Take a Harsh Look in the Mirror

For your passion and expertise to drive your economic engine, you have to figure out what it is that you are going to do and for whom. This is of course a process based on what we have learned from earlier posts. By this posting you are well on your way to:

• clarifying what you are truly most passionate about;
• understanding at what you really want to be best in the world, because clients of professionals seek out experts for “bet-the-company” work and pay more for that work, and because you can only be an expert in that about which you are most passionate;
• defining what “world” you will be best in; and
• establishing a culture of discipline around becoming best in that world.

So fine, you are passionate about X, and you are really driving to be best in the world at X. What if no one wants to pay anything for X?

In my experience and according to all of the literature I have read, if you are best in the world at something, you can make a good living doing it so long as you find your driver, follow up and provide phenomenal service. The best welder in the world does not work on steel buildings, he or she works on high-risk projects that absolutely positively have to be welded perfectly or people will die, or on fine tiny welding that requires incredible precision. These welders make a lot of money because very few can do this work. These welders are truly passionate about welding because it requires incredible skill, training, dedication and is high-pressure work. If your weld fails and people die . . . well you have to KNOW that will not happen.

As a professional, however, you have to be able to articulate what it is that you do so that potential buyers will understand it clearly. The first step is a strong self-evaluation. You must take a harsh look in the mirror.

What are your skills? At what are you dedicated do becoming best in the world? How does that translate into a marketable service? What about your expertise will clients want to purchase for large sums of money? This may take some additional research. You may need to consult partners in the firm, friends in business, journals on the subject, internet website, e-newsletters and the like.

Identify future trends. What will be “hot” in your area? Do not change your expertise to fit into hot areas about which you are not passionate. Uncover the future for the things about which you are most passionate. Be realistic. If you have decided you are passionate about making really great buggy whips, you may want to refocus your passion a bit, though perhaps there is a market for really wonderful buggy whips. Who am I to judge?

You have to face the brutal facts. In addition to clearly defining what you do, you have to clearly identify what do you NOT do and, as important, what do you not want to do. If you do not want to do it, you will not be any good at it. If you do work you are not expert in for a client who has hired you as a high level expert, you will ruin your customer relationship, reputation and the perception of you as an expert even in the area where you actually are best in the world. Reputation is all you have to sell. You cannot lose that by doing things you cannot or do not want to do.

Are these tasks important to providing the service you want to provide? If so, how can you fill those voids? Outsource to other experts in your firm or in another firm? Find juniors who love this stuff and are already good or great? Train juniors to be great in these areas? All of the above or something else. Building your team will be the subject of the next post.

At this point you are looking internally at yourself. As you build your service, you must have in mind what the client will want, but you first have to be honest about who you are, who you want to be, and what you offer as a true expert. The first step is always an honest look at yourself and how you fit in the marketplace.

Take a harsh, honest look in the mirror. What do you see?

Professional Service Means Phenomenal Service

The standard reprise among professional service providers is,
“If I do a good job for the client they will hire me again.”

There are many service providers who can do a good job. There are even quite a few who are experts and will do a great technical job. At a minimum, as has been discussed, the professional service provider must be best in the world, a true expert, in the services he or she will provide.

But, expertise is not enough!

Delighting the customer with phenomenal service is the real key to getting and retaining customers. I have a friend who has an opportunity to secure some business from a well-healed company in his field. There is no question that this company did its due diligence and that the current provider is a highly regarded expert in the field.

The company is not looking for a better technical expert. They are looking for a true expert who also provides them with a high level of personal and professional service. As we have discussed, in cases where true expertise is required for the engagement, price is a distant concern.

In addition to becoming Great in the field about which you are passionate, you must develop the habits of Great professional service. One without the other will not drive great success.

Great Service:
Begin to develop systems around exceptional customer service with every customer no matter how small. Things to consider include:

During the Courting Period: It is during the time you are working on securing business from a prospect that you want to prove that you will provide superior customer service if you secure the work. Of course, you must simultaneously prove that you are an expert in the services required.

Listen carefully to the needs of the client. When you think they are done speaking, pause. They often are not finished or if you give them a chance will keep going and tell you the most critical piece of information you need to secure the work. It is incredibly tempting to want to show your brilliance by jumping in with the answer to the problem you are sure they have before you have the facts required to make that determination. Nothing will verify to them that you will provide poor customer service than this. Even if that is an incorrect assumption, you have lost.

Ask open-ended questions and listen more. People love to talk. Gather real and valuable information about what the issues are. Nothing shows that you understand your field as an expert than asking high-quality questions. Do not ask leading questions to show off. Let the client show how brilliant they are, especially if anyone else is listening in. It is your job to help them along, not take over the show.

When you return to the office after any conversation or call with a prospect or client, send an e-mail summarizing the client’s issues to show that you really did listen. Do not refer to them as problems. No one wants to admit they have problems. Try to consider them opportunities if possible, or issues if not. Every problem has an upside or it is not worth fixing. That is the opportunity.

In your e-mail, carefully reflect on what was said and recount the issue and opportunity the prospect conveyed as accurately and in the best light possible. Then restate your commitments and promised deadlines, as well as any commitments they made to you and the promised deadlines. Ask if those are still acceptable.

Meet or beat your deadlines. Exceed their expectations with what you deliver. Follow up to verify that what was sent was acceptable. Get another meeting.

Once You Get the Engagement:
Schedule customer service into the project. What are critical delivery dates? Make sure that after each phase of the project the senior on the project touches base with the client to make sure all is going well.

Consider having the Managing Partner in the firm reach out to the client at some mid-way point. This confirms to the client his or her importance to the firm. Sometimes a client will confide in the Managing Partner and provide certain valuable information that the client would be uncomfortable sharing with the partner in charge of the engagement. People tend to be non-confrontational, especially as to those with whom they have developed a relationship.

Often a carefully drafted written survey is the best way to gage the progress of an engagement. Again, the client may be willing to provide valuable information in a survey that he will not tell a person, often for fear of hurting someone’s feelings, but as often because he had time to sit and think about it. These are great at the end of an engagement, but interim surveys will catch opportunities to delight when they can still be taken advantage of.

Sometimes professional service providers are concerned about asking too many questions. They fear that raising the question will raise the concern, perhaps one that would not have otherwise been uncovered by the client. The reality is that if the client, or God-forbid, his or her boss or client for whom the work is really being performed, should uncover the problem later, it may be too late to correct and the client, and any accounts receivable, may be lost forever.

Continue to listen, ask good open-ended questions and listen some more. Not only will you find issues that you can correct quickly, but you may find other opportunities to do work. Follow up conversations with e-mails. Under promise and over perform. There is no one formulaic way of providing excellent service. Personalize what you do. Think of other ways to make the client happy with not only the work, but the attention you pay to her and her needs.

Work is never performed for a company. It is always performed for human beings. They should be thrilled, excited, and wowed by not only the work but by how it was performed. You want them to be so happy that they will buy everything you sell and tell all of their friends to do the same.

Back in school, that would earn you an "A." Never settle for "satisfied." That just earns a "C."