Client Appreciation - It Means Everything!

Want to know the secret for keeping your clients forever? And what if you could keep your revenue growing by 25 percent every year, because your clients loved the way you appreciated them? In this article, you will learn how easy it is to develop a powerful client appreciation program. Once in place, an appreciation program will forever change the way you operate and manage your business.

Developing a monthly appreciation plan: At the beginning of each month, develop some fun ideas to "thrill" your customers. Start by planning a short brainstorming session with your sales manager, your marketing director, customer service and your sales team, so you can hear their unique insight about ways to make the program a giant success. Their input is critical as each company has its own special client profile, so customize your appreciation plan accordingly. Once your appreciation plan is finalized, provide a written recap for your team so everyone will know exactly what their role will be. Clear communication makes for perfect implementation.

Tip From The Coach: Consider building your client appreciation plan for six to twelve months in advance. This makes for better financial budgeting, a more thoroughly developed appreciation plan, and your team will have the time to evaluate several competitive proposals for each month's theme.

Building appreciation themes: As you consider the theme for each month's appreciation program, start by looking for specific holidays or seasonal times of the year. For example, summer time is perfect for bringing an ice-cold drink to all your clients, as appreciation for their business. Your clients will not care how much you spend on them each month, but they will be very impressed by the way your team shows how much they care. Another appreciation theme, depending on the profile of your clients, might be more educational. For example, have a local computer store give a live demonstration for your clients at your office, focusing on how the Internet can improve their business. Your clients will be thrilled to hear more about this cutting edge technology and the computer store gets to meet lots of potential new customers? a win-win for all. Lastly, hundreds of companies provide all kinds of promotional items you can order in small quantities with your company name imprinted on them, and these items will fit perfectly into your client appreciation program.

Tip From The Coach: Certainly your clients will love the appreciation you show them each month and so will your prospects. If appropriate, include every prospect in your appreciation program. Take this small step and watch your closing ratios double!

Evaluating the success of client appreciation: Start by asking your team to make written notes of any nice comments shared by your clients or prospective new clients. Next, evaluate the number of clients or prospects who attend your educational seminars, as this helps for planning future programs. Of course, monitor your client retention percentages, as this is the critical measurement of how well your appreciation program is working.

Tip From The Coach: Remember, your clients will feel important when they know they are a top priority. Implementing a client retention program will not cost much. But the return on your investment will be significant based on less turnover, happier clients which means more referrals, and more fun for your team. Why? Because The Coach says so! Plus, good news travels fast and so will the sterling reputation you earn with your clients.

Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Fax a note on your letterhead to 435-615-8670 or send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will fax/E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a TeleForum conference call. On this call we will discuss 25 appreciation themes your clients will love.

Author's note: Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach, is the founder of PowerHour® a professional business coaching/recruiting service and the author of SmartMatch Alliances?. He has spent 17,500 hours [since 1995] delivering customized training, by telephone, in leadership, traditional/Internet marketing and sales for fast growing sales companies and entrepreneurial businesses worldwide. PowerHour® specializes in global distance learning by telephone, using their state-of-the-art conference call system for interactive and dynamic TeleForums. Twice-monthly TeleForums link 10-100 executives/professionals/individuals who are geographically dispersed, in a time efficient and profitable format.

PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town?Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their TeleForum website: http://www.powerhour.com. To receive a FREE success newsletter, with subscribers in 74 countries, send an E-mail to: ernest@powerhour.com. Recent PowerHour® articles have appeared in 4000+ business/trade publications and websites.

---

Over Delivering Provides Big Results

Over promising is a problem only when you under deliver. There are a number of ways that you can overdeliver to your customers or prospects, and as... Read More

Dont Forget your Existing Clients

Quest for new clients shouldn't ignore those who pay the billsAcquisition. It's a big word in small business marketing. Companies are constantly looking at ways to draw... Read More

Learn to Anticipate Your Customers Needs

This morning I was having breakfast with my good friend Diane at one of my favorite breakfast nooks. I enjoy the atmosphere there although I've been less... Read More

Handling Difficult Customers - 8 Strategies

In any business our customers are one of our most important assets. Unfortunately there are days when not all customers want to be friendly or pleasant. On... Read More

Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction

Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a... Read More

Responding to Complaints

It's possible that in the course of your business dealings, you may (just may) have to deal with a complaint from a customer or client ....There are... Read More

Developing A Customer Complaint System

Background The company was experiencing an increase in the number of customer complaints and an increase in the cost of processing them and we were hired to... Read More

Are You Putting Technology Before Your Customers?

Which is more important the technology or the customer?The one thing about the online world you can be sure of is change. It seems like every day... Read More

4 Myths about Customer Value

The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer... Read More

Develop Loyal Customers for a Lifetime ? part 1 (1 ? 10)

Traditional marketing strategies encourage business owners to continually grow their businesses by adding new customers. In today's competitive world of business, it is more important than ever... Read More

Make Your Customer Your Friend

The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is to say it's a yellowish-green fruit about the size of an mid-sized watermelon. It has a thick... Read More

Take Care of Yourself Before You Take Care of Your Customer

One of the most important questions people ask when they are focused on improving their quantity and quality of business is: "What is my competitive advantage? What... Read More

Your Number One Asset

Customers put you in business, keep you in business, and they can put you out of business. Therefore, your overriding feelings at all times should be: customer... Read More

Who Says the Customer is Always Right?

We all know the old adage, "The Customer is Always Right." If you are an online business owner or offline for that matter, you are on both... Read More

Customer First Customer Service

The world of customer service is rapidly changing. Thirty years ago, telephones and mail services were the norm for most companies. Now, faxes, email and web sites... Read More

Adjustment DENIED

It's just a simple thing ? I bought a new set of shelves for my office. It wasn't a real problem, but when I got the shelves... Read More

Is Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System Doomed To Fail?

"Right, People. Let's blast out that mail campaign we've been planning for so long."It's time to put your trusty CRM software to work; to let it earn... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts

There are five techniques that have been proven to be effective in resolving, minimizing, and preventing conflicts. And by conflicts I am referring to any of the... Read More

What Do They Want Anyway?

You want customers. I want customers. We all want customers. And traffic alone is not enough. We need "interested" customers. Customers ready to listen, ready to buy.... Read More

Putting The Serve Back Into Customer Service

Good service is easy to spot and hard-to-find. Mediocre service occasionally stands out but only because it's the cream-of-the-crap.Last week I had the opportunity to speak at... Read More

Debt Elimination Scam

May people these days have a problem with mounting debt. The average person is well below the bad credit limit and is in desperate need to fix... Read More

Customer Service: Everyone is Fighting Their Own Personal Battles

Relationships... Money... Health..The Past...Failure..Mental and Spiritual Battles..Time Constraints...Professional pressures..At any given moment you, your clients, and employees are dealing with one or the other of these challenges... Read More

Leverage Customer Capital First

If you're still dreaming about raising outside capital for your business before you have any paying customers, I've got a nice big bucket of ice water to... Read More

11 Ways to Get What You Want - Be a Clever Customer!

We all want great service, whether we are buying our weekly groceries from a store, or want a billing hitch resolved at our local utilities provider. Whether... Read More

Revealed ? A Simple Formula For Success! Exceeding Expectations

Delight = Customer Expectation plus 1. This was the simple formula for delighting your customers that Ken Blanchard informed us of in his book "Raving Fans" For... Read More

Are You A Coward? I Was

Over the last month, I have come to hate emails and answerphones; not because I get 100 emails every day but because emails and answerphones are fast... Read More