People, we are leaking! Our companies are leaking revenue, clients and more importantly value, not only direct value, but even the edges of value are leaking, what we call “perceived value.”
As individuals we are leaking our lifestyle, leaking everything we did for fun, and, in some cases, we are leaking hope.
People are sitting at home, trying to focus through their, now, mobile office. They have lost the social interaction that was a direct piece of their “why I work” formula.
OK, what do you do with a leak? The first thing is you PLUG it. Now a plug is probably only a temporary fix, but even a temporary fix is a fix!
We began working this idea with a few of our long term clients last week and have now developed the idea into a quick fix (plug) strategy.
Here’s the Idea
- Your clients aren’t thinking about you, they are totally focused on themselves. Just like you are. It is an easily empathetic position or an “I Get It” position.
- You need to stay in your client’s orbit, in their “oh yeah” zone. This will be an instrumental position to hold when things get back to whatever they will get back to.
- Believe it or not, they don’t need to hear from you about the 800 lb gorilla in the room, the virus. You probably aren’t a doctor anyway.
You have to create an engagement strategy, a method of developing small bits of value that are beyond your business’s engagement. It’s imperative to plug your value leak!
Here Are Some Things to Try
- Create a small series of learning tools around the skillsets your clients will need to re-activate when things start looking up. People still want to learn, they still want to get better.
- Go off-script. With restaurants closing, concerts and movie theaters going dark, give your clients some home entertainment suggestions. Create a sponsored book club with reading recommendations that can be done via the internet. People need new cooking ideas. Be the resource for help in things other than your business connection.
- Make whatever you do fun. I am a horrible golfer but have become addicted to the game. I try to use YouTube to help with my many deficiencies. Last night I watched a video to correct “topping” the ball. The tag line said “three easy steps…”. After 8 minutes he was still talking and not showing. NOT FUN.
If you like this idea (and you damn well should), drop us a note and we can help you with the idea and creation of VALUE PLUGS that will keep you in the orbit of your clients and will position you ahead of the competition in jump-starting your return to the regular game.
Love this!! My thoughts exactly. What other value plugs do you have? I’ve been sending out crossword and sudoku books to my clients. The top clients get a movie and microwave popcorn too. All things you can order, re package and send yourself. I have coffee mugs that my clients love when they come to my office, so I have been sending those out to them. Anything to let them know we are still here, maybe virtually, but we do think about them!
Those are all great social touchpoints. You should also focus on finding impactful and unique business touchpoints. I would think about personalizing business touchpoints to your Pareto group. Isolate the top 20 percent of your clients that are responsible for 80 percent of your revenue and develop a strategy for that specific group.