Taken For Granted?

I recently caught a movie, Taken (starring Liam Neeson) which every father out there should relish, the opportunity to really take it to anyone who messes with your child.

The tag line caught my attention at the rental store, “They took his daughter. He’ll take their lives.”

That is exactly what the movie is about. They make no bones about what you get when you buy a ticket, rent the movie from your local video store, or stream online; brutal, unadulterated ruthless destruction of anyone or anything that prevents him from getting to his daughter.

Do You Deliver on Your Promise?

So how often do you state exactly what your clients will get? Do you even know where your own ship is headed?

The fact that I read this tag line and knew the overall direction didn’t diminish my interest in the product. In fact, it reinforced it. I wanted to see a brutal, no-holds barred run at anyone that would dare steal my daughter – uhmmm – his daughter.

So one of the very first questions you have to ask yourself is whether your offering reverberates with your client or potential client. If it doesn’t, you might try asking why not, but perhaps a more revealing question might be, “Do I understand my client’s needs?”

Obviously, marketing and branding play a key role in this little dance, but more than anything, substance is at the heart of this matter. I mean really – do you spend long hours pining over the DVD box cover like some teenage school girl crushing on the latest boy-band? For those of you who might be confused at this point, the answer is, “No.” (for the majority of us).

Needless to say, if you don’t understand that basic principal, the rest is rather pointless. In the end, surrounding your product or service in a tightly wound shroud-of-mystery so many sales-types seem to prefer, doesn’t result in much trust and can often end up deflating the relationship when the proverbial air is let out of that tire.

Promise what you will deliver. Deliver on what you promise.

It is often taken for granted, but following these simple steps religiously will earn you, and keep, the trust of your clients time and again.

Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.