Seminars
"How Your Clients May View You" seminars:
Thurs 5 Feb, 7.30am, Liverpool
a Barnardo’s event
Thurs 5 Feb, 6.30pm, Manchester
a CIM event
If you’d like to run a seminar
in-house - either for your team or for a client event, call 0161 236 0724 or email Jim
Focus - Unlocking Your
Business Development
Ability
Business Development is now a vital part of many people’s roles but few people have a natural enthusiasm for it. Is this because business development ability is something you’re born with?
Our research suggests that less than 10% of people have a natural enthusiasm for business development but the good news is that everyone is capable of being good at it once they have their own personal strategy to work with.
Unlocking Your Business Development Ability is a half day course which will break down your personal barriers and reservations about embarking on business development activities. You’ll discover the barriers you put in the way and how to overcome them, recognise the individual strengths that you can nurture and devise a personal strategy to become a comfortable and confident business developer.
This course is aimed at professionals and consultants who wish to develop business with their existing clients and build up their personal network.
Get in touch if you’ve got a question or feedback about anything you’ve read in Sphere. We love hearing from you.
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If you want to be at the top of a client’s list you’ll need to stand out from the crowd (for positive reasons) - whether you want them to sign contracts before year end or you want to win a pitch. This month we’ll be looking at one way you can stand out.
Enjoyable reading.
Jim Wigg
Differentiator
The L.U.V. Factor
The other Friday evening was the annual Christmas get-together of my old school mates in Fleet, Hampshire. It followed the tried and tested formula of a few beers followed by an Indian.
There was a good turnout, 16 altogether including:
- Z-Wood - he’s never awake past midnight
- The Windmill - for his enthusiastic if unusual footballing technique
- Henri – actually I have no idea why he’s called that
- Scissors – who’s a hairdresser, not a surgeon.
Now, Scissors is my really best mate. We’ve known each other since we were five years old and a lot has happened in that time!
Scissors is a very wise man and no ordinary hairdresser - he’s hugely talented and very well known and respected in the industry (www.simonshaweducation.com). He goes off lecturing and demonstrating all over the world for a brand I can’t mention “...because he’s worth it”! Of course it wasn’t always this way - he gave me a Kevin Keegan perm once and I am now bald.
One of the contributing factors of Scissors’ success (and one of the things he lectures on) is that he recognises to be a really great hairdresser is more than the technical aspects of cutting and styling someone’s hair. It’s about a client’s experience, and the experience starts when they have the initial consultation with the hairdresser, regardless of whether it’s their first visit or their 100th visit. And yes, he has passed the Haircut 100 stage with many clients (remember them anyone? Only those born before 1970 will know what I’m talking about).
On Friday he was talking about the importance of LUV in the pre-haircut consultation. A client who has experienced LUV is much more likely to be the happy client who returns. And this is significant in the hairdressing industry where only 4 in 10 first time clients return. During the consultation a client wants to feel:
L Listened to
U Understood
V Valued
It never ceases to amaze me the parallels between businesses/industries. Everyone is looking for ways to stand out from their competition and this is such an easy way to be different – give your client some LUV! Put yourself in their shoes – would you want to do business with the person you feel understands you, your business, your priorities, your challenges, your budget, your timescales etc or the person you feel doesn’t?
Notice the word feel, the client feels you understand. It’s no good just understanding if the client doesn’t feel you understand. The magic of LUV is that if the client feels listened to and understood they will feel valued! In everyday communication you can do this by using:
- Listen to what the client is saying and ask questions that relate to this
- Playback a summary of what they’ve said - use their words not their sentences!
- Confirm that you’ve got it right or if there is anything to add or change
There’s no need to Playback every time the client speaks but at appropriate stages and towards the end. Stay in the moment (top athletes do), really listen and trust the right question or response will emerge.
If you are working on a formal bid or pitch it can be hard to show LUV but that makes it even more valuable if you can. Get your head out of simply following the process and remember, before anything else your job is to understand:
- what the client wants to achieve
- why this is important to them
- their key issues and challenges
Then make sure the client knows you understand. Is a Playback of this the first thing the client sees when opening your response or proposal?
Remember: this isn’t a lusty one night stand - without the LUV there is no relationship!
...and now for something completely different.
Food for Thought:
After the gargantuan plate of Christmas turkey with all the trimmings there’s usually no way you can eat more than a thumbnail sized portion of heavy, rich, plum pudding. The will may be there but there’s no way. Take a look at this recipe. Quite simply, it is the best ever Christmas pudding. Called a “Light Spiced Christmas Pudding”; it’s very easy to make and it’s divine. But hey, don’t just take my word for it, please report back anyone who tries it.
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