Today is day one of BTI’s 27th year. I have been lucky enough to help market leaders, market-leaders-to-be, the best-run professional service firms in the world, and all manner of organizations drive growth. The combination of this experience and BTI’s independent research with more than 14,000 top executives provides unmatched insights for our clients.
During BTI’s 25th anniversary, I published a long-form book, Clientelligence: How Superior Client Relationships Fuel Growth and Profits, which has become an Amazon Customer Service Top 30 Best Seller—and a Kirkus Best Book of 2015.
But my clients and friends wanted something more. The advice I got was, “Think short and pithy—focused suggestions on how to immediately boost client service, keep client relationships moving forward, and develop more business without ever using the dreaded sales pitch or hard sell. And make it easy and quick to read.”
You can see the results below, and in my latest book: The Mad Clientist’s ABCs of Client Service. 26 nuggets of insight—each tied to a word and letter of the alphabet. Each nugget, one for each year BTI just completed, tells its own story of how to boost at least one aspect of client service.
Please click each link below for the complete definition and its related illustration (just to reinforce the point):
A is for Action… Your Actions define your clients’ experience…
B is for Bullet… Take one for your client…
C is for Commitment to Help… Commitment to Help is the single most influential factor in any relationship…
D is for Devotion… Devote at least 15 minutes every day to push your understanding of your top client’s industry and business…
E is for Expectations… Clients increase their Expectations with every wonderful act you perform…
F is for Feedback… You can’t improve without client Feedback…
G is for Goals… Clients’ Goals drive every aspect of what you do…
H is for Hot Seat… Your best clients will, at some point, put you in the Hot Seat…
I is for Inaction… Inaction speaks much louder than words…
J is for Joy… The sensation clients experience when they know the value of your service dwarfs the fee…
K is for Kryptonite… Kryptonite is widely accepted as the only known substance proven to render Superman vulnerable…
L is for Listen Listen Listen… Listen until it hurts…
M is for Motion… Make things happen. Move the mountains. Get it done….
N is for No… No drives clients crazy…
O is for Obvious… What is Obvious to you is oblivion to your client…
P is for Process… Process is often more important than the outcome…
Q is for Quality… Quality starts and ends with clients…
R is for Relationship… Relationships are a state of connectedness…
S is for Surprises… Clients hate them…
T is for Thousand Days… You improve your client service prowess by practicing for a Thousand Days, not practicing a thousand ways…
U is for Unprompted… The overwhelming majority of C-level executives will hire you based in a single Unprompted recommendation from a peer…
V is for Value… The point where your client believes they have received substantially more than they pay…
W is for W.I.T… Whatever It Takes…
X is for X-Factor… The X-Factor is the special quality unique to each and every one of your clients…
Y is for You… You are the most powerful component in delivering superior client service…
Z is for Zeal… Your fervor and commitment to client service shines through everything you do and every action you take…
and…
T is for Thank You… I’ll repeat one letter as I take this opportunity to thank all of you: my clients, friends, and colleagues who have taught me these lessons and helped me develop these insights along the way.
Spend just 26 minutes with the ABCs of Client Service and improve your client service immediately. My ABCs of Client Service opens your eyes to a whole new way of providing superior client service to each and every one of your clients—from the client perspective. And offers tactics to drive more business. Click here for more information—and to order your copy today.
And, just to add a bit more celebration to BTI’s birthday, we are giving the first 27 people to subscribe* to The Mad Clientist (in the box at the upper right of your screen) a copy of The Mad Clientist’s ABCs of Client Service. As an added bonus you’ll also be included when we launch a brand new subscribers-only feature next week you won’t want to miss.
MBR
*If you’re already a subscriber go ahead and add your email address again if you’d like the chance to be gifted a copy of the book.