The tables have turned in the sales world. While focusing on prices and features may have worked in the past, only implementing this transactional approach won’t work anymore because customers expect (and deserve) more. Customers prioritize authenticity and trust above all else when it comes to working with brands; 70% of consumers admit that they would spend more with a brand that shows authenticity and according to a Statista survey, trust ranked the most important factor for customers when thinking about their banks. So, how can you elevate your client experience to bolster authenticity and trust? How can you give your most to clients? Here are three ways.
1. Your Role
The title of your role may limit the client experience you create, as the title you have is often the cap you wear. Whether you’re a sales representative at a bank, a customer support associate at a credit union, or a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of your own business, that’s not actually what you are and what your client needs.
Your client doesn’t need a sales rep who takes phone calls, a customer support associate who answers emails, or a CEO who manages meetings. While these transactional activities are important to your role, what your client truly desires is a trustworthy partner to guide them toward a solution to their problem. They desire someone who will listen. They desire someone who will understand the frustration and needs of their current situation. They desire someone they can trust and who has confidence to guide them forward to their goals.
So instead of a sales or customer service rep, try on the cap of trusted advisor and watch your client experience habits change.
For more support with fine-tuning your client experience tactics and sales style, download the Signature Sales Style Blueprint. This fillable document will guide you through elevating each of these elements and applying them to your sales process.
2. Your Engagement
How you communicate with your clients can make or break your relationships. A common pitfall that can happen in sales conversations is using a pitch deck script, talking about your experience, why they should hire you, and the rapport you’ve built. Yes, these details are important and can help you make a sale, but these factors shouldn’t be showcased until you’ve truly gotten to know your client’s deepest desires and dreams.
In order to elevate your client experience, you need to exceed your clients’ engagement expectations. Whether you do this by sending your client a relevant resource or taking them out for coffee, one concept that can guide you is the Hero’s Journey.
The Hero’s Journey is a template made by American writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell. He analyzed global stories and realized they all had common principles, and the hero (main character) typically travels along the same pattern:
- Call to adventure: something happens in the hero’s life that causes them to leave their familiar environment.
- Mentor/helper: on the hero’s adventure they meet a mentor to help them cross the first threshold (challenge) in the unfamiliar environment.
- Transformation: now that the hero has overcome various obstacles alongside their mentor, they now need to approach their ordeal (problem) and face their fears to reach their reward (goal).
- The hero’s return: on the road back to their familiar environment, the hero is tested again and thinks about undoing the success they’ve reached. The hero realizes they need the reward (goal met) and when they finally return to their familiar environment, everything is back to normal.
Your client is the hero. You are the hero’s mentor. Your offer is the reward, or how you help them reach their goal. Try filling out this template for every client you speak with. It will help you personalize the language you use no matter where they’re at in the buyer’s journey.
3. Your Results
The result your client gets from working with you is who they get to become and what they get to feel, not what they actually pay for or invest in.
For example, a mom walks into your bank requesting to set up a Registered Education Savings Plan for her daughter. Her daughter is only a few years away from entering university and she wants her daughter to be debt-free after graduation. So, the bank employee starts setting up the account. As the employee does so, the tension in the mom’s shoulders fades and she feels a weight lift off her. She no longer needs to worry about where the money will come from to pay for her daughter’s schooling. She no longer needs to worry about her daughter paying down debt while trying to get her foot in the door after school. She no longer needs to worry about her daughter being financially strained as she starts her career and the next chapter of her life.
The mom didn’t invest in the account. She actually invested in the success and soundness of her daughter’s future.
So, to elevate your client’s results, start by asking yourself this simple question: “What is my customer actually paying for and investing in?”
Your Clients Deserve the Most
So, how will you improve your client experience to build authenticity and trust? Will you look at your role from a new lens? Will you apply the Hero’s Journey to your conversations and content? Will you take a deeper look at who your clients get to be from partnering with you? Or will you do all of the above? When you do the most and your clients get the most, you’ll get the most revenue and business growth.
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- Unlock the power of Your Brilliant Difference
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• Feel authentic and aligned to your values every time you sell
• Create invitations and ask for the business with confidence and integrity
• Establish a people + purpose = profit mindset
• Build a financially sustainable business you and your clients will love
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I can’t wait to hear from you and the stories you’ll share because you’ve chosen to become a Transformational Seller!
