Many of you know that my son Christopher normally spends the summers with his dad. This is a time that I as a mother of a teenager and solopreneur have grown to appreciate. It is not because I have problems with my son, far from it but rather it gives him an opportunity to have a different perspective. You see sometimes we can find ourselves falling into what I like to call the curse of familiarity. This is when we become so close or use to something that we begin to take it for granted. Rather that is our environment (i.e. house, city) or our relationships (friends, spouses, siblings). So, Christopher gets to go back to Detroit and see how our life has been transformed through the decisions that I have made.
However, this summer was a little different than the last six years. Why? Because now we have our little puppy, “Sushi Sashimi Ming”. My little Shih Tzu we got for my birthday. She has not been away from her brother since we got her and she had a hard time adjusting to his sudden disappearance. Every morning she would wake up and lay outside of his bedroom door wondering where he was. After a month, she would stop going to his door and she just adjusted to the fact that maybe “the little human” no longer was part of the family.
Six weeks later, we picked Christopher up from Los Angeles airport and we had a conversation about how Sushi would respond to him when he arrived home. Would she bark or growl? Would she be afraid (since he grew 3 inches over the summer)? Would she even remember who he was? Well… the moment of truth arrived and I decided I probably should take her outside to relieve herself before she saw Chris (puppies sometimes can’t control their bladder when excited).
We came back into the house I said “Sushi, where is your brother? Go find your brother.” That is when Chris said “Come here Sushi.” OMG…that puppy ran upstairs as if she had a rocket attached to her body.
She was so excited to see her brother. She wagged her tail, jumped up and down, trying to get him to pick him up. And Chris was even more adorable. He stood their with his arms wide open unsure what to do. It was an absolute magic moment! My only regret is I didn’t record it…truly priceless!!!
Several days later, I reflected how much I wanted to created that for the clients that I have the opportunity to serve. That excitement to their business. How can I help them to be even more excited about their business? It also made me think about as entrepreneurs we can sometimes find ourselves on this quest to attract new clients. Our objective is to get more customers and make more money and we forget about really serving our current clients in a greater way. Don’t get me wrong, client attraction is vitally important to growing a profitable business but even more important is client retention.
How do you make your client feel before, during and after they purchase from you? Are you excited when you see them on your calendar? Do you race to get to your appointment with them? Are you taking them for granted? These questions may be something that you haven’t thought about answering. However, I have coached many clients over the year who almost dreaded getting a new client or they may have been disenchanted with their current clients and then they scratch their head wondering where is the new business.
Our messages and lessons are presented to us in many ways and this was something for me as a business coach to really pay attention. You see I have been blessed to work with some of the most heart-centered, passionate and amazing entrepreneurs. They are individuals who truly want to make a difference and add massive value to others lives and they have entrusted me to help them to take their gift out into the world. This is something that I must remind myself on a daily basis so that I don’t fall into the trap of the “curse of familiarity.”
Starting today, what can you do to make your clients know how valuable their are to them? Can you implement a client appreciation program? Can you create a client retention program? One of my clients, implemented the Current Client TouchPoint strategy from my Biz Blueprint in a Box System and they were amazed by the referrals that they received from their existing clients. It truly is the law of reciprocity at its best. And hear me when I say it is not about manipulation it is about serving and when you come from a place of making a difference and adding massive value the rewards are great!
