Don’t be mistaken, small businesses and entrepreneurs CAN serve-up exemplary customer service with ease just like big businesses.  You can provide an experience that makes your customer say, “Wow!” And you can do it consistently.  The result?  Satisfied customers who are loyal to you and will gladly pay your rates.

Here are the 6 steps you must take to design knock-out customer service with affluent clients:

• An understanding of the value of a customer as a lifetime relationship (and not as a single sale) – Don’t just look at what your customer means today in terms of sales. Look at the potential value if they continue to work year over year growing their purchases incrementally because they are so satisfied in the services you offer.  I’ve had many clients who started with me by buying a $99 information product and then went on to become Platinum Coaching clients.

• The desire to make an affluent customer happy – It’s easy to think about you and your business all the time. Take a moment to step back and consider what would truly make your affluent customers happy.  It’s likely different things for different individuals.  Keep in mind the key attributes your affluent customers value: approval (from peers, the world at large and business associates), recognition, respect, efficiency (don’t waste their time or money), competence and convenience.
• Listening to the wants and needs of your customers – You don’t have to guess.  Your affluent customers will tell you EXACTLY what they want and need.  Make it simple by asking your affluent clients during your new client orientation process.  Include a simple survey that asks questions like, how do you prefer to receive information from us, when is the best time of day to meet, and anything else pertinent to your line of business.  This will make servicing them more pleasurable and their satisfaction will come easily.

• Developing new products and services in direct response to the needs and wants of your affluent customers – Your clients will appreciate that you listened to them and your bottom line will appreciate the easy sales that result.
  
• Ensuring that your staff knows what to do if a customer is unhappy – Build a process and then train your staff on it so that conflicts are resolved immediately.  Here are the steps my team and I follow:

1. Apologize with empathy
2. Take ownership of the problem
3. Fix the problem ASAP
4. Get the customer’s buy-in
5. Offer a small sincere token of apology
6. Follow up

• Consistently responding to the needs and wants of your affluent customers to provide the experience that makes each customer say, “Wow” – Again, it’s all about developing processes that work.  Decide what is right for your customers, develop the steps your company needs to take to satisfy and then train, train, train your staff accordingly.

Continually delivering a level of service above and beyond expectations is the cost of entry with the affluent and it will set you apart from your competition as well.

By definition, exemplary customer service is, quite simply, an experience with your business that makes a customer say, “Wow!” When you consistently deliver product, service and value in a way that exceeds customer expectation, you are delivering exemplary customer service. I can tell you first hand that your affluent customer not only expects, but demands this level of service and we are willing to pay higher premiums for it!

Take for example, the leading authority in customer service, Ritz Carlton Hotels. The Ritz Carlton’s standard of service is what sets the hotel chain apart from its competitors and establishes it as a world-renowned leader in customer satisfaction; a position any company, in any industry can aspire to achieve. The Ritz Carlton’s “Credo” simply translated here, is easily employed and is sure to inspire confidence:

“We pledge to provide the finest personal service for our customers who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.”

Take note of the hotel chain’s premium rates as well. The Ritz has permission to charge especially high room charges, not because it’s the hippest hotel that keeps up on all the latest trends, or because the lobby bar is the “see-and-be-seen” hot spot, but rather, it consistently delivers above and beyond in servicing its customers.  A guest knows exactly what to expect when he/she enters the doors.  He recognizes that his needs will be taken care of completely and he is willing to pay a higher price for these services over and over again.  

There are two things that are important in developing products and services for the affluent. Number one is the kind of products and services you offer. Number two is HOW you position them.

Remember, the affluent are time crunched. They want services and products that offer a level of convenience to their hectic lives.

Here are some types of offerings ideal for affluent clients:

• Flat Fee Service – This agreement includes one set fee for services rendered rather than an hourly rate.
• Retainer Based Programs – A contract between two people or companies where one pays to reserve the other’s time.
• Continuity/Membership Programs – This is the model around which membership sites and associations are built. Members pay a monthly subscription fee for access to your content and other members in the group.
• Information Products – The consuming world buys products and services in packages. When you package your expertise in a way that people are willing to pay for it, you’ve got a valuable product that will generate multiple streams of income.
• Done for You Services - Some clients want something, but they don’t want to take the time to learn it themselves. They want it done for them. This is very common with the affluent.
• Exclusive Coaching Programs – Think about providing guidance and information to another individual and potentially helping them plan an appropriate course of action.

Running your business by price-based products or services will hurt it in the long run. Your price-conscious customers are not loyal affluent customers; when they find someone cheaper, they’ll switch. Instead, offer value to value-conscious, affluent customers; they are much more loyal.

Similarly, when work costs are higher, consumers value it more. There are many “bottom feeders” scurrying around to get the cheapest work. If your work costs more (and you deliver more), it will be worth more to the buyer.

Research shows that many times the affluent buy on prestige. Prestige products and services are bought for the image as much as the product itself — and a key component of the image is the price. They are too expensive for most people, ergo those who can afford these products are seen as rich, successful, upper class, elite, or all of the above.

How I Price Products and Services

Three or four things I look at when I am pricing products and services.

1. What are you actual costs plus profit margin? How much does it actually cost you to deliver your product or service?
2. What are your competitors charging for a similar product or service?
3. How will you add value to your offerings to obtain the competitive advantage over your competition?
4. What price point can you justify a return on investment for the experience?

Building strong customer relationships directly correlates to the development of brand loyalty. When the affluent customer becomes emotionally, rather than merely intellectually vested, loyalty to the brand becomes cemented.

Loyalty is intangible, yet incredibly valuable, since over time it builds great brand equity. Brand equity goes right to the value of every company. In fact, brand equity is sometimes the most decisive factor in assessing company value.

A Dow Jones campaign developed in the early ’90s to promote The Wall Street Journal stated: “A brand or corporate image is not something that can be seen, touched, tasted, defined or measured. Intangible and abstract, it exists solely as an idea in the mind. Yet it is often a company’s most precious asset…in a world of parity products and services, nothing can tilt things more dramatically in your favor.”

Strong brands enjoy distinct advantages:

• They are perceived as effectively differentiated from their competitors.
• They satisfy affluent consumer needs on both intellectual and emotional levels.
• They consistently deliver on their brand promise, thus they consistently deliver value. When brands resonate with affluent customers at this level, there is a powerful emotional relationship in place. This is the key element that leads to loyalty.

Why should you bother to establish a niche market? Because of the great advantage of being alone there, other small businesses may not be aware of your particular niche market, and large businesses won’t want to bother with it.

Here are the Best Characteristics of an Ideal Niche with Affluent Clients:

• Personal interest in topics within the niche. You enjoy reading, learning and writing about these topics.
• Networking foundation. You are already active in several networking groups or forums within the niche or can easily become networked.
• Moderate to high search volume. The niche has a moderate to high search volume, meaning that people actually do search for more information on the topic.
• Potential for Monetization. You want to make sure that people will pay you for the information.

I speak all over the country on a regular basis.  It is one of the major methods I use to build my list.  At the end of a show I will end up with hundreds of business cards stuffed in my briefcase from people who asked to subscribe to my newsletter. Another way I get a ton of contacts is through networking. When I take a person’s card, I ask if it is okay if I add him, or her, to my list to contact. If they say “no,” I write a big NO on the back of their card.

Below is the simple process I use to get my contacts into my system immediately when I am at an event. In addition, every Friday I will send any other contacts that I’ve accumulated over the week to my assistant.

Step 1: I bring an envelope to the event, with the event name and date written on the exterior.

Step 2: I bring a FedEx envelope with the shipping label pre-addressed to my assistant, put the event envelope in the mailer, and mail it.

Step 3: My assistant, who has my card scanner, proceeds to scan the cards into the system.

Step 4: She then exports the cards to a CSV file and imports them into three databases which takes about 5 minutes each: my Primary Contact Manager (Outlook), my Shopping Cart (oneshoppingcart.com) and my Email Newsletter (iContact.com).

Step 5: She also emails the CSV file to my sales team so they can send a welcome email to the contact and offer him or her a complimentary 30-minute strategy session and let them know about upcoming events.

Step 6: My sales team and I keep in regular contact with our list by offering them valuable information, like free teleclasses, autoresponder e-courses, low cost resources, articles and hot news.

If you do not have an assistant, I highly recommend that you plan to do this activity once a week at a minimum.  This is not something you want to fall behind on, because not only will you be losing hot prospects, but you might also end up in overwhelm.

If you are like many small business owners I work with, you might mistakenly think your brand is all about what your logo and website look like.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Here are some other key factors that affect your brand with affluent clients:

• Strong Customer Service – This point is a vital issue with the affluent. Your company should promote and portray this in all that it does.
• Corporate Identity Credibility – If you are selling a professional service or an expert skill, these are highly important. Using correct terminology, colors and relevant client testimonials can all help to support this image.
• Brand Convenience – This can be portrayed through short, catchy statements such as ‘open 24/7′, ‘just round the corner’ or ‘next day delivery’.
• Brand Design – This is another key part of any company’s image. Is your color scheme and logo consistent and does it fit the desired image relevant to your target market?

First impressions need to convey the image you have chosen and should be re-enforced with all your company’s actions. By presenting a crisp, clean business card out of a holder you create a better image than digging around for a bent or dirty card. If visitors often come to your business premises then an instant image is created by exterior signs, interior design, staff clothing and company cars. If you get these aspects correct for your brand it can make a real difference.

My strategies for marketing make it SO easy to work with your IDEAL clients and the time and money you spend getting them and keeping them is way less, but typically I reserve this information for my Elite Clients only.  Well, this is it….today is THE day. I’m so excited to announce that I’m finally ready to share it all with you!

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In order to ensure your affluent prospects gravitate to you, you must demonstrate your authority on a subject they are interested in. Why?  When wealthy buyers see you as a knowledgeable professional whose opinions and guidance truly matter as well as a worthy step above the competition, they are more likely to hand over their hard-earned money. And because you are charging premium pricing with your affluent clients, it is even more important that you are the leading expert.

There are a couple ways to start to position yourself as an expert in the eyes of the affluent:

• Be Confident in Your Expertise Stop taking your skills for granted. The affluent are more definitively affected by how you present yourself and your credentials.  They achieved their status through hard work, determination and ingenuity.  You are even more attractive to them when you present yourself in the same light.
• Create a Powerful Position & Brand In an overcrowded marketplace, if you’re not standing out, then you’re invisible. The best way to captivate your affluent audience is with an authentic and powerful personal brand.  The benefits of strong personal branding will give you an edge over your competition and enhance your value in the global marketplace.

Use the ideas I’ve given to help you devise a plan that works for you and become the star in your field to reap the lucrative rewards of the affluent.