Happy Clients eZine Archive
From January 2005 to the Present (Newest First)
How do you keep your clients happy? Our monthly eZine has tips and practical suggestions that you can immediately use in your client relationships.
May 4, 2006 — How Being More Selective Can Bring You More Profitable Clients
April 20, 2006 — Overcome Resistance to Your Best Advice
April 6, 2006 — How to Promote Open Communication Between You and Your Client
March 23, 2006 — How Can Loyal Clients Hurt Your Business?
March 9, 2006 — Educating Your Clients . . . To Be Better Clients
February 23, 2006 — How Your Client’s Worry Can Make You Indispensable
February 9, 2006 — Avoid the Fallacy of First Impressions
January 26, 2006 — What a Client Negotiation Course Can’t Teach You
January 12, 2006 — Natural Consequences: The Ultimate Client Management Tool
December 29, 2005 — Clean Slates and Fresh Starts
December 15, 2005 — Getting the Most Out of Your Follow-up Questions?
December 1,
2005 — How Do You Avoid Thorny Client
Situations?
Use Clarifying Questions
November 17, 2005 — Are You Designing Excellence Into Your Client's Experience?
November 3, 2005 — Why You Can’t Charge Enough Money to Stay in a Bad Client Relationship
October 20, 2005 — How Much Does Free Advice Cost You?
October 6, 2005 — Can You Get Genuine Feedback From Your Clients?
September 22, 2005 — Do Your Service Offerings Help Your Clients Address the Big Picture?
September 8,
2005 — Distraction In The Wake of
Hurricane Katrina
(625 words, reading time: three minutes)
August 25, 2005 — How to Survive Complaint Calls
(690 words, reading time: a little over three minutes)
August 11, 2005 — Are Your Relationship Management Tools Giving You The Answers to The Right Questions?
July 28, 2005 — Never Trust a 'Silent' Customer
Written by: Sean D'Souza
July 14, 2005 — Can You Tell the Difference Between a Bad Client and a Difficult One? Look for These Clues
June 30, 2005 — Are You Working with the Right Clients?
June 16, 2005 — Are You Keeping Barriers Between Your Customers and Great Service?
June 2, 2005 — You May Be Missing Opportunities to Increase Credibility When Recovering from Service Mistakes
May 19, 2005 — Are These Information Gathering
Pitfalls Costing You Good Clients? Part 2
(1059 words, reading time: approximately five minutes)
May 5, 2005 — Are These Information Gathering Pitfalls Costing You Good Clients? Part 1
April 21, 2005 — 7 Steps to Stronger Client Agreements: How to Prevent Hidden Expectations from Driving Away Good Clients
April 7, 2005 — Preventative Complaint Maintenance: How to Keep Good Clients from Behaving Badly
March 2005 — Want to Become the Best; Beware the Curse of Competence
February 2005 — The Problem with Blame? If You Fix the Blame, You Ignore the Problem
January 2005 — Sending Mixed Signals Can Send Your Clients Away
You are welcome to download or reprint articles, in print or online, whole or in part, from this webpage so long as you include my byline and copyright at the end of each piece with a live weblink. Please forward publication specifics to Jeff Simon Consulting. The attribution should read:
“By Jeff Simon of Jeff Simon Consulting, The Client Retention Specialists. Are you having trouble keeping your best clients? Please visit Jeff's website at http://www.JeffSimon-Consulting.com for additional articles and resources for keeping your best clients."
Resources
Action Plan Marketing (http://www.actionplan.com/) — an excellent marketing resource for independent professionals.
Jay Abraham (http://www.abraham.com) — Perhaps, one of the best marketing consultants.
Vital Smarts (http://www.vitalsmarts.com/) — The
authors of Crucial Conversations and the follow up book, Crucial Confrontations.
Must reads for anyone who wants to more effectively manage their relationships.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What do you do?
We help companies retain their best clients. It is significantly more efficient for a company to take care and protect their best clients, rather than let then leave for competitors. Often, a company will emphasize sales as a means of overcoming a diminishment of their client base. However, the acquisition of a new client can cost six to eight times more than keeping a good client. And that accounts for only the straight acquisition costs. The full real cost of losing good clients is far greater!
Q: How do you help business to business companies retain good clients?
First, we help companies focus on their best information resources. Information is power. This is just as true in client relationships. An organization as small as 20 people can have a multitude of contact with a client. Every point of contact is a source of information. Leveraging and collecting that information can be a valuable resource.
Second, that information can be used to identify what pain, problem, or inconvenience you solve for your clients, and, most importantly, how well your clients believe you do it.
Q: What's the value of a "good" client? Won't any client do?
Good clients can be wonderful assets to a company. Bad clients can drain time, energy, and resources. Unfortunately, many managers, owners, and entrepreneurs are taught that the customer is always right. Or, perhaps even worse, overcompensate and posture themselves adversarially toward customers or clients. Not every client is right for every business. If you can cultivate strong and positive client relationships, with the right clients, work can be profitable and rewarding.
Q: What kind of companies do you work with?
Primarily, business-to-business companies. That is, those companies who sell to other businesses as opposed to the direct consumer.
Q: What makes you different from other consultants?
First, Jeff Simon is a third-generation business owner. His experiences with business extends from the cradle. He can vividly recall his first lessons of protecting clients from his grandfather at the age of 5. He grew up around and in business. Most of the adults he grew up with were business owners and entrepreneurs.
Second, Jeff's business experience is highly diverse. He has worked with hundreds of businesses in dozens of industries. His experience in bankruptcy law and transportation, in particular, introduced him to the issues of his clients who came from a wide variety of industries.
Third, Jeff is a professional communicator. He understands the psychological processes that influence decision-making. He understands how clients interpret actions and messages.
