – Universal, Knott’s or Magic Mountain. If you looked at the size of the theme park pie and the slice that Disney carves off, the imbalance would be remarkable. Why does Disney suck up over 80 cents of every theme park dollar spent in the region?

It’s not the rides. Universal’s rides are probably more technically impressive. Magic Mountain and Knott’s certainly has more thrilling rides. Disney’s biggest coaster, California Screamin’, is a rather mild ride for a coaster fanatic (which I am).

I believe there are several reasons, and I’ll try to deal with them in individual posts. Today, I want to talk about attention to detail.

The Hotchkiss Detail Obsessive Guide to Disneyland

My family has been to Disneyland at least 6 times. People hate visiting the park with us because we have routines (others are less kind and call them rituals, or cult-like behavior) that have to be adhered to. It’s important which side of the train station you enter onto Main Street on. And you don’t rush past the circle at the top of the street. You spend a few minutes lingering and drinking in the atmosphere. You either stroll (never rush) down main street or take the horse drawn tram. You may stop at the Blue Ribbon Bakery for a coffee. You make your way to the Partners statue at the center of the park for a few minutes with Walt and Mickey and while you’re there, pay particular attention to the flowers planted around them. Take note, because they may be completely different tomorrow. From the center in front of the Castle, we then veer to the left, usually ambling through Adventureland and head towards New Orleans Square because the first ride has to be (this is non-negotiable) Pirates of the Caribbean.

Pirates is one of our favorite rides, earning it’s place as a Hotchkiss Tradition. And it’s not because it’s thrilling (it’s not) or technically amazing (although it may have been with the ride debuted in 1967). It’s because the attention to detail on this ride is simply amazing. It’s the last ride that Walt himself personally oversaw the design of. Everything has been thought through, down to the smallest scar, gold doubloon or cobweb. And that is the Disney difference. You won’t find that fanatic attention to detail in Universal, Knott’s or Magic Mountain. It’s a Disney hallmark.

It’s What You Do Between the Rides that Counts

Disney knows that in between the momentary jolts of adrenaline, it’s the details that build an experience worthy of a 3 or 4 day investment of your family’s time. Disneyland has this down in spades. Each square foot is jammed with amazing detail, carefully crafted and maintained to add to the experience. And I’m not even talking the obscure Disney-mania touches like Hidden Mickies. I’m talking about carefully planned sight lines, well placed benches, meticulously groomed greenery and the architectural detail on buildings, to say nothing of the imagination fuelling touches found in rides like Splash Mountain, Peter Pan, the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones. The competition cut corners. Walt absolutely forbid that in the making of Disneyland.

The post-Walt Disney Parks have struggled with this. We’ve been going to Disneyland for over 20 years now, and the overall look of the park hasn’t changed much. Toontown was added and a few new rides have debuted, but 50 years of planning and development have created an almost perfect entertainment experience. Major overhauls aren’t needed. The same can’t be said for Disney’s California Adventure. Disney is currently overhauling huge sections of the park because the same detailed magic was missing. Visitors treat California Adventure more like a typical theme park, rushing from major attraction to major attraction without lingering to enjoy the experience on the way. Of all the rides in California Adventure, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is one of the few engineered to the same standards of detail that you’ll find in the earlier rides. But this legacy of detail isn’t found so much in the rides, but rather the transition zones between the rides. It’s here where the acid test of detail is really found. It’s detail that keeps crowds amused while they’re waiting in line. It’s detail that keeps them from feeling like cattle, shunted from one chute to the next.

Most Skip the Details, Disney Doesn’t

So what’s the takeaway? Disney’s eye for detail came from an absolute certainty about what his visitor’s wanted and an iron-willed determination to deliver that without any compromise. Every last element of the visitor experience was considered and planned for. Every detail you see in Disneyland had a purpose – to make the visitor happy.

I think too many corporations rush past the details when it comes to the experiences of their customers. It’s because details take time. They’re hard work. You can get lost in a forest of detail. And obsessing over detail just doesn’t seem that profitable. In fact, if you get lost in the wrong details, it can be sure death for a corporation. But yet, details make the difference for Disney. Why? How does Disney avoid the trap of paying attention to the wrong details? They know which details are important because they take the time to understand what is important to their visitors. They spend a lot of time thinking about how visitors perceive and interact with those details. This is a legacy from Walt. It comes from a leader that obsesses about details.

Apple and the User Experience: A Lesson Learned

Another example of attention to detail is Apple. They obsess about the user experience. I recently watched someone demo their new iPad. You know what was one of the first things he showed me? How the iPad mimicked the look of turning an actual physical page in a book. Depending on where you place your finger on the page, the page itself curls up appropriately. It’s a silly little detail, but it was important in creating a Wow experience for this new owner. And it’s something that stood out to me as one reason why, eventually, I have to get an iPad. It’s a feature that probably took an absolutely silly number of hours of programming to implement but it was important to Apple because it was important to users.

Detail can differentiate you from the competition. It adds a premium to the value you provide. It tells the customer that you value them as users (or visitors), not just as another wallet to be emptied.

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Dreams Make a Difference – Part 1

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 2

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 3

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 3

How many companies today are run by caretakers? How many of the Fortune 500 are run by CEO’s who are really just thinly disguised accountants?

The Leader of a company determines the heart and soul of that company. If you run the company by your profit and loss statements, you’ll end up with a fiscally responsible corporation that will slowly screw itself into the ground. If you have a reckless leader, you’ll flame and burn in spectacular style. Somewhere in between the extremes is where you have to live

Walt Disney was not overly concerned by fiscal responsibility. That was Roy, his brother’s job. Walt drove the company by embracing risk. Roy lost his hair by trying to balance Walt’s enthusiasm.

Risk is the fuel that drives the future. And risk is risk. It can only be calculated up to a certain point. After that, you have to close your eyes and jump. Walt jumped again, and again, and again, each with spectacular style.

1923 – Walt moved to Hollywood from Kansas City with a short film called Alice’s Wonderland that he hoped would net him a distribution contract. The film was pretty much all Walt had. He managed to secure a contract and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for 4 years. And just when he looked like he had a winner, in a new cartoon character called Oswald the Rabbit, the distributor stole both the rights and the animators, shutting Walt out.

1928 – After losing Oswald, Walt started from scratch with Mickey Mouse. But he only created two cartoons with the new character before deciding to risk it all with the first sound cartoon. The struggling studio dumped everything they had into the cartoon, Steamboat Willie. Luckily, Walt’s gamble paid off. Mickey was a hit.

1937 – Building on the success of Steamboat Willie, Disney turned out a series of profitable Mickey Mouse cartoons, and added the Silly Symphony series, netting himself a number of Academy Awards in the process for pushing the boundaries of animation technology and art. but Walt soon found a new dream worthy of risk – the first full length animated movie. It what was quickly becoming predictable behaviour for Walt, he risked all their profits from the animated shorts on Snow White. And, as before, it was a phenomenal success, becoming the highest grossing movie until Gone with the Wind bumped it from it’s perch.

In it’s following releases, Disney struggled with finding the right balance between budget and profitability. The war restricted access to foreign markets so profits relied on domestic audiences. Walt continued to push the envelope of what was possible with animation in Disney’s next two releases, Pinocchio and Fantasia. This came at a cost – a budget that meant these films didn’t break even until decades after their debut (thanks to eventual release on VHS and DVD). Walt continually tried to find the right balance between artistic accomplishment and profitability, eventually finding a happy middle ground with classics like Bambi, Cinderella and Mary Poppins (another technical and artistic milestone). It’s amazing to consider how quickly animation progressed, from the primitiveness of Steamboat Willie to the polished art of Show White in just 9 short years.

In the interim Walt also explored TV and live action features, finding significant success in both. Finally, it seemed, Disney had found the groove that led to sustained profitability. Almost any other leader would cling to this groove for dear life, building up the bank account and enjoying the rewards that come with success. Not Walt.

1955 – Walt got restless when he stayed in one place too long. he became bored with incremental improvement, no matter how profitable it proved to be. Walt thrived on risk and new, monumental challenges. And so, he looked for a new one. Walt was 54 years old and had been running Disney, in one form or another, for 35 years. By any measure you might want to apply, he was successful. And he risked all this, everything, on a new dream – an entertainment park. Disneyland represented Walt’s biggest roll of the dice yet, because he had everything to lose.

This restlessness and desire to push the limits epitomized the Disney company for the first 45 years of its history. Walt and the company were really one and the same. His leadership determined the soul of the company. When he died of lung cancer at the age of 66, he left a hole in the heart of Disney that took years to mend (and some might say Walt was never successfully replaced). Never let it be said that one person does not determine the direction of a huge corporation. Disney was testament to the fact that a single person’s vision and ideals can shape and guide a company for decades. This is not the job for a caretaker or bean counter. This is a job for someone who can grasp the impossible and shape the future.

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 1

Dreams Make a Difference – Part 2

Spring Cleaning For Your Social Media Sites

Logging into Twitter over the last few days, users are being prompted to update their profiles. According to the AP,

Twitter is encouraging people to allow their e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers to be included in the service’s search index.

Let’s be honest, this is more of a Twitter acquisition strategy than a Twitter service improvement. The more information Twitter has about its users, the more it can charge advertisers. Twitter may push out 50 million tweets every day, but after four years in business the blue birdie needs to make some bank.

Social Media Spring Cleaning Tips
We should still take advantage of the profile prompting. In fact, as spring promises to arrive sooner than later, we should do a sweep of all our social media profiles. Several of these tips were created with Twitter in mind, but I think that most can apply roughly to Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and even social media platforms like Foursquare to a degree.

A | B | C
As much as I love that Glengarry Glen Ross scene, this does not represent always be closing. A, B, C stands for Avatar, Bio and Content/Conversation/Commercial.

• Avatar: Use one! And preferably the avatar is a picture of you. I break this rule. Often. But the point is it reminds everyone that there is a real live person at the end of every tweet you send.
• Bio: Twitter is reminding everyone to fill out their profile because in part not enough people have filled out their information. And if you look at the picture below, my first instinct is to NOT follow this person. No picture + no bio info + no tweets = no context and no real reason to follow them.

• Content/Conversation/Commercial: This is also called the law of thirds. If you focus too much on just pushing out links to stuff or just on having conversations or only shamelessly self-promoting yourself, you won’t appeal to many potential friends/followers/contacts. A mix of all three is a well-received variety.

Don’t fret about getting it literally into thirds. But this is a helpful guide to keep your content streams as useful as possible.

Register Your Name
OK, this is a very niche tip and may only apply to Twitter. But if you go by handles like crazylegs25 or, uh, prblog, it pays to include your full name in your profile and/or register your full name account so people can find you. I use @kevindugan to do nothing other than push people to my @prblog account.

Better yet? Don’t even start down this schizo-branding road. Be yourself from day one. Trust me on this. As the line between personal and professional continues to blur online, it doesn’t make much sense anymore. In my defense, I started down this road eight years ago.

Profile Consistency
You may want to use every pose you paid for at Glamour Shots, but using one or two pics across profiles consistently helps people to recognize you. If you have a few specific interests or skills, be sure to use the same keywords across every profile. This makes it easier for like-minded people to find you in relevant searches. And by pushing each profile’s email alerts to one account you can be more organized and potentially more responsive when new friends find you.

Register at Directories, Create Lists
It really can be tough to find people on Twitter, hopefully their profile update prompt helps this in the long run. But for open-API social media sites, there are usually a few directories where you can register to be more easily found by like-minded folk. Sites like TweepML and Listorious also make it easy to create your own lists. I owe a ton of my followers from being included on lists.

Your social media profiles are the first moment of truth many will have with you/your personal brand. Profiles have to do a lot of work and you’re not around to provide context. Are your profiles doing you justice?