CONNECTIONS

Hutt Bush, Founder
Coaching For Results®, Inc

Our work with individuals and businesses of all kinds has taught us that the client delight is the best possible outcome in any business relationship.

It’s that smile on their face when they leave your store. The enthusiastic way they talk about you to their friends. Their satisfaction at how well they feel about doing business together.

The origins of the words in the phase help us understand.

Client: From the Latin root meaning, “To lean on, to listen, to lean towards, to follow.”

Delight: From “Delitier” meaning “to please, greatly charm.” Related to “delicere,” meaning “to entice.”

Your customers and clients rely on you to please them. The following ten elements are essential for establishing, nurturing and growing any business relationship.

ONE: Keep your promises.

Your brand is a set of promises kept. Always provide superior quality. Always deliver on schedule, on budget. Always provide follow through and follow up. Always deliver great service.

TWO: Be aware of the “end game” for your client.

The end game is the ultimate result desired by your client. What matters is not the activity, but the result of the activity. You may have a different set of criteria for satisfaction than your clients; but in great relationships, you understand both.

THREE: Actively manage client expectations to meet or exceed them.

Expectations are a kind of Return On Investment (ROI). What does the client want to have happen as a result of the resources they spend for your products and services? Keep in mind that there are all kinds of investment. The emotional investments the client makes are just as important as any external returns.

FOUR: Observe with the goal of understanding.

Listen, observe, watch, analyze. Show up with all your senses. Customize your communications, your work, and your ideas to the client. Never listen with only the intention to respond, but the intention to understand as well.

FIVE: Anticipate.

Anticipation is the heart of service. Thinking things through on behalf of the client is welcomed — just like great service in a restaurant. Providing what your client needs and wants before they ask for it is the ideal.

SIX: Be precise.

Always operate with as close to 100% certainty as possible. No one and no relationship is perfect all the time. The simple goal of accuracy provides tremendous benefit.

SEVEN: Nurture your relationships.

In any relationship between two people, there are actually three relationships: First, your relationship to yourself. Second, your client’s relationship to himself or herself. Third, the relationship between you and your client. Awareness of the good of all three allows you to increase the chances for a successful engagement.

EIGHT: Take full responsibility for client perceptions.

We are equally responsible for what we intend to communicate and what the client perceives as having been communicated. If perception doesn’t match intention, there is a breakdown in communication.

NINE: Demonstrate genuine enthusiasm and passion for the product or service you provide.

Your clients are choosing you for a variety of reasons. Clients appreciate your being excited about what you’re providing for them. Show them that you care about what they care about

TEN: Be grateful.

In most cases, your clients have numerous options from which to choose. When you’re appreciative of their having chosen you, you reinforce their choice and return the favor.

In 1988, E. B Hutt Bush founded the company which became Coaching for Results®, Inc. CFR supports individuals and groups in entrepreneurial and Fortune 1000 companies to accomplish results in all areas of their personal and professional lives. Please direct all inquires to Lori Rose, Director of Business Development.

(310) 463-8420
lori@coachingforresults.com
www.coachingforresults.com

Copyright 2007 Coaching for Results, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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