What Have We Done for You Lately? 5 Ways to Demonstrate Proof of Service
Here are some tips to remind you, the partner, of the value you provide.
February 8, 2018
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There was a time, not so long ago, when companies would call on their customers directly. These days, technology makes it easier to connect remotely. But business relationships are strengthened when you can meet face-to-face. In fact, a study by APCO Insight for the Meetings Mean Business (MMB) coalition found that 100 percent of small business owners report that in-person meetings yield positive ROI. So, initiate in-person quarterly or annual business reviews, wherein you talk not only about your performance metrics but also your customer’s current and future challenges and opportunities. These are great times for you to find out more about their business and ways you can apply your solutions and know-how toward moving your client’s business forward. And don’t overlook the added benefits of old-fashioned wining and dining, power lunches, box seats for the game, or any of the face-time activities that most people in today’s under-30 set would consider “quaint” practices of the past. In truth, modern society is a lonely place.
POWER TIP: Go to the trade shows your customers attend, such as the Channel Partners Conference & Expo. Some of the most successful consultative business executives, solutions providers and the like, go to trade shows in their clients’ industries. Not only do you get the chance for some face time with your clients, you learn what’s important in their industries, which can help you build better solutions for them.
It seems that for every vendor in the tech space, there’s a client dashboard. Dashboards are undeniably helpful to closing business; customers want to be able to get a comprehensive view of what you offer them. In practice, however, many clients rarely (and we can hear you saying “never”) access their dashboards for services that work in the background. As a result, the effort you put in to showing your customers how much you’re doing for them goes largely unnoticed. You can’t blame them; we all suffer from dashboard fatigue these days — so much so that there’s an emerging class of companies that tap lots of different dashboards to give clients an overall view of their vital information. There’s an opportunity here for anyone willing to give up a little pride about showing off the “awesomeness” of their own dashboards and deliver an API to whichever dashboard your customer is actively using. If you’re hesitant to take this step, think of why you offered the dashboard to begin with, and ask yourself what’s more important — showing your customer what you’re doing for them or getting your customer to log in to see it?
Plus, we all know how this marketplace of neutral dashboards is going to play out. Winners will emerge and APIs that connect to those dashboards will become differentiators at first and mandatory features soon thereafter. So why not get ahead of the curve and build simple widgets your customers can put where they’ll actually be looked at now, before all your competitors are driven into the same position? Gain that edge!
POWER TIP: At this point, many of your customers will not have considered that you can bring your data to them instead of them having to come to you for it. Simply letting them know they can have your performance or analytics data on their terms can create demand for your information.
Never overlook the power of an old-fashioned thank you. Hopefully the sentiment is genuine, but in any case, a phone call, postcard, “thank you” card – you name it (more of that “quaint” stuff from last century) – if nothing else, accomplishes the simple goal of reminding your customers that you’re there for them.
POWER TIP: Don’t ruin the sentiment of gratitude by bragging about what you’re doing for them. Keep the “thank you” simple and sincere and let your customer do the math. Also, for those of you who want to call us out on this one, claiming we’re pointing out the obvious, let us ask you this: How many “thank you” cards have you received this year from your suppliers?
No, don’t take sides in politics — especially today. (Are you nuts? Taking any side on any political issue these days is sure to alienate half of your customer base.) But you can do yourself some good by stealing from the playbook of politicians and speaking to what’s important to your constituents (read: customers). Finding out what’s important to your customer can give you the chance to present them information that they’ll home in on to separate your signal from the noise. Once you’ve got their attention, you can remind them of all the “hidden” things you’re doing for them.
POWER TIP: Not sure how to find out what’s important? Ask your customer why they chose you, and lead with information on that in every report and information exchange you share with them. Even if you’re just saving them money, create a ticker showing how much money they’ve saved to date, and then put your other important metrics behind those while you’ve got your clients’ attention.
We just took a hard right turn on this one, but it’s a sound path. The term “more hooks” into your customers is not just about diversification or more revenue. It’s also about being more visible to your customer. The more services you offer your customers, the more they encounter your company (if not directly, then indirectly via the solutions you set up for them), which gets them thinking about the other things you do for them. This, in turn, helps you to fend off competitors that might otherwise offer more services than you do. In other words, delivering more services helps you remain top-of-mind with your customers, which is the whole point of finding ways to offer “proof of service” to begin with.
POWER TIP: Previous commentary aside, this strategy is attractive on two fronts: It not only retains customers (read: prevents revenue loss), it generates new revenue to boot.
We just took a hard right turn on this one, but it’s a sound path. The term “more hooks” into your customers is not just about diversification or more revenue. It’s also about being more visible to your customer. The more services you offer your customers, the more they encounter your company (if not directly, then indirectly via the solutions you set up for them), which gets them thinking about the other things you do for them. This, in turn, helps you to fend off competitors that might otherwise offer more services than you do. In other words, delivering more services helps you remain top-of-mind with your customers, which is the whole point of finding ways to offer “proof of service” to begin with.
POWER TIP: Previous commentary aside, this strategy is attractive on two fronts: It not only retains customers (read: prevents revenue loss), it generates new revenue to boot.
By Casey Freymuth
The hospitality industry has mastered the concept of “proof of service.”
Toilet paper rolls are folded to assure us that the bathrooms we guests use have been cleaned. Turndown service reminds us there’s a whole staff there at the hotel, making our stay comfortable. Though rumored to have originated when Cary Grant laid out a “breadcrumb” trail of chocolates for a mistress in the Penthouse suite of the Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis, a mint on the pillow serves the same purpose — to make customers feel appreciated, if not loved.
Proof of service is becoming an imperative for technology companies as well — especially given the challenges we all face in maintaining deep connections with customers as noted in our blog, “Three Ways to Rekindle Customer Intimacy.” In the tech space, many of our solutions, especially cloud and managed services, allow customers to “set it and forget it.” It’s a key part of the value proposition partners sell. The trouble, though, is that “forgetting it” means customers easily forget what those solutions (and by extension your company) are doing for them. Here are several ideas for reminding customers of the value you provide.
Khali Henderson is senior partner and Casey Freymuth is managing partner at BuzzTheory Strategies, a marketing and strategy consulting firm specializing in the channel.
Read more from Khali Henderson.
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