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Digg it UP - Top 3 Strategies to Boost Your Perceived Value
Over the past 19 years, I have worked with thousands of business owners in Africa, Canada and the United States. I foresee serious financial adversity looming for many entrepreneurs in the coming years, and perhaps a lot sooner than we may think. And before you conclude that this is mere speculation, let me share some reasons for my concern, and then allow me to offer you a solution.On a macro level, we all know that the dollar’s purchasing power has declined. The “world’s reserve currency” is in trouble. America slips further into debt. Since the end of the gold standard in 1971, this has escalated. With cheap labor increasingly available in India and China and a huge influx of new immigrants into the US and Canad
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular busine
There is an inherent relation between learning and change. Think about how you changed when you grew up; during those years where you absorbed most new knowledge and experience is where you changed most. And then there comes a time where we tend to learn less. After we have finished school or graduated the urgency to learn more diminishes. We have reached a stadium – a status – where we are proud of what we know. We have become someone.What we learn from than on is "marginal;" the new knowledge and experience doesn't change the form of the old existing knowledge (base). We learn in a linear way adding more knowledge to the existing stock. We are able to adapt to new situations by learning new skills. If we want to
1. Deliver unexpected value.
Delivering your service with excellence each and every time is the foundation of this method. Excellent service is essential. But you can't stop there if you want to create top-of-mind awareness and become one in a million in the mind of your client. You also need to proactively manage your client's expectations, and to provide unexpected value systematically and regularly.
Management of client expectations begins with your very first contact. How you introduce yourself and your business, the messages you provide in your marketing materials and your reputation combine to create a set of expectations in the mind of your client.
And that set of expectations is why your client hires you. If you don't live up to those expectations, no matter whether or not they are realistic, your perceived value instantly decreases.
Hence, it is incumbent upon you to unearth all expectations held by your client that will ultimately affect her evaluation of your service. Where it's appropriate, you need to help your client revise her expectations of you. This is an on-going process as you interact with your client over time. But you mustn't ever forget to attend to the task of managing client expectations.
Adding unexpected value is easy and has a great impact on the positive perception of your business. This can be done in a myriad of ways, depending on what your actual service is just be sure that the unexpected things you do or give your clients are aligned with who you are and what your business is. A couple of ways you might give unexpected value are:
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular busines
Career coaches don't have a magic formula for helping their clients (if we did, we'd be bottling it and making millions!), but why has career coaching received so much press lately? Pick up any magazine and you're likely to see a reference to coaching: Oprah, Redbook, Self, Fast Company, Health, Inc., and many other business magazines. What career coaches do offer their clients is an easier way to career success than if they were to try and do it on their own.Unlike traditional career counseling or even therapy, career coaching is action-oriented and future-focused. A coach is trained to ask the right question at the right time, listen to what's being said (as well as what's not being said), and offer unconditio
Management of client expectations begins with your very first contact. How you introduce yourself and your business, the messages you provide in your marketing materials and your reputation combine to create a set of expectations in the mind of your client.
And that set of expectations is why your client hires you. If you don't live up to those expectations, no matter whether or not they are realistic, your perceived value instantly decreases.
Hence, it is incumbent upon you to unearth all expectations held by your client that will ultimately affect her evaluation of your service. Where it's appropriate, you need to help your client revise her expectations of you. This is an on-going process as you interact with your client over time. But you mustn't ever forget to attend to the task of managing client expectations.
Adding unexpected value is easy and has a great impact on the positive perception of your business. This can be done in a myriad of ways, depending on what your actual service is just be sure that the unexpected things you do or give your clients are aligned with who you are and what your business is. A couple of ways you might give unexpected value are:
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular busine
Your job is to rise ABOVE the challenge. Do more than is expected. Say nothing negative about anyone or anything. Yes, that is easier said than done for most of us. Still, it is simply good advice for all. You never have to watch your backside when there are no boomerangs returning.DRIVE A NAILJust today I was reading about a Dad who made his son drive a nail into the fence every time his temper flared. After about 37 nails hammered into the fence the young fellow decided to curtail his outbursts. Every time the son contained his temper Dad let him go to the fence and pull out a nail.For a moment, lets look at the fence together. What do you see? That’s right, an unsightly fence with lots of
And that set of expectations is why your client hires you. If you don't live up to those expectations, no matter whether or not they are realistic, your perceived value instantly decreases.
Hence, it is incumbent upon you to unearth all expectations held by your client that will ultimately affect her evaluation of your service. Where it's appropriate, you need to help your client revise her expectations of you. This is an on-going process as you interact with your client over time. But you mustn't ever forget to attend to the task of managing client expectations.
Adding unexpected value is easy and has a great impact on the positive perception of your business. This can be done in a myriad of ways, depending on what your actual service is just be sure that the unexpected things you do or give your clients are aligned with who you are and what your business is. A couple of ways you might give unexpected value are:
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular busine
Business, non-profit and association managers committing their public relations resources to (1) doing something about the behaviors of those important outside audiences that most affect their operation, (2) creating the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives, and (3) doing so by persuading those key outside folks to their way of thinking by helping to move them to take actions that allow their department, division or subsidiary to succeed – greatly increase the chances of success for their operation.Thus, feeding the engine of their own economic growth AND that of the nation at large.But, in reality, it takes more than good intentions for an
Adding unexpected value is easy and has a great impact on the positive perception of your business. This can be done in a myriad of ways, depending on what your actual service is just be sure that the unexpected things you do or give your clients are aligned with who you are and what your business is. A couple of ways you might give unexpected value are:
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular busine
We all know that achieving better alignment, synergy and cooperation between company marketing and sales departments is vital, but oh so elusive. Despite all the talk and more talk in the media and at national business gatherings, nothing significant ever seems to happen.The reason nothing happens is that there is only one person who can truly make it happen: The Company CEO. Unfortunately, CEOs don’t seem to be getting the message.Why is the CEO the key?In virtually every company, the president or CEO is responsible for setting the primary direction and goals for all parts of that company’s operations. Many CEOs practice a macro style of management, delegating many of their responsibilities to others
-- Giving your home phone number to clients when you're working on a project that requires late hours or weekend work (i.e., making yourself available outside of regular business hours).
-- Keeping a file of information you come across in the newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet that is pertinent and valuable to your clients. Regularly sending this information to your prospects and clients even though they may never hire you.
-- Going the extra mile with your services regardless of the short-term expense to you.
-- Delighting and surprising your clients in a personal, yet professional, manner such as with a Happy Completion-of-Project card or a new business journal.
-- Providing extra services either exclusively for your active clients or at a reduced rate for them.
2. Ensure your client's success.
This path starts by ensuring that the service you provide is actually going to solve your client's problem. To do that, you need to perform a thorough discovery process. As part of your discovery process, you'll determine if this project is ideal for you, and if the problems it presents are ones you can magnificently and happily solve.
You'll do your best work on projects you find intriguing, interesting, and just a bit of a challenge to your expertise. If the project will bore you or overwhelm you, I recommend you refer it on to someone else who is better suited to it. Give your clients the best opportunity to be successful by ensuring they have the right person for the job, even when that isn't you. Your client will respect you for this, be surprised by it, and hire you when a more appropriate project arises.
Once you accept a project, proactively reduce the risk your client faces. Your clien
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