Debra Kasowski

7 Exceptional Ways to Exceed Client Expectations

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Euphoric and surprised winner winning online watching a laptop at home

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “What is quality customer service?” Many people will tell you about the experiences they have had when customer service is below par. Word of mouth marketing is the most powerful ways to share a product or service. Why not create raving fans? Raving fans are the people who champion your work and your products.

Some people believe you need to have a wheelbarrow load of money to wine and dine people to exceed expectations. While there may be a few of those individuals out there they are fewer than you may expect. Richard Branson said, “The key is to set realistic customer expectations and then not just meet them but to exceed them – preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.”

Know Your Client’s Expectations. First, you must learn what your client’s expectations are. What are their expectations? Are they realistic? Are the achievable? Are they too low? Can your competition provide them with the same results? What can you do to help them stretch or achieve greater results? How will you – WOW them?

Be Intentional. When you learn what someone’s expectations are, you can determine what it will take to meet expectations. In most cases, if you are providing them with a product or service that they have reached out for and you know their expectations, it would be too hard to meet expectations. The difference lies in exceeding expectations. To exceed expectations, you need to intentionally go above and beyond what is expected. Do the unexpected and make is memorable.

Listen to What Your Client is Saying. In coaching, I have learned to use an acronym called W.A.I.T.; it translates to “Why am I Talking?” Not only are you listening to what they are saying, you are also listening to what they are not saying through their body language and tone. Anticipate their wants and needs. Call them for no other reason than to see how they are doing and what is new in their world.

Ask Questions. Discover what their underlying emotional need is. Emotions drive our purchasing decisions and actions. You will be surprised that some of your assumptions may be wrong.

Maintain a Positive Attitude. If you are focused on the positive, you can help others focus on the positive as well. Sometimes all it takes is to hear information from another person to gain a different perspective.

Personalize the Experience. No one wants to feel like they are just a number. Personalize the experience of working with you. Demonstrate that you were listening and pay attention to the smallest of details – learn about what your client’s hopes and dreams are – think about how you can help them achieve it. Be proactive and resourceful. Who are the people that matter to them? Learn the name of their spouse/partner or children. When is their birthday or anniversary?

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

Steve Jobs

Do the unexpected – that’s what creates the WOW! Send a card on their birthday or anniversary. Send a box of chocolates or cookies. Surprise the office with ice cream or popsicles on a hot day. What will you do to stand out from the crowd and make someone say WOW! Invite them as your guest to a workshop or charity event or ask them to go with you if you cannot afford to pay for them. Sometimes all it takes to win your customer’s heart is that you thought about them other than seeing them as a business transaction.  Turn ordinary activities to extraordinary experiences.

Don’t do what everyone else is doing. Be exceptional – exceed expectations. Be worth remembering!

What will you do today to exceed expectations?

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Why You Should Banish the Word TRY from Your Vocabulary

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The words we use to communicate carry so much power. There are some words that we just need to drop from our vocabulary for they carry nothing but a negative context.

I was speaking with a business owner whose focus was in real estate who needed someone to provide interior design and decor. I referred someone who is very professional and I respect. As you can appreciate, when you provide a referral you are providing someone that you know, like, and trust and who will do a good work. Right before their meeting, the business owner called me to let me know that they were about to meet. I wished them well and I had asked that this business owner treat my referral well. The business owner’s response was, “I will try.” To which my response was, “There is no try in how you treat people. You either choose to treat someone well or you choose not to.” The business owner became flustered and stated “What do you mean? I replied that how you treat someone is a choice.

 “Do or do not do. There is no try.” Star Wars character Yoda

Yoda’s philosophy applies to all opportunities that are presented to you. You cannot just sit on the fence or put in partial effort. You’re either in or you’re out. Your results are in direct proportion to whether you’re willing to make a commitment to choose to do something versus not doing something.

By reflecting on this conversation, I have made it my mission to help you, my reader, eliminate the word “try” from your vocabulary. Try is a destructive word for two main reasons: (1) it’s a cop-out or way to get you off the hook; you really don’t have to put the effort and (2) it points to self-doubt – doubt and fear that you are able to turn out the results you have been asked to deliver or hope to deliver. There is no real firm commitment to say, “Yes, I can do this!”

There is a distinct difference between “trying” and “doing”. I had read a story in which Tony Robbins was speaking to a woman in one of his audiences about her marriage. She told him that she had tried everything to save their marriage and that her husband had done nothing. So in hearing this, Tony Robbins had asked her to try to pick up a chair. The woman obliged and picked up the chair. He stated that he told her to “try to pick up the chair”. The woman was confused; she did not understand. He went on to explain that if you tried to pick up the chair you would not actually pick it up because you are making an attempt you weren’t doing. If I said pick up the chair to you, you could physically pick up the chair but if I ask you to try you will not succeed.

Really listen to the power of the word “try” and how it sabotages your efforts-it all starts in your mind. It’s time to shift to making a commitment. 100% all in where failure is not an option.

The words or phrases you should be using instead include:

I will…

I can…

Let’s get to it…

Can you hear the difference in the power of those phrases? How much stronger is your belief in yourself? How much more will you be able to accomplish or achieve?

Be aware of the words that you use. Make a commitment to yourself and to others when you say you will do things. Give it your best! Remember when you offer a referral you were hoping that they will treat your referral with the same respect and appreciation as the relationship they have formed with you.

What are some words you have eliminated from your vocabulary?

Please share this article with others who need to eliminate the word TRY!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. She is a contributing writer for Diversity Magazine and Fabulous at 50 magazine. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. www.debrakasowski.com 

Filling Your Pipeline with Quality Referrals

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Think about this: if you want to hire the best relocating company for your moving needs, you’d ask your colleagues, friends or associates to give you details of a moving company they recommend. It is the same with your business, to stay afloat, your business needs to be constantly getting new referrals.  Here are some of the things you can do to fill your pipeline with quality referrals:

Deliver on your promises

To gain quality referrals you need to be referable.   Give your customers high quality services that will cause them to give you unsolicited publicity.

Courtesy of ImageryMajestic/freedigitalphotos.net
Courtesy of ImageryMajestic/freedigitalphotos.net

Make your prospects feel special

Take a personal approach when you connect with potential customers. Make them feel special by sending them personalized emails, letters, postcards or direct messages on social media sites.

Collaborate with other specialists

The easiest way to get referrals is by holding collaborative webinars with specialists in your area of business. Partnering with specialists will help your nurture relationships with potential customers which can help you generate high-quality referrals.

Do not wait until the drought season before you ask for referrals

Do not wait for your pipeline to be dry before you ask for referrals.  For your business to have high quality referrals, create a consistent referral system. This is how you can create a consistent referral system:

1) Exchange referrals with credible service providers

Ask your affiliates or business connections to refer your services to their clients as you refer their services to your clients.

2) Show gratitude

Send thank you messages or complimentary gifts to your referential sources.

3) Create multiple referential methods

Some of your clients may not be comfortable with asking people to use your services. You can ask this type of clients to write testimonials about your services. You can create links in your emails that can be easily used to share your content on social networking sites.

4) Ask for referrals

If you are uncomfortable about asking for referrals, you will have a hard time having high quality referrals.  You are in business, so let people know that you have competitive services to offers. If you generate website traffic mostly from Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, ask people in your network to re-tweet or share your messages.

Remember you don’t have to wait until your pipeline is dry.  Do one thing each day to make sure you fill your pipeline with quality referrals.

How do you fill your pipeline of referrals? Share this post and comment on how build your pipeline made a difference in your business.

 

What Do You Mean You Can’t Teach Effort?

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Today I was waiting at the deli and one employee was busy serving customers and the other was standing with her back toward the customers staring at the clock for a good 3-5 minutes. The other employee asked the girl if she was okay and if she was could she please help serve the awaiting customers. She proceeded to put on the plastic gloves and with a big sigh she said, “I guess so”. Wow, that took the cake! As she started to serve me, she had a long drawn out conversation with her fellow employee saying that if she did not eat right away that she would die. Oh my goodness. I was ready to start laughing as the same girl did the same thing last week when there was a line up of customers. Her colleagues had to ask her to help and she reluctantly did. But this being the second time, I decided that perhaps this person needed some coaching, especially since her fellow employee was mouthing apologies to me on her behalf. I went to speak to one of the supervisors and they knew exactly who I was speaking about.

 What coaching do you think she needed? From my perspective,  she needed to:

        1.        Gain a greater awareness of how her behaviour was affecting  her colleagues and the customers.

        2.       Understand that her role was to serve others.

        3.       Prepare and eat before her shift.

        4.       Understand how important her role was to the store.

Number #4 is the most crucial one! Each person from the janitor to the CEO carries importance to an organization. Imagine what would happen if they were not there…garbage would pile up, no direction or delegation would occur, and no one would be served. If you do not believe your role is important, you are wasting your gifts and talents. The biggest disservice is to you.

You might say to yourself, “I do not have the natural ability that the other person has.” You may not but can you learn the skill? Can you improve over time? Can you work hard and give your best effort? The person, who gets noticed and remembered in the long run, is the person who puts in the effort consistently and gives their best at the time they do a task. Sometimes those with the natural ability – do not produce consistent results, they do not try to improve, and they do not give their best effort because they know they can get by. You cannot teach effort to another person. You can role model it but the pure desire needs to come from within. The intrinsic desire to give your best will get you to your prize faster than anything else. What you do is important!