As a marketing specialist I’d love to say powerful marketing is the secret to building service businesses.
Get real: it’s word-of-mouth. Online lead generation brings in comparison shoppers, and that’s useful but takes more work. If you’re on a small business budget, ads usually bring in, well, not much. Chasing new business is an endless grind.
Get others to do your boasting
Referrals do what you can’t. You can exclaim “we’re great!” in your marketing material but it’s lost in the swathes of competitors saying the same, which customers assume is a lie anyway.
Referrals arrive on your doorstep pre-sold by one of your other lovely clients, expecting you to be just what they’re after.
Do referrals happen because you are the best? Not really. Think about your own purchasing habits. Could you recommend a good mechanic or accountant? Do you know how current your accountant is with changes to retirement planning law? Or even how good their Excel skills are? Admit it, you have no idea. You don’t know how good your car mechanic, accountant or dentist really is.
The reason you need them is because you don’t understand what they do. You wouldn’t be able to compare your dentist’s skills with those of their competitors.
Choosing a service supplier is a two-step process.
Step one: Are they up to it?
You don’t know if they’re the best, only that they’re good enough. They have certificates. They’ve done nothing to make you doubt their competence. They usually meet deadlines, often your only objective measure of their skill.
That’s enough to proceed to step two. They could improve their skills another 57 per cent through professional development but you wouldn’t notice. Good enough is good enough. But they won’t get referred unless they pass the final test.
Step two: Do you like your service provider?
Sorry MBAs but it’s hard to assign a KPI number to likeability. It’s the vibe.
The building blocks of likeability are cast if you can answer “yes” to these questions:
- Do they understand you?
- Are they pleasant to work with?
- Do you feel they give you a good deal?
- Do they remember little details about you?
- Are they interested in what you’re trying to achieve? Can they help?
- Do they keep you informed if something’s running late?
- When they make a mistake do they own it honestly and quickly?
If you like them, you probably think they are a good accountant or mechanic. So you’ll use them for years and refer them to your friends.
This is how you build any service business. Any hour spent getting to know your client is more productive than an hour spent becoming technically better at your job. Ask. Listen. Remember. Don’t talk over them.
Remember that half of being likeable is not being dislikeable and downright offensive. Don’t assume you share strong views on politics, culture, society or religion. That’s dangerous.
Striking the balance
I’m not suggesting you stop improving your skills. Professional pride should keep you doing that. And likeability without skill builds a house of cards ready for business collapse.
Just don’t take it personally when clients don’t notice your amazing skills, they’re invisible to them. Your client probably isn’t going to share your maniacal obsession with your products.
You’ll build a bigger business by remembering people’s names. The rules of getting people on your side haven’t changed since Dale Carnegie nailed the topic in 1936 with How To Win Friends and Influence People.
As always, good ideas are timeless. So is likeability.
Ian Whitworth, author, co-owner Scene Change, vice chair Meetings and Events Australia.
