Clients want to be part of something special and when they become loyal clients they should feel ... [+]
One of my favorite business development authors, the late Zig Ziglar, said: “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions.”
If you want to attract more high-paying clients, it pays to be grateful for the high-paying clients you have right now.
As the adage goes: You get more of what you think about and what you thank about.
Like many, I am a big believer in daily affirmations. Think of your brain as a computer and you are inputting instructions. I always use the word grateful in my affirmations. Here are some you might consider:
· I am happy and grateful clients come to me in increasing numbers on an ongoing basis.
· I am grateful to know that money from clients is a form of appreciation for serving them.
· I am happy and grateful my work is worthy of a much wider audience and sales beyond my expectation.
· I am grateful that earning profits is the Universe’s way/God’s way of rewarding me for serving clients faithfully and efficiently.
Clients want to be part of something special and when they become loyal clients they should feel they have become part of a family. Your thoughts and actions of generosity project that gratefulness. As the ancient wisdom of the proverb states: “The generous person will prosper, and whoever refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
Here is an example of that proverb in action.
“Instead of sending holiday cards we send Thanksgiving cards,” says Dave Van Buskirk, an Edward Jones financial advisor from Irving, Texas. “For most recipients of the card on Thanksgiving, it is the only Thanksgiving card they receive. It gives us an opportunity to simply say how grateful we are for our relationship with our clients.”
Van Buskirk, a 20-year veteran, thanks clients in other ways. He has found enhancing your processes through gratitude and empathy to create something special for your clients leads to more referral introductions. Gratitude must be working for him because he was recognized in the top 400 of the firm's more than 18,000 financial advisors.
Here is how he showed gratitude during the pandemic.
“All of us were affected by Covid-19 in 2020,” says Van Buskirk. “A lot of us were not able to see or do the things that we like to do, like travel. What we did in December and in March was to bring travel to our clients through a virtual Zoom tour. We did not try to sell anything. We did not give a market update. We simply wanted to show our appreciation and gratitude to our clients by bringing tour guides on Zoom calls who gave live one-hour walking tours of Rome and Barcelona. Our clients appreciated that we would do something fun and special for them.”
Van Buskirk knows that neuroscience brain research reveals the importance of gratitude. He shared an article titled “The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How It Affects Anxiety and Grief” which outlines how gratitude releases toxic emotions, reduces pain, helps you sleep better, aids in stress regulation and reduces anxiety and depression.
“We say thank you as best we can to anyone who calls into our office no matter the reason,” says Van Buskirk. “If someone calls to ask for help on a statement for example when we’re done assisting them, they typically say thank you. Our answer is: ‘No, thank you for choosing us to help you with this.’ We’ve all experienced businesses that do not simply say the words ‘thank you.’”
The bottom line: This attitude of gratitude can help you grow a healthy and profitable client-attracting business that makes it fun to come into work every day to serve grateful and happy clients.
