While many business owners believe they communicate effectively with clients, the reality is that few professionals know how to communicate effectively with clients to get the desired results.
Effective communication with clients may seem like the least of your worries when you’re running your own business, but it is much more important than it appears at the surface. How you conduct your communication with clients can create raving fans or scarce patrons, and ultimately determine whether or not you get the results you are looking for.
While there is no secret formula to practicing effective communication with clients, there are some tips to help you convey professionalism, integrity, and confidence. Just working at consistently enhancing communication is going above and beyond what most do, and therefore, will have a positive outcome.
Here is one tip that will help you become a guru in client communication.
Be Confident
You can’t communicate effectively with clients if you are insecure. Find a way to stand in your confidence before you begin communicating. Decide on a price for a product or service and stick to it. Never lowball an offer for your services since that will only show the client what you believe your services are actually worth.
However, that does not mean you cannot offer some creative incentives. For example, let’s say you typically charge $1,500 for your services and the client tries to talk you down to $800. You can respond by offering more than one option. Here’s an example of what you could present, “I respect your need to remain within your budget and if a $1500 upfront payment is not realistic at the moment, there are some options available to you. Perhaps you would like a few weeks to pull resources together to come up with the $1500 upfront payment. Or, I can offer a payment plan to break the payments into smaller chunks. You could pay of three payments of $525, for a total payment of $1575. Provide an initial payment today, and we can get started right away.”
This is a win-win situation: you provided your client with options and you did not lowball your prices. You offered an incentive to pay up-front and in-full ($1500) and a convenient payment plan (3 payments of $525) that makes it easier for your client to begin getting the results they are looking for. In addition, with the payment plan, you are earning an additional $75 (convenience fee on payment plan).
Please note: it is very important to provide a thorough payment plan agreement to your client. Require a signature and initial deposit before you proceed with the assignment. Also, be sure they understand the additional money they are paying as a convenience fee, as well as the consequences of failed or non-payment.
Action-Step:
Revisit prices for your products and services. Does anything feel too high? Lowering your prices should be your last resort; instead of lowering the prices of your product or service, increase the value. The best thing to do is to take your business owner hat off and put yourself in a client position. Reverse the tables – what would you be willing to pay for the product or service you provide? Write down exactly what you would expect to receive (as a client) at a specific price – write it down. Then, put your business owner hat back on, and apply that information to your business, then add more value by including a bonus or additional benefit(s).
To learn more about communicating in a way that is all about your clients and prospects, download the content-packed audio titled, Creating An It’s All About Them Attitude and Business, The Power of Telling the Truth by going to /coaching-store/audio-store/.
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