Easy switching: Attract clients like a magnet

It starts with this fundamental truth.

People, including your prospective clients, almost universally HATE the hassle associated with switching providers.

Think about it.

I’m willing to guess that you and I probably have at least one current provider, who isn’t ideal. Their charges may have increased, with no meaningful increase in the value we get from them. Maybe they’re slow to respond when we contact them. Perhaps they’re not as interested in dealing with our problems, as they used to be. And we’re pretty darn sure that there are better providers out there.

So, why do we stay with an under performing provider?

We stay, for the same reason your prospective clients have stayed with their current provider.

It’s simply this.

Switching providers is risky

People are hardwired to intentionally avoid risk. So, because switching to a new provider feels risky, we tend to avoid it.

Yes, YOU know there’s no risk whatsoever in switching to you from their current provider. You know that you’ll look after them better than they could dream of, because you’re capable, reliable, trustworthy and honest.

But THEY don’t know that!

What they do know, is that their previous provider let them down. Sometimes badly. It’s no wonder that having endured months, maybe years of a poor quality service, they’re now really cautious.

What’s the answer?

Make switching stress free and easy

The proven solution to this problem, is to make it as easy as possible for them to switch to you. This requires a two pronged approach.

1. Showcase your trust assets.

Make it as easy as possible for prospective clients to see for themselves, why they should trust you. You do this using what I call your trust assets; things that help establish you as a safe, low-risk option for them.

Your trust assets might include providing them with a track record of your success and achievements (here’s an example from my own list that may help you). You can also highlight the promises and guarantees you offer. And also share some testimonials from extremely happy clients, as well as any relevant awards you have. If you’ve been in your current line of business for a long time, don’t keep it a secret… include that, too.

2. Make switching to you as simple as possible.

This is extremely important. Even after trust has been established, the stress and challenges involved in switching providers can be enough to put people off.

Some providers use a version of the lock in effect / vendor lock in, where they deliberately make moving from them as hard as they can, for their clients. This is a huge problem in some industries, but less of a problem in others.

Regardless, you need to make the switch to you as frictionless, uncomplicated and stress-free as possible.

The best providers have client transition people in place, who manage the whole process. They stay in close contact with the new client to answer questions, overcome issues with the former provider and offer all the help they can. I very strongly advise you to do the same.

Show them how easy it is to switch to you

Once you’ve addressed those two parts of the switching process, it’s really important to let your prospective clients know. It needs to feature very prominently in your marketing, especially if you’re in an industry that’s known for making it hard to switch. It needs to be a key point in your conversations with prospective clients, and with introducers (people who recommend your services to their contacts and clients).

Equipped with visible trust assets and an equally visible strategy to make switching to you an absolute breeze, you become a much more attractive choice for prospective clients.

You become the natural choice. The easy choice. And for many, you become the only choice.

‘Easy switching: Attract clients like a magnet’ was written by Jim Connolly and originally published on Jim Connolly Marketing

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