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Guest Blogger Ash Mashhadi on “Are You Good Medicine For Your Clients?”

When I was a child, my mother specialised in stocking the most pungent and foul-tasting medicines known to humankind. They weren't even particularly effective. That was some pretty bad medicine. Yuck. Good medicine is effective, improving and tastes so nice, you want to fall ill just for the chance to have some more. The good news is you have a chance to be the best kind of medicine for your clients. Here's how...

Heal the Patient

You know those scenes in ER when a patient is wheeled in and the doctors and nurses rush over shouting for 10mg of this or an x-ray of that? You know why they're doing that? Apart from making  dramatic TV, it's to let the audience know that they're taking the patient's problems seriously. If you want to be good medicine for your clients, you need to do the same thing. Let them know you take their issues seriously by responding appropriately. How do you do that? Here are 3 tips you can start using today:
  • Respond to enquiries as quickly as you can.
  • Do your best to come up with ideas to solve their problem and meet up to discuss them over a coffee.
  • Why not arrange a meeting to identify their key issues and challenges over the coming month? You'll be surprised how often you can come up with something they hadn't considered.
Review whether your solutions have been effective. If not, come up with some more.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Be pleasant to work with – nobody likes a sourpuss. People prefer to do business with happy people. The more frequently you smile or laugh with a client, the more likely they are to do business with you. Every client that's ever bought from me, has shared a laugh with me. The net result is that when we see one another, we smile, because business doesn't have to be a battle of wills. If you think your client is the enemy, you're getting it wrong. Be helpful, generous, consistent – in short everything you would expect from a friend. Why? Because if you're not their friend, why would they do business with you?

An Apple a Day...

Being cured of illness is all well and good, but it's much better not to get ill in the first place. Why not arrange regular check-ups with clients to discuss their business? This gives you an ideal opportunity to future-proof your clients' health by appraising them of new developments and ideas when you get them. At Design Inspiration we often do this (either virtually or face-to-face) with our clients to discuss their website because there are always new ways to help them engage with their clients. It's tempting to see our roles as problem-solvers in business, and that can be very helpful, but my opinion is that we all have a wonderful chance to be so much more for our clients. What do you think? Are you good or bad medicine for your clients? Can you recommend any other ways we can all be good for our clients?  ________________________ Ash Mashhadi is the founder Partner of successful Plymouth (UK) web design business, Design Inspiration. They have been helping businesses to promote themselves for over 16 years, both online and offline. People who know Ash often call him the Inspiration Guy because he loves to inspire businesses and people to be as successful as possible. He is an inspiring public speaker who helps businesses use the internet and social media for success. Ash is also available for television appearances; see him soon (in the UK) on Channel Five's "The Hotel Inspector". Ash is a Charter Member of Armada Speakers, Plymouth's public speaking club (which is part of Toastmasters International). He is currently Vice President in charge of Publicity for Armada Speakers. Ash Mashhadi is also the driving force behind Plymouth's top commercial tourism website, http://inplymouth.com as well as http://plymouthbarbican.com the official website for Plymouth's Barbican. You can follow Ash on Twitter (@inspirationguy) – he likes to make friends!
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Liz

Liz King is a social media-integrated event planner and award winning blogger. As the owner of Liz King Events, she runs an innovative firm that creates dynamic branding events integrating the use of social media. Planning events from soup to nuts, she works with her team to create and sustain your event brand and enhance attendee engagement. As the owner of Liz King Events, she has been featured as a speaker at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, National Association of Colleges and Employers, ExpoWest/Supply Expo and several other events as an expert on the topic of social media and events. She has also been featured in Connect Meetings Intelligence and Convene Magazine, among others.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Event Professionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://www.lizkingevents.com Liz

    Ash – I think you certainly are great medicine for your clients! I really appreciate your thoughts on this matter. As a small business owner, it can be hard to remember that the clients are the driving force behind your business – not all the logistical pieces required to make it work. I love the “medicine” spin that you put on this blog. You’re right – we have to think creatively about how we serve our clients! Love your thoughts!!

    • http://www.inspiration.co.uk Ash Mashhadi (@inspirationguy)

      Thanks for your comments, Liz. I have written it light-heartedly, but it’s one of my passions. If we as businesses aren’t a positive force for our clients, how can we hope to retain their loyalty? This is particularly true during an economic downturn. Let’s all be champions for our clients!

  • http://www.justinlocke.com/author.htm justin locke

    this certainly resonates. I could tell you endless tales of winning and keeping customers by making them laugh. I made one off the cuff joke at a party once and it turned into a huge consulting contract. if you have a choice between two competent candidates, and one of them makes you laugh and the other one doesn’t, it’s no contest. “there is no profit where no pleasure is taken.”

  • http://www.planetplanit.biz Paul Cook

    Liz your comment makes such sense that businesses can forget about how they came to become established through their clients and focus too much on themselves and not their clients. We have been working with Ash for some years now and he and his company have always been a good at healing and preventing our aches and pains. Our medical so far makes good reading. I am sure we are due for another check up soon.

  • http://twitter.com/inspirationguy/status/144354682851172352/ Ash Mashhadi (@inspirationguy) (@inspirationguy) (@inspirationguy)

    #eventprofs: Guest Blogger Ash Mashhadi on “Are U Good Medicine 4 Your Clients?” http://t.co/pffp0Enk via @lizkingevents RT @planetplanitbiz