Exceeding Expectations

By Tim Kolacz

Isn’t it fun to go into a store when you are looking for a fight over a product that you think you got the short end of the stick on, only to receive the best customer service of your life? Or when you order from your favorite Chinese restaurant and they slip in some extra cream cheese wontons for free? When this happens, you feel great. You are way better off than you were 20 minutes ago. (especially with the wontons!) What you just experienced is what your customers want every day.

About a week ago, a new client called me and wanted to discuss their Worker’s Comp policy. We had written a professional coverage for them prior but had not discussed the other lines of business with them. The Worker’s Comp policy was fine, but the HR manager had not had a favorable experience with the particular carrier and they were looking for advice.

I started out by not asking about price or things like that, I asked about what they were getting from the policy. Were they getting just a renewal premium and new certificate of insurance? Or were they getting multiple other services that they needed. The client indicated that they needed a new Injury and Illness Protection Plan as the one they had was out dated. They also needed to update their Employee Handbook as the one they were using was only about 10 pages long and needed to have updated language to meet the changing needs of their employees and the company.

After discussing this with them for a bit, I sent an IIPP and an Employee Handbook to them that they could customize for their company. This allowed the HR Manager to review what changes she had started to make and then add in those items she was missing from the items I had sent her. She was quite ecstatic to know that we had these types of services and that we could provide them for free to the company.

The expectations of that meeting for me was that I would help them understand what their needs really were and not just to get them a new Worker’s Comp policy. Their expectations went out the window as soon as I didn’t focus on the policy, but instead on their needs. When asked simple, straight-forward questions, that gave detailed answers. That is the best way to have these conversations go.

The next time you are with a client or a prospective client, ask them what they need. Do they need money to build new parts for the new model Harley-Davidson; do they need a non-profit board of directors to join so that they can give back to the community; whatever their wants or needs are, if you don’t ask them, how do you help them? In the next week, I am going to ask three clients and three prospects what they want, really want, to help them personally or professionally. I am then going to see what I can do.

Tim Kolacz digs it when people trust him to find them what they need; in fact, find them the Right Solution to their needs. [email protected]