Imagine two different companies that offer the same level of service and price vying for the same client. One of them treats the client like a king and has all of their needs met with a smile.
The
other goes with a presentation about what they do.
Obviously, the first one will win the contract even though the client gets the same price for the same service from either.
If you are into business whereby most of your clients are based in other cities or countries, i.e. outsourcing, design & development, tech, etc. you are certainly interested in making most out of their visits to your office.
Well, you have to go beyond and stand out from the competition, not just to win the client’s job, but also to sustain the project and develop a long term partnership. And, sometimes that means spoiling them a little bit.
In
this article, we will go over some ways to treat your client in a way that will
land you the contract.
Using a Car Service
Instead of picking your client up at the airport, go with a car service and ride along to greet him. Arriving in a black car with a professional driver says that you are serious. There are car service companies all over the country like this one that offers car service Los Angeles airport.
Avoid
using an Uber as it doesn’t do much to
impress. Even using Uber Black may not leave much of an impression.
Also,
make sure you are there to greet them at the airport along with the driver to
make a good first impression. The driver will be there to help with their bags
and your job is to make sure they are taken care of.
Don’t Waste Their Time
Yes, you want to show them a good time when they are in your city. Definitely take them to a nice restaurant and give them something to do on their free time like a get them tickets to an exciting event happening in the city.
At
the same time, they are not there on vacation. They are there to get a deal
done and want to know what you can do for them. Do enough to make them feel
appreciated, but also make sure that you get down to business right away.
Once
you have the client settled in the hotel and fed, then have your presentation
ready to go.
Try
to anticipate any of your clients needs or wants so you can take care of things
while they are taking care of business.
Make it About Them
Your
prospective client cares about one thing. Their business.
When
you are laying out the case that you should get the contract, the surest way to
impress is to let them know what you will do for them and their business.
Your
client doesn’t care about the history of your company, how much revenue it
generates for other clients, or any other information like that. They want to
know what you can do for them specifically.
Make
sure they know that you understand their
problem and then identify how you are going to solve it. Then make sure they
understand that your way to solve their problem is either better than the
competition or will be done at a cheaper cost.
That’s
all they want to know.
