Smart Women Have a Winning Offense

Recently my children’s little league baseball team was defeated---badly. At one point, I looked at another mom and said, “Please let the bloodshed end!” After the game, the coach brought the team into the dugout to review what worked and what didn’t work. He began with a review of the other team’s performance. One boy piped in, “They sure hit well when they were at bat.” Another boy said, “And they were good at stealing bases!” This got me thinking about how Smart Women need a good offense to win this game we call entrepreneurship. Your entrepreneurial offense is key to long-term success in your business. When your ideal client says, “Yes, I want to work with you!”, now you have the opportunity to shine. They are excited about the service that you’re going to provide them. However, this is the one area that can easily be overlooked in your business. When we get a new client, sometimes we forget about them because, well, now they are a client. You go out and begin marketing again to find another client and forget about the new client. Am I right? This is where having a good offense is really important. You want to show them how great you are and give them the experience of working with an “expert.” You want them to feel they made the best decision by hiring you to solve their problem. Here are a few tips and solutions to help you put on a good offense with your new clients: 1. Build a solid relationship – You want to consistently foster a solid, business relationship with your clients all along the way even after you complete your work with them. Building faith and trust with your clients is one of the keys to success in business. 2. Practice consistent follow-up – this is easy to do but sometimes where the ball gets dropped. When someone becomes a new client, create a welcome packet or welcome letter that continues to remind them what a good decision they made. If you see an article that you know would be of interest to them, send it or email it. Set up a system in your business for follow-up so your clients don’t fall through the cracks. Recently, a client came to me because her current clients were not happy with her service. Once we took a laser view on the process she uses in her business when a new client comes on, it was clear that she needed to provide more “high touch” communication with them. 3. Keep your word – if you make a commitment to your client, make sure you honor it. If you promise information will be sent out or a call will be returned, make sure that happens when you promised. This is where the trust factor can be strengthened or broken with your client. 4. Create special packages – you can easily set yourself apart and shine with your client by doing this. Take an inventory of all the services you offer and create special packages or bundle the services together. I offer this to my clients and I know other women entrepreneurs doing this in different types of businesses and it’s working beautifully. People love packages. Don’t you love it when you receive those offers from your favorite getaway offering a weekend package that includes breakfast, dinner, and a massage? Having a good offense is critical to getting qualified referrals from happy clients in the future. Creating trust with your clients can cause a dramatic increase in your business in a very short period of time. The next time you go to bat for a client, be prepared to hit it out of the ballpark! Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you. *****