27 Creating Commitments To Your Customers

Why Is It Important?

It is important to capture the essence of what you offer your customers. Business owners often walk on water for their customers but never tell a soul about it. Your commitment statement is a way of communicating all that is really special about your service. Your statement will highlight what matters to your customers and is most likely to motivate them to buy from you. Once you have articulated and communicated your promises, consistent delivery is vital.

Your Challenge

Your challenge will be to dig deep and find out what your commitments actually are in the real world. Your satisfied customers know what they are, but do you? You can be so close to your own business that you can end up taking the things you do for your customers for granted.

Your challenge will be to extract from the people that use your service what it is that they really value. You will need to recall conversations with customers when they appeared particularly pleased with something you did for them. Find testimonials and thank you letters and read them. Notice what stands out. Remind yourself of some of the problems your customers have had and how specifically your service has provided the solution.

What Makes A Commitment Statement Successful?

Your commitment statement must be genuine and expressed in a way that ensures your customers believe in you. Each statement needs to be honest, real, deliverable and meaningful to your customers. You must convey value quickly and simply. Your commitments should solve problems for your customers and provide answers to the questions they have inside their heads before they buy from you.

Your customers need to be able to look over your list of commitments and think ‘yes’ I want to do business with these people. If they do that, then you have been successful.

Creating A Commitment Statement – Special Response Checklist

• Make a list of all the special things you do for your customers that you don’t tell anyone about.
• Ask your staff to do the same.
• Choose some of your best regular customers and conduct a short telephone survey. Choose a person to conduct the survey who is able to extract from your customers the essence of what motivates them to use your business. Here are some sample questions: 1.What do you expect when you use a service like ours?2.What would make it exceptional in your opinion?3.What are some of the reasons you use our service?4.What motivated you to use our service in the first place?5.What problems have we solved for you?6.What do you think we do really well?7.In terms of continuing to use a service like ours, what is most important to you?
• Use this information to create a list of up to ten major benefits.
• Be succinct and honest.

How To Use This Information

Once created you can integrate your customer commitment statement into your

• website
• sales brochure
• sales letter
• post sales package
• banners or posters at exhibitions
• sales conversations with customers.

 

28 Developing An Elevator Speech

What Is An Elevator Speech?

An elevator speech is you talking about your business in public in an inspirational way. To elevate means to raise or lift higher and this is what this speech is all about. You may be talking for one minute or longer at a networking event, introducing yourself to business colleagues, or giving your opening speech at the start of a presentation. An elevator speech should build you and your business up and motivate your audience to want find out more.

Why Is Having One Important?

There are many opportunities to talk about your business with others. If you want to inspire sales then you need to get used to talking yourself and your business up. Once you are confident with the content of your elevator speech it can be a relief. You will know what to say in any situation when you are asked to describe what you do.