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Business Challenge

For some reason, unless you are a Dr. or a Lawyer, people seem to think that a process is easy when they hire you to complete it.  We see this challenge occur in many different service verticals (Plumbing, Digital Agencies, Real Estate, Construction, Pest Control, Car Repair, etc.) and when not addressed it can lead to frustration both on the service business as well as the customer.

Helping customers and prospects understands the depths of work that you complete for them should be your mission when you want to keep happy customers and increase long term value.  Today’s challenge hits right at home of the providing insight into the tasks you truly complete and still providing a great customer experience.

“My prospects and clients think all I do is change bids, what do I do?”

Listen in and read on to find out more:

Key Items

1. Avoid Common Mistakes –  There is a fine line between a great customer service and over-simplifying what you do.  Instead of saying phrases like “no problem” or “of course we can do that’ make sure to share how you do evaluations to ensure it is best for their business before taking action.  You can of course share that you can solve their challenges, just try to avoid making it sound too simple.
2. Prospect Interview – If your existing clients think all you do is change bids and they send you a referral that referral is going to think the same thing.  While it is great to get a referral from an existing client take time to interview them to understand their business, their challenges, and gauge expectations.  Even if your specialty is paid search consider having a questionnaire that is in-depth which digs into all marketing areas of their business.  This will help your prospect to see that you are looking at their business as a whole to see how paid search can fit in as a part of it.  If there is resistance to doing the interview share with them that in order for you to help efficiently it is imperative that you understand more about their business and that you aren’t a match for everyone. If you are in a space where works needs to be done more quickly, create a pamphlet to hand to the client that outlines the number of items you evaluate/complete on a given job while you handle their more immediate problem (i.e. if a toilet is over flowing they might not want to listen to your process, but they still need to understand it to be happy with you long term.)
3. Initial Audit – One of the key items after the interview and after the prospect signs to become a customer is the initial audit.  Many customers think “everything is fine” and that you can just start working away on their account.  Performing the audit, identifying the challenges, and then outlining when those items can be resolved will set the tone for the prospect that there is a great deal of work ahead!
4. Outline the Process - When someone says they will return your call ASAP for some people that means in 30 seconds, and for others that means 24 hours.  To help your customers and prospects understand the road ahead outline the processes that you undertake.  You could share with them the process that you evaluate before making a bid change, the process of creating new ad copy, daily management, etc.  Outlining a few of the processes that you and your team complete will help your customers to understand the level of detail and work that is required.

Sponsors

• Perry Marshall – As the co-author of the Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords, creator of the Adwords Bootcamp and one who has developed ninja level marketing programs you are sure to find a marketing strategies and tactics that will help your business get to the next level.
• Email Autoresponders – Staying connected with existing customers and prospects can be a challenge when you are relying on only your own activity.  Implementing an email autoresponder sequence will help you to engage prospects over time until they are ready to do business with you and keep existing customers thrilled that you are staying in touch.  Find out more about the solutions that can help your business today.

Want Your Challenge Featured?

With each challenge we tackle, we look to not only solve the problem we look to shed light on new opportunities for our listeners.  We invite you listen to a couple of the business owners who shared their challenges and to submit your own today!