“I
am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me,
though he may die, he shall live.”
John 11:25
It’s been said that the only tangible evidence
of Jesus’ love for His disciples is that He kept the promises
He made to them. Not only during the three years they
were in community with Him, He kept them even when He
knew that Judas was going to betray Him.
See, Jesus refused to be a victim. Even
in the face of the impending pain of crucifixion, He never
detoured from His love and commitment to His disciples.
Just as each kept promise Jesus made demonstrated
His love for us – being willing to make and keep promises
to your prospective clients will demonstrate your love
for them. And that is what they want most from you –
to feel loved. They want to know that everything will
be done that is possible to please them. That you will
make sure they are not upset or disappointed with you.
And last but not least, they want to see you as an easy
and pleasant person to do business with.
Their attitude is clear: “Please provide
this service.” “Get this project completed.” “Meet this
deadline.” “Solve this problem, now.” It does not matter
how demanding they may be. They must feel loved, and
feel that your love is pure.
My friend, God wants you to love because
He is love. I don’t care how many clients you have or
how busy you get. When you call on a prospective client,
someone should never feel like the young man plucking
the petals of a flower, alternating between “He (or she)
loves me” and “He loves me not.” God directed you to
this article because He wants you to do some serious love-making!
Look, I know how tough it can get. Some
of us have lost important clients, some have lost out
on major deals, and others have lost their businesses.
We’ve been wounded and felt mistreated by some people;
a few of us have filed bankruptcy, and most of us have
dealt with cash flow or personal income problems.
But God has given you a marvelous gift.
He has given you a unique talent, a skill, and ability.
What are you going to do with it? Sure, we never know
what a promise will require of us when we make it. But
what would happen if you decided to demonstrate love for
each and every prospect you call upon by making promises
to them?
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from
your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s
house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make
you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your
name great; and so you shall be a blessing; And I will
bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you
I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.” - Genesis 12: 1-3
As service providers, there is much we can
learn from this passage. It not only teaches us about
God’s love for Abram, it reveals how the promises from
the Lord showed God’s intentions and how He felt about
his relationship with Abram. God was willing to openly
make promises to Abram even though He was invisible and
unseen to him (i.e. an intangible – just like the
services you provide). Abram fully embraced what God
promised him. But he knew the only way he could determine
if God’s love for him was pure was to trust God and see
if His promises would be kept.
It is time to reveal your heart, man or
woman of God. Open up your mouth and put your prospects
concerns at ease. Give them what they want - make promises
that meet their expectations, or exceed them. That gives
you a point of difference, the basis for many more profitable
relationships to come, much like the one between God and
Abram.
“Yeah, Gerry, but I’m not Abram. I’ve got
my own set of problems,” you may be thinking.
Not true. Remember, your services are intangible,
too. Since promises make the invisible visible, here
are a few ways to demonstrate your love for a prospective
client:
- Make direct promises through anything
you publish. This includes your advertising and
marketing materials, advertisements and promotions,
company correspondence, proposals and contracts, and
in guarantees, warranties and policies for all to see.
- Meet all the minimum expectations
for your type of service. For example, many auto
mechanics say they will have your automobile ready by
a certain time during the day if “they have the right
parts.” However, when customers drop their car off
for service, most assume the car will be ready that
day at the time told by the mechanic. Letting the customer
know that the mechanic has all the necessary parts in
stock rather than having to order in parts creates a
minimum expectation of timeliness and reliability.
- Quantify your turnaround time.
LensCrafters optical stores promise “eyeglasses in about
an hour.” FedEx promises delivery “absolutely, positively,
overnight.” As more and more consumers expect services
to be provided in a timely fashion, you must be willing
to meet tighter deadlines and deliver faster service.
Not providing your clients prompt service leaves the
impression that you are not a very responsive organization.
- Always respect your prospect’s time.
They want to feel heard, understood, helped, respected
and appreciated. Promise that your work will always
be done correctly and on schedule. And any information
they request will be provided in an accurate, timely
manner. Rushing to get things done, performing unnecessary
tasks, duplicating efforts, appearing confused, uninterested
or indifferent can destroy a client’s confidence in
you. According to the White House Office Of Consumer
Affairs, it costs about five times as much to attract
a new customer as it costs to keep an old one.
- Assure prospects that they are doing
business with a well-trained, knowledgeable, competent,
skillful service provider they can trust to get the
job done. How? By using magic words and statements
such as:
- “I’m available to you at any time”
- “I can offer some training, guidance,
or advice to anyone on your staff so they can do the
job better themselves”
- “I specialize in handling X or I specialize
in working with A who need B and C”
- “I utilize a unique, proven methodology
that assures you of gaining considerable improvements
in (or dramatically increasing results in) areas that
are most critical to you (quality, performance, service,
cost, etc.)”
- “I have extensive experience in“
- “One of the unique advantages I offer
is”
- “I’ll be more than happy to set other
work aside and get this done for you”
- “My strength is X”
- “You can count on me to be there every
step of the way”
- “I offer a guarantee of service (or
promise of performance) that protects you from X,
assures you of Y, and entitles you to Z “
In closing, here’s
a prayer for tough times:
Lord, there are times when it feels like
the weapons forged against me are too numerous to count!
Even then, Your promises will not fail. When I have no
strength left, and I cannot see how I can survive another
day in my circumstances, when it feels like I cannot see
how to go on, I can set my heart that I will not give
up. Even then, Your promises will not fail. Thank You
for the assurance that those things that today may appear
to be so destructive will not succeed, but as I trust
You and Your unfailing promises, I will triumph in the
end. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Gerry Foster
believes that if you take seriously and learn how to market
your services by faith, together with Mastery Marketing®
secrets, that you will receive tremendous blessings, because
truly you are a blessing. If Gerry can be of assistance
to you in any way please contact him directly by phone
at 949.499.1174 or by email at gerry@masterymarketing.com.
