Personalize Your Marketing

There are endless definitions of world class client service, mostly because each client has a unique perspective on what “world class” means. Many customers, for example, go into a restaurant and want to be greeted by name and led to a great table that has been held just for them as a regular patron. Some like a waiter who hovers nearby, constantly refilling the wine glass while others prefer privacy, wishing the waiter would simply give them space and leave them alone.

The same is true for professional services. Some of your clients take advantage of the roundtables you host, others never attend any events. Some read the firm’s quarterly newsletter, others value your weekly e-mail alerts. The important lesson for you to learn is to understand exactly what each client needs and appreciates, and then you can customize your responses accordingly. Effective “marketing and client nurturing” means that you should be taking direction from the clients instead of imposing your standards on them whenever possible. We often make decisions, such as to send all our newsletters electronically, based on our firm's needs. We want to reduce costs, so we save postage by using an e-mail platform. Perhaps the clients are general contractors, busy on job sites all day, who prefer to receive educational information and resources in a paper format. Examples like this abound, but the bottom line is that if you do your best to be sensitive to your clients’ attitudes, needs and perspectives, you will go a long way toward delivering the personalized world class service that adds real value for them!