One of the greatest gifts in the world for any business, but especially a small to medium sized company in the B-2-B realm, is the surprise referral. The testimonial that comes out-of-the-blue. The unexpected rave review.
Not only did you not have to do any extra work to obtain it from a client but it genuinely validated the work you’ve already done with them. It’s your client being so satisfied that he or she is acting on their own accord to announce your greatness. It's your client's confirmation that you delivered a remarkable experience - and one that fulfilled them to such a level that they want other people to experience the same. They probably weren’t speaking highly of your product/service to do you a favor, but more likely for the benefit of their friends, family members, and acquaintances. As well as themselves - after all, they demonstrably believe that they hold a valuable piece of information that deserves recognition and they want to put a spotlight on it.
Now there are two ways of turning a target market into a consumer base – you can sell or you can enroll. For the detailed definitions of "selling" versus "enrolling," including their respective applications in the workplace, please read eQ’s previously published article in SmartCEO Magazine at this link: http://www.entrequest.com/wp-content/pdf/entrequest_Enrollment_06.03.pdf?phpMyAdmin=d2c4aa6766ft5760658.
In basic terms however, selling is the one-off, transactional exchange with clients that fills a want or need right then and there. Enrolling is the longer term, relationship building with clients that involves understanding a want or need for the betterment of an individual's or a company's future vision. Selling closes deals. Enrolling leaves the door open. Selling makes for a shopping trip. Enrolling creates a client experience.
It’s pretty obvious as to why you’d rather enroll a client than sell them. Sustaining growth is a process that accumulates over time and requires the loyalty of your client base to drive your company’s revenue and validate your offering’s excellence. That said though, it can become quite tiresome to keep the faith in enrollment's potential while investing so many of your resources into building a great client experience. Especially when you compare that to quick sales to masses of people - a seemingly much easier means of meeting quotas. But as eQ has advocated since the conception of our consulting, you have to keep your mindset focused on enrolling your consumers into a remarkable client experience. It is by far the more valuable technique.
That value will become apparent sometimes unexpectedly… sometimes completely out of the blue… sometimes by SURPRISE! Trust us because it just happened to our team. A man whose company had partnered with eQ on a consulting and training level OVER SIX YEARS AGO recently posted one of the most complementary comments on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=720717160009&set=a.720716945439.2226526.13803364&type=1&ref=nf#!/entreQuest).
His comment read: “I can say that eQ taught me how to sell and taught me how to teach my team to sell, the right way. Since going through the training in 2005 and again in 2006, our sales have increased 7 times over. If you have salespeople and want to increase sales, let them train you, period.”
Though this kind of review is EXACTLY what eQ aspires to invoke in the clients we have enrolled in our community, we still couldn’t help but feel humbled. Validation for your efforts, your beliefs, and your story often works like that. When you receive recognition for providing a client experience that was remarkable, and literally "remark-able" in this case, it’s a beautiful byproduct of doing more than simply selling a one-off. These instances are great gifts – and ones that will inspire not only your prospects and your clients but your own people as well.
A lot of technology and consulting companies are out there now trying to unlock the magic of e-marketing and leveraging outlets such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to establish an "Internet connection" with their clients and prospects. Finding the social media solution strategy for businesses is vital in becoming viral.
But no matter how innovative or fancy the corporate world’s online presence can be, there is still a person behind the screen. Enroll them for the long term, rather than sell them for the short term. Create for them a client experience and SURPRISE! They might do your best marketing for you. In fact, they just might be the social media solution themselves.
Joe Mechlinski is the President of entreQuest and has partnered with countless leaders to effectively improve their team’s performance, their clients’ experience, and their company’s profits.
