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.

One thing I see that is often missing from people’s marketing materials is a clear call to action.

I am really going to elaborate on this one because it could mean the difference between your revenue increasing or not.

There are several strategies we use to create a clear call to action:

• Give a deadline: We’ve all received some sort of promotional material that has a deadline for ordering. The offer could end on that date. Or you could use the deadline in conjunction with an upgrade or free gift. That way, your potential affluent customers know they only have a limited time to respond and they won’t fall victim to the “I’ll do it later” syndrome.
• Advice of a price increase: People want to get in on a good deal. If your price is going up on a specific date, let your affluent customers know. They’ll want to buy before your product’s price increases.
• Offer a Free Gift: Nothing attracts new customers like free gifts. The affluent LOVE a good deal.  As an added incentive for ordering, offer your free gift to the first 100 or 1,000 people that respond.
• Offer an upgrade: One simple line can boost your sales. “Order within 10 days and we’ll upgrade you to the deluxe model.”
• Free products with purchase: You’ve seen this technique used with computer sales – “Buy a computer and receive a free printer”. This works with a whole range of products, but be sure to include a date on your offer. This politely urges people to take advantage of your offer before time runs out.

No matter how you approach your own call to action, be sure to include action phrases:

Call Now. Toll-Free, 24 Hours a Day. Mail this coupon today in the postage-paid envelope. Fax your response card.

Be sure to avoid passive phrases like: “You know how to reach us. Call when you’re ready to order.”

Whenever I work with a small business, I always check in on their top business goals and their exit strategy. Do they want to be a famous author and speaker?  Do they want to eventually have the company run without them and build the brand based on a proprietary system?  Do they plan to offer a variety of different products that have little or nothing to do with one another?  Do they plan to build the business to sell?

All of the answers to these questions help me to guide them in their brand strategy.  There are three basic types of brand strategies, you can choose to use them all, or just select one; it really is based on the goals of your business.

1. The Celebrity Brand or Personal Brand

A personal brand allows you to stand out among the crowd, you are considered the expert…especially important with affluent clients.

2. Business Brand

The business brand puts more focus on the business than it does its owner. Branding your business is a great strategy if you plan on selling it or hiring in new management at some point so you can retire.

3. Product, Program or System Brand

The benefit of using this strategy is that in your marketing, your client’s success doesn’t really rely on you – it relies on the proven system you’ve developed, the program you’ve developed or the products you’ve developed.

Which one or ones are right for you?

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?

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.

22% of U.S. households have more than 55% of all earned income. This means that more than half of the country’s income is concentrated in one of five households.  The affluent have the money and they are willing to spend it…even in this cautious economy.

If the potential dollars have not convinced you, here are 5 more reasons why you MUST market your services upwards towards this lucrative audience:

1. Marketing To The Affluent Requires Less Energy and Less Effort. If you had the choice between selling to one person to make $10,000 or selling to ten people to make $10,000 which would you choose?
2. The Affluent Are Not Affected By Economic Conditions. Typically, the affluent have enough diversification in their wealth that a blip in the economy is just that and doesn’t significantly affect their accumulated fortune.
3. The Affluent Shop on Value. This means they will pay the asking price even if it’s 100% more expensive than the competition IF they perceive added value.
4. The Affluent Do Not “Nickel & Dime” You. If time and again, you over-deliver on expectations and provide superior service, the affluent are convinced of your value and won’t ask and ask about each charge in your service agreement.
5. The Affluent Are Exceedingly Loyal. Once the affluent consumer makes his or her choice and as long as you continue to deliver value and exceptional customer service, they are your client for the long term.

Affluent clients will help you differentiate your business through their perceptions and their grapevine of referrals and acts opinion-sharing. If you are able to communicate your difference effectively, and then fulfill your promise, you can shape your wealthy client’s views of you within your marketplace (product category).

Here are the benefits of a well defined differentiation:

• You will become a client magnet attracting affluent clients to you instead of you hunting them down.
• You will spend significantly less time and money marketing.
• You will reduce your sales cycle because you will stand out at the clear winner.
• You will increase your revenues.
• You will get to choose the clients you work with.

Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent, unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, origin, liking, and more. Although most people associate brands with big companies, the smallest of companies can use branding techniques with great rewards just like I have.

A strong brand will project an image of a large and established business to your potential affluent customers. People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is, which also creates a greater sense of trust with the affluent.

An image of size and establishment can be especially important when an affluent customer wants reassurance that you will still be around in a few years time.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with Dustin Mathews for a very special VIP day.

If you don’t know Dustin, he’s gained huge success helping entrepreneurs and investors across the nation get ridiculous amounts of cash to grow their real estate investment businesses.  You can learn more about him at:  http://www.businesscreditinfusion.com.

Please click on the video below to hear about the great work we shared.

Mass marketing refers to treatment of the market as a homogenous group and offering the same marketing mix to all customers. Mass marketing allows economies of scale to be realized through mass production, mass distribution, and mass communication. The drawback of mass marketing is that customer needs and preferences differ and the same offering is unlikely to be viewed as optimal by all customers. If firms ignored the differing customer needs, another firm likely would enter the market with a product that serves a specific group, and the incumbent firms would lose those customers.

Mass marketing is not the best approach for small businesses for a variety of reasons.  Here’s what you need to consider when approaching your marketing plan:

1. Mass marketing is not targeted to the people most likely to buy what small businesses sell.
2. Mass marketing rarely creates quick sales.
3. Mass marketing can be expensive and suck up your resources.
4. Mass marketing is difficult to design to appeal to a target market.