Two of the areas central to Martin's customer service philosophy are modifying your marketing to fit in with the way clients make decisions; and getting some "CDs in with your Lexus" (If you haven't heard Martin speak and "CDs with your Lexus" doesn't mean anything to you, please go to the ARTICLES section of this website and click on the article "How to generate repeat and referral business without spending any more money").
The "client thank you" seminar does both.
If your clients are in business, they care more about THEIR business than yours. Therefore, the BEST way we can add value to their business is to contribute to their bottom line profitability even if it's not directly through the purchase of YOUR products or services. Hence, the "client thank you" seminar.
You invite your top clients (see invitation later in this section) to a seminar to say thank you for their past business (not an inducement for their future business). I present for about an hour ideas and strategies that will help the audience improve the bottom line of their business (You brief me as to the make up of the audience and I customise my material so that all my examples are relevant to the needs of the people in the room). The seminar is full of humour and I am not as hard hitting as I am working with a group of salespeople or managers because the purpose of this event is the creation of goodwill rather than changing the behaviour of the audience (talk to me about this area and we will get the tone of the presentation right for your clients).
After I have told the "CD Lexus" story, I say to the audience "It's pretty unusual for a business seminar that I haven't spent a lot of my presentation promoting the host of the seminar. When XXXX asked me to present to you he asked me to focus totally on YOUR needs and bottom line and leave him/her out of it. Basically, I am just a CD with XXXX's Lexus and it gives me great pleasure to practice what I preach on his/her behalf."
There is no selling in my presentation or by your people at the cocktails, lunch or breakfast at which you run the seminar. Your clients, who are expecting to be sold, are not sold and they are very pleasantly surprised by this.
So where is the return on investment on this seminar?
That comes AFTER the event!
I give you permission to record my presentation and make duplicate copies for your clients. You offer these to your clients, free of charge, as a further value added of the evening. A week or two later you deliver the CDs personally (with your branding all over it as they are likely to pass them around) and that is the time to ask for incremental business, testimonials or referral business. The timing is prefect for this as they are psychologically indebted to you from the evening because they were expecting to be sold and weren't and then you gave them a gift of value (recording of the presentation) on top of this. They are thinking how wonderful you are and what can they do for you in return - and you are telling them what they can do for you - and that is incremental business, testimonials, referral business or whatever else you value in the business relationship.
Later in this section you will find testimonials from companies who have run the seminar for their clients so you can get an idea of the results you can expect from yours.
As a matter of professional ethics, I will not run the seminar on behalf of more than one company in the same industry in the same market i.e. if I run the seminar for you, you can rest assured I will not work with your competitor so my "thank you" seminar will be a value added that can't be duplicated by your competition.
How consumers make purchase decisions. How that is different in the current economic environment and how to take advantage of that.
Reasons to do business with you that have nothing to do with price.
Alternatives to discounting that keep your bottom line healthy.
The difference between recognition and bribery.
What creates loyalty and referral business and what doesn't.
A post-sale client recognition programme to generate loyalty and referral business.
Martin comes highly recommended. His work with over 500 Australian companies across over 100 industries has made him Australia's most in-demand speaker on Outstanding Customer Service. He has also worked with professional sportsmen up to international level in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer taking teams from losing to situations by teaching players the mental side of their game. And I guarantee you won't be bored! Martin's presentations are full of humour and in his spare time he has written comedy professionally. Please note, the evening is totally complimentary and there will be no presentations by me or anyone trying to sell you anything on the night. I look forward to seeing you there.
P. S. To help us with catering would you please RSVP by X date.
I believe, depending on the relationship you have with your clients, you need to allow three to four weeks from the invitation to the seminar itself. A lot of people won't RSVP and I have a system of follow-up to get the maximum number of people there and to minimise the drop-out rate on the day. I can also help you with a system of follow-up after the event for maximum results.
I hate to sound unromantic about this but I have run this event for twelve years; it is the most lucrative thing I can do for my clients; and I know how to help them milk it for all it's worth.
"I had the good fortune to engage Martin to be the keynote speaker at our recent national conference. Having heard Martin speak previously, I knew he had a very different view on customer service and I wanted my franchisees to learn more about being genuine and empathetic toward our clients needs, rather than focussing simply on closing a sale. Martin's analogies and real life examples firmly demonstrated the importance of balancing value with price and certainly gave us a lot to think about - along with some real ideas to take away that were coupled with logical thought processes to back them up.
Following on from the conference I again engaged Martin to deliver one of his 'Client Thank You' presentations for us. We hosted a breakfast for clients, prospective clients and associates and exposed Martin's unique way of thinking to them - with outstanding success.
The messages and lessons Martin references are applicable to any industry you would care to name, so the presentation was received extremely well by a mixed audience. Whilst his subject matter is serious, Martin infuses a certain comedic charm which keeps the audience focussed. He steps them through a combination of his own life experiences, cold hard facts from credible commercial sources and examples of how things could be done better to create a superior customer experience for no cost at all. I can highly recommend Martin to any organisation wanting to break out of the traditional way of doing things by showing their workforce how to positively influence the way customers perceive their products and services".
Be warned! Anyone considering having Martin Grunstein as a presenter at a business function or seminar, be aware he’s not your typical presenter. If you want a staid, slow-talking, “professional” presenter, who can put an audience to sleep, then Martin’s not your man! At a recent client event for our firm, Martin stunned our audience with his fast-paced, hilarious and thoroughly entertaining delivery, but which really got the audience thinking seriously about effective customer service options available for their businesses. After the presentation, I received considerable positive feedback about Martin and his message. If this is what you’re looking for in a presenter, Martin’s your man!
"Thanks Martin for the great session you ran at our recent Alliance Partner event. The attendees were spellbound for the two hours by your unique, quirky and entertaining style. This was reinforced by your speaker rating of 9.21/10. It was also fantastic that you took the time to join us for the program dinner, your company was enjoyed by all. We would absolutely welcome the opportunity to work with you again."
"Each year South Sydney Rabbitohs puts on a business breakfast to recognise their corporate partners. The audience is eclectic and ranges from one man operations to multi-national companies. Finding a speaker that can talk to each of them with relevancy, humour and informative information can be a challenge. Martin was sensational to say the least. He delivered not only pertinent information that all the audience embraced, he delivered it in a style that engaged everyone. His humour and smart, witty examples won everyone over in an instant. He certainly was a such a delight to work with. No fuss, just up on stage and wowed us with his vibrant, workable and entertaining presentation."
"We had Martin do two sessions for our small business clients and feedback was 5 out of 5. Everyone agreed that Martin really makes you think about your business, its competitors and your service offering. The message that has stayed in my mind since the presentation is "nobody cares about your bottom line except you!" which is so true and I will be reminding my business clients of this regularly. Martin's examples on improving customer service and marketing are all low cost and easy to implement into any business. The feedback was so good we will be getting Martin back next year to do some more sessions with our clients."
"As promised, here is the feedback from our retailers following your presentation to them on our behalf: HAPPY DAY PARTY rated the content 90% - it was an excellent opportunity to learn about marketing strategy and targeting our customers; THE BODY SHOP rated the content 80% - Presentation was great. Martin's enthusiasm was infectious and his views on customer service were very relevant; OJAY rated the presentations 100% - It made a lot of sense understanding the ego of the customer and understanding the difference between our core product and our value added services; MIMCO rated the content 95% - I thought Martin was amazingly motivated; COLORADO rated the presentation 100% - We loved Martin's insightfulness. Thanks again for taking the time to present to our retailers, and as you can see from the above, it was a big success and very well received!"
"WOW is the only word which comes to mind after your thank you seminar for my company ReConnect Communications. Martin, I am happy to tell you after the response from my customers and my staff, you have proven to us the old saying "you get what you pay for". But if you book a Martin Grunstein thank you seminar you get a whole lot more. In fact we would go so far as to say you're cheap (in the nicest possible way). I would like to personally thank you, Martin and we look forward to booking you again next year."
"Over the past few months Martin Grunstein has presented the theme "Grow your practice with outstanding patient service in changing times" around Australia for our customers... ancillary health service providers. We have received good attendances to all presentations and positive feedback from all sessions with many comments like "Martin was sensational" and "Brilliant presentation" . HICAPS has found Martin extremely professional in all dealings and his presentation style is not only energetic but also draws great enthusiasm and spirit from his audience. He has been a great asset to us."
"Thank you for the excellent presentation held last month on THE FUTURE OF RETAILING. It was very well received by both our retailers and our centre management and head office teams. Your insights were invaluable and provided us with a great deal to think about. We appreciate your contribution to the retail support program at Chadstone Shopping Centre and look forward to continuing our relationship in the future."
"From talking to my clients who have had the chance to attend Martin's seminar, the biggest thing they have taken out of the experience is how complex we make our marketing/selling process and how relatively simple it should be. Martin is very entertaining and an extremely worthwhile investment."
"Martin came to FINANCE CONTROL to address our 22 staff during a morning end of year session. Later that day Martin presented to 35 professional businesspeople in our strategic partner Xmas function. The feedback from both sessions was fabulous. We often talk about the client experience to our staff and partners but to have someone else talk about it makes a much bigger impact. Martin's delivery is professional, entertaining and a great business investment."
"Martin's simple and effective techniques had an immediate effect on our shopping centre's perception of customer service. Just a day after his insightful presentation, I observed a number of shops implementing his ideas in a very positive manner and everyone that was lucky enough to witness his presentation gave us great feedback with a smile."
"I wanted to thank you for an amazing presentation to our clients. I found your talk informative, entertaining and hilarious. The feedback from our clients and staff was all positive and many commented that you were outstanding. I received a number of emails, texts and phone calls saying how much they enjoyed and learned from your presentation."
"We opened our business directory to map out where we were going and then put in the Martin Grunstein CD to entertain and provoke our A class clients. Having 75 clients attend your presentation was the first time we have stepped outside our business and actually put something worthwhile back in for our clients. The response to the evening was fantastic Our feedback sheets indicated you and the evening were an outstanding success and our clients appreciated your informative presentation. Whilst not the immediate intention, several clients approached us on the night with fresh inquiries for investments. I thank you for assisting us in helping our clients and I certainly would recommend your services to anyone servicing business clients."
"The impact your presentation made at our National conference last June had lasting effect on our sales team. The impressions and enthusiasm you generated translated beautifully into the tailored presentations we set up for some of our customers. The response to these presentations has been most gratifying and has taken our relationship with them to another level. This was due in no small part to the value they perceived we offered in extending them your services."
"We were delighted with the immediate feedback from the workshop and have been inundated with calls from participants wanting help to action their newly found strategies for business growth. Their reaction has been overwhelming and is testimony to the simple, clear message that Martin has to deliver. In the word of one of our clients 'We were very impressed with his amusing, yet down to earth insights into every day business, especially from a customer's perspective.' Thank you, Martin. I am left in no doubt that our objective of forging closer business relations with our clients has been achieved."
" I would like to say than you for your recent presentation at our "thank you" breakfast for our special and loyal clients. We thoroughly enjoyed it and think it is amazing how you can deliver a speech for over an hour without referring to notes and still make it entertaining and educational. We thank you for taking common sense marketing strategies and explaining them in a very enlightening and enthusiastic way. We have had very positive feedback from our clients."
I can honestly say that in over thirty years in business such an evening as our client “thank you” seminar, without so much as a brochure or a product being sighted, has been one of the best expenditures of part of my promotional and advertising budget ever. I would highly recommend the same to others businesses that wish to develop and strengthen customer relationships.
Feedback from our clients, accountants, solicitors and strategic alliance partners has been incredibly positive. Without doubt, the euphoria and subsequent results from this exercise has far exceeded any previous “keeping in touch” seminars, workshops, product promotions or one on one presentations we have previously organised in our eight years in the financial services business.