AMiable Solution #194: Will Your Clients Sink or Swim?

A friend of mine with young kids wanted her children to learn how to swim.  She found a swim school that operates indoors year-round and offers a very flexible schedule.  Liking the convenience, she signed her kids up.  After four sessions of lessons, her kids still hadn’t been taught anything that resembled swimming or any lifesaving skills. 

My friend wasn’t looking to train an Olympic athlete: she simply wanted to know that her kids could hold their own in the water and had the skills to protect themselves, if they ever got in over their heads.  She came to the conclusion that the swim school was more interested in making money than in teaching kids to swim, and she left.

Are you equipping your customers with the services, knowledge, or community support that they’re looking for when they need it, or are you drawing out the process in the name of customer retention and profit?   Your short-term benefits may draw clients, customers, donors, and members in, but if you don’t meet your market’s long-term needs or expectations, you’ll be looking for new customers--instead of helping loyal or repeat ones--in no time.

How can you be sure you’re providing your customers with the right amount of help in the right amount of time?  That can be tricky.  We live in a demanding time.  People have or see problems and they want solutions immediately.  Sometimes we can solve their problems instantly.  Other times, a fast fix isn’t feasible or reasonable.  You wouldn’t want to be operated on by a surgeon who finished an express version of college, would you? 

Your customers can feel confident in you and the help you’re providing as long as you do three things:

·        Be realistic.  How many days should it really take to complete a job, train employees, execute a process, etc.?  Consider how much time it actually takes to quickly and efficiently assist your customer without sacrificing quality and without dragging out the process unnecessarily.

·        Be clear.  Manage expectations from the beginning.  Let clients and customers know how long it typically takes to achieve a desired result.  If possible, offer alternative options for faster, yet modified, results.  My friend would have been happy to stay with the swim school if they had offered a “summer survival” course.

·        Be honest.  Is your program designed to help customers or your company?  We’re all looking for ways to retain customers, but deceiving them or knowingly exasperating a process will only hurt you in the long run.

Have you properly equipped your clients with the information or services they need?  When put to the test, will they sink, or will they swim?   Will you?