How to get inside the heads of your clients:

Did you know that you’re probably following the WRONG advice in your business?

You’re either…

1/ Listening to social media influencers

Social Media is chock-full of sales gurus and business consultants, preaching the “5 Things You Must do to Succeed in Business.”

OR

2/ Following your competition

Chasing discounts, sales, and promotions, all the way into the red.

Or, miss-positioning based on the the best THEY could figure out. Not the best for your actual clients.

This newsletter is by:

Profit and Grow is a fractional CFO, bookkeeping, and tax planning firm helping professional service businesses earn and keep more money by maximize their PROFIT, minimize their TAXES, improving CASH FLOW, and making the wisest business DECISIONS.

If profitability and revenue are the most painful parts of your business, stopping you from focusing on what you do best, visit profitandgrow.com and book a call today.

We scale legacy-minded service businesses to $5m in gross revenue, profitably.

Who SHOULD you follow to success?

Your Clients!

The patrons of your business who have voted for you with their hard earned dollars.

Wait, why did they choose you anyway, instead of… well… anyone else?

If you know who is choosing you

Why they are choosing you

And if they are happy they chose you

You have unlocked a superpower in business.

You can read the mind of your market.

Controlling revenue comes down to a few basic metrics.

Average Ticket: The average amount your clients spend with you

Meetings Booked: Of the people in your market who become aware of you, how many book a meeting.

Close Rate: How many meetings yield paying clients.

Client Acquisition Cost: The amount of money you spent on Marketing and Sales, divided by the number of new clients you got over a specific period of time.

The Revenue cycle consists of Marketing, Sales, and Client Success.

All small businesses take part in sales.

Most small businesses market their services.

BUT, a shocking number of small businesses don't engage in any intentional Client Success activities.

Client/Customer Success is common in SaaS (software as a service) tech companies and startups, but it hasn’t quite made its way into small business.

And yet, it is the single most important function of a high performing revenue system!

Here are the benefits of engaging in Client Success, and why it’s so important:

Client Retention

Small businesses live or die by the relationships with their clients.

Client Success ensures that clients are satisfied with the service. It addresses their concerns, and provides ongoing support.

By focusing on client success, you increase customer retention. Which means, a more stable revenue stream and word-of-mouth recommendations!

Upselling and Cross-selling Opportunities

Client Success involves deep insight into the Clients' needs and pain points. Which, finds opportunities to sell extra services that align with the Clients’ goals.

This not only boosts revenue but further strengthens your client relationship.

Client Feedback and Service Improvement

Client Success teams act as a bridge between clients and the business. They collect valuable feedback, suggestions, and pain points from clients. Which, in turn, can be used to improve the service.

This feedback loop is important for small businesses. Iterating and enhancing your offerings leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Want to keep the competitive edge over the giants in your industry, do the unscalable things they can’t afford to do.

Brand Advocacy

Satisfied clients become brand advocates who promote the business to their networks.

Your #1 source of new clients is word of mouth and referrals.

It always is for small businesses.

Clients’ success means cultivating a base of loyal clients. Ones who eagerly share their positive experiences with you. Helping to attract new clients and expand your business's reach.

How can you start implementing Client Success today?

Start here:

Talk to your clients

Regular pulse checks should happen monthly or quarterly. Keep them light and low impact, but ask these questions.

• How are you enjoying working with (specific team member or “Us”)?

• If we were to add a service that you’d think is too good to be true, what would it be?

• Do you know anyone who is in the same position as you were when you started with us? Have you gotten a chance to share your experience?

• How would you rank your experience on a scale of 0-10?

The last question is an important one.

If you only ask one question, ask for a ranking on a scale of 0 to 10.

NPS, net promoter score, is a metric used to determine the number of “Promoters” and “Detractors”.

Based on psychology, people don’t evenly select a number between 0 and 10. We’re biased and let emotion affect our decisions.

Here’s how NPS helps you understand what they're thinking:

9 and 10

The people who rank their experience as a 9 or 10 will tell others about you. They’re your “Promoters”.

+1 point for each 9 or 10.

7 and 8

These are your passive clients. You can consider them neutral. They get roughly what they expected and probably won't leave, but they aren’t rushing out to sing your praises from the rooftops.

In fact, they aren’t telling anyone about you unless specifically asked. And even then, it’s probably a lukewarm recommendation.

0 points for each 7 and 8.

0 through 6

Anyone who ranks you at a 0 through 6 is a detractor. They have some issue with your service and will steer people away from you.

While they may not leave, they are costing you money by working with you.

Yes, this group is costing you money, but they are also the most valuable asset. They’re the ones with the feedback you need to constantly improve.

Business is iterative, we need feedback.

-1 point for each 0 through 6 score.

Recap:

1/ Start implementing Client Success today.

2/ Talk to your clients every month or quarter.

3/ At least, ask for a satisfaction ranking on a 0-10 scale.

4/ Bonus points for you if you ask for referrals

5/ Take action based on the feedback you get.

Remember: DO NOT GET DEFENSIVE

Feedback, good or bad, is not from a place of malice.

Feedback is always to your benefit.

It’s a gift.

Thanks for reading the fifth issue of the Profit Hacking Weekly newsletter. Past issues will be located on the blog section of profitandgrow.com.

If you need help with anything I talk about, like maximizing your profit, minimizing your taxes, understanding your cash flow, or making the best spending decisions, connect with me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielt6/

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By: Daniel Talbott