Nearly 26 years ago when I arrived at my current place of employment I was tasked with developing educational training for a large remote sales organization. I developed and presented a daylong seminar with several dozen in the audience and distributed the edited video of that seminar to the entire organization. The opening exercise was to hold up a small box and ask what someone would pay me for it.
I was asked many questions to try to discern the value of the box. Is it empty? Describe the contents. Will I like whatever it is? How much would you pay? Everyone realized that only when you clearly know what’s in the box can a value be assigned.
That is exactly the situation you have when you work with your clients. Consider yourself to be the box your client is looking at. Your job is to clearly explain what the value is inside! Now let’s consider what your value is.
Write down the 10 most compelling attributes you have that would be important to your client. Then focus on the three from that group that are the most unique, that differentiate you from competitors. Things that might make your list could include many years of experience, special relationships with suppliers that bring extra value to every project, many successful projects in the community, work you have done for people they know, an impressive educational pedigree, awards you have received, references you can share, volunteer activities in the community, expertise in their industry, ease in contacting you.
If being objective about yourself and your attributes proves difficult, ask your best clients why they do business with you. They may have completely different reasons than you come up with. Once you know the three most compelling reasons someone will find value working with you, develop and practice explaining your value in a minute or two. Once you do that the value of the work you are asking your client to trust to you goes up even when the price of the promotional goods is the same as others might give.
What about the other seven great things you want to share about yourself? As the relationship and projects develop, you can introduce those other fine valuable characteristics when appropriate. The goal is to keep adding value by disclosing those things over time. When you finish your list, the relationship will be secure and your client will not generally even consider a competitor. Human nature is to keep with what is comfortable and effective and resist change. That is true for all types of professional relationships like doctors, lawyers and accountants. By letting your client know “what’s in the box” you will be regarded in the same way.
When you are successful in gaining a professional relationship with your client, the benefit to you is obvious, you will do more business with that client. There is an important responsibility that goes along with this however, you must take a fiduciary responsibility for your client. You must be sure that your client’s best interests are always considered. Selecting the best promotional materials for the project – not for your profit might mean a bit less for you in the short term but the lifetime value of the client will be far greater.
Lawyers and accountants have to keep their clients best interests first by law – we do it because it is good for business!
A comment I used with my clients when I was actively building promotional programs and asked about price was “My price will always be less than my value”. I always delivered on that promise and was rewarded by keeping satisfied clients for decades! Never hesitate to tell a client that you are better for their business than a competitor. Remember that every business person is looking for an answer to the (usually unasked) question “What’s in it for me”. Be sure that all your attributes are related to your client explaining how they benefit him/her.
Don’t say, “I’ve been in business for 20 years.” Do say, “My 20 years of experience will guarantee you great results.” Don’t say, “I get great prices from the factories.” Do say, “My strong relationship with manufacturers will always mean greater value for you.”
Once you succeed in helping your client discover “what’s in the box” and understand the unique value they receive working with you, ask for referrals. Your question should be something like, “Do you have any associates who might benefit from the extra value I bring to the table?” A well crafted question will reinforce your special worth and make your client feel important – they like that!
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.