Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction

Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client.

Meetings

In most organizations it's easy to deliver additional value around meetings, because statistically, most companies run meetings poorly. Capture important notes during your meetings and then deliver your neatly typed notes consistently with your client's format. Not only will it allow you to capture the main ideas and benefit of important discussions, but it will almost always be appreciated by your client's team members. Send this as soon after the meeting as possible.

Proactively help to define the agendas and outcomes for each meeting. Help keep things on track and try to meaningfully contribute towards these goals. Become highly proficient at running successful meetings.

If there are action items for other team members that are critical to your projects success, tactfully contact the team member and offer your help if it makes sense. Keeping the project on track internally helps you accomplish your goals as a consultant and you'll be viewed favorably as a team player.

Reports

Delivering quality reports during your client engagement will enhance your image as a consultant because they're so visible to the internal team members. In your earliest meeting possible get together with the client and define parameters for the report format and content. Every client has different needs so don't assume that your template doesn't need to change. Information important to one client is not interesting to another. Define up front what works and then deliver it.

As with the rest of your communications, a picture is worth a thousand words. You or your staff should become proficient at producing flow charts, Gantt charts, performance charts and architectural diagrams. Drawings in your report that communicate an abundance of information make it easy to use.

Perfect the art of the executive summary. For busy executives in the client organization, sometimes they'll only want a one page summary. Make sure it communicates the key issues of the report. If they want more information, they'll drill down.

Accessibility

Make it easy to contact you around the clock using email, phone, or mobile. The more you're as accessible as internal team members the more you will be regarded as one. Have backup plans when you know you're not going to be available. Proactively contact your clients letting them know if there will be a period of time they won't be able to get a hold of you and give them some alternative options.

Profit Engineering

Our company focuses on profit engineered technology, that is, how we maximize the ROI on the technology we deploy. We pay attention to the business process, the costs of the process and try to achieve the best solution possible that will impact the bottom line for our client. And we're also pretty good at communicating this to the client so they can appreciate our responsible efforts.

About The Author

Bryan Brandenburg has published 5 books as well as a number of articles both in print and on the internet. He has published almost 30 software programs both for consumers and business. More information can be found at www.vmmg.net.

b.brandenburg@vmmg.net

---

CRM For Beginners ? Customer Relationship Management Basics

In order to maintain a successful business, the business must... Read More

How to Win the Hearts of Your Customers and Friends

Those of us doing business over the internet have to... Read More

Clients... and 38 ways to communicate with them

As Alan Weiss (guru to the savvy consultant) says: "It... Read More

Increase Sum in Your Check Account with Follow-Ups

We'll be examining what makes follow up to prospects/customers so... Read More

Can Three Words In Websters Dictionary Be The Key To Customer Loyalty?

Are you concerned about customer loyalty? Are your customers so... Read More

Stay - Say - Pay

Would you like to have customers that stay with you... Read More

Customer Neglect

What have you done for your existing customers lately? Probably... Read More

Five Ways To Wow Your Client

Running a business is about providing goods and services to... Read More

Attitude of Service

When conducting a training session about customer service, I always... Read More

Customer Service, the Internets Primary Neglected Business Concern

Customer service is everything to a business. Just look at... Read More

Customers - What They Really Want - 6 Secrets of Customer Service

What customers really want can be divided into two areas.Firstly... Read More

Loyalty Programs May Keep Customers Coming Back ? But First You?ve Got to Earn their Trust

Remember trading stamps? If you're over 40, chances are you... Read More

Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

"Marketing as a spiritual practice." It sounds contradictory ? how... Read More

4 Myths about Customer Value

The purpose of business is to create and retain a... Read More

From Scowl to Smile: 5 Practical Steps to Instill Exceptional Customer Service

Whether in a restaurant, a retail establishment, or the local... Read More

I Wont Tell My Lawyer but I Will Tell You

A general counsel of a large international consulting firm told... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win... Read More

Foolproof Customer Service Strategies (That Only A Fool Would Try!)

Ever notice how customer service varies from store to store?... Read More

Should I Have My Company Mystery Shopped?

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone... Read More

Who Says the Customer is Always Right?

We all know the old adage, "The Customer is Always... Read More

Call Center Services - An Ever Increasing Demand

Are your company's call center services all that they could... Read More

Service Equals Performance Equals Service

Service can be described as a "performance" of some kind... Read More

Your Voice Print

"Mountains are built one pebble at a time and climbed... Read More

What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management?

The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor... Read More

Sorry, No Customer Service After 4:00 P.M.

A few months ago, I wrote about ingenious styles of... Read More

Loyal Customers Take Commitment

In today's competitive world of retail, many stores are implementing... Read More

One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day

What happened to the old saying, the customer is always... Read More

Raising The Bar For Online Magazine Subscription Services And Customer Service

After years of flying below the radar in the magazine... Read More

Develop Loyal Customers for a Lifetime ? part 1 (1 ? 10)

Traditional marketing strategies encourage business owners to continually grow their... Read More

Top Ten Strategies for Delivering 5-Star Customer Service

Customer satisfaction is valuable, but customer loyalty is priceless. In... Read More

DONT Give Your Customers What They Want!

One of the mantras we hear repeatedly in business is... Read More

Make Your Customer Your Friend

The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is... Read More

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

However, in the world of business, this cliché may not... Read More