Attach! Here's How to Captivate your Clients and Employees

By: Elaine Romberg
Date: 3/1/2007

How do you know if your clients and employees are "attached" to you? And, why is the answer to this question the key to your success? Here's why:

Satisfaction isn't enough. Satisfied employees will leave you. Satisfied customers will find something better.

Attachment is more than enough. Attached employees will stay with you and grow with you. Attached clients wouldn't think of going anywhere else.

We will hold our annual national convention in New York City at the Marriott Marquis, starting Sunday, April 15. One of our speakers is Steve Tyink (tyink@sbcglobal.net), founder of ATTACH (www.attachmentworks.com) and co-author of Monkey Business: 7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch (www.monkeybusiness.net), due in bookstores nationwide in early April.

Steve and colleague Sandy Wight - with whom Steve coauthored Monkey Business - are confident that reverseoutcome modeling, a hallmark of ATTACH, will revolutionize customer and employee relationships. ATTACH has the case studies to prove it.

How many times aren't you stressed out or disappointed in the way you're treated as a customer? Think in reverse! How was the service the last time you were at a restaurant or grocery store? Excellent? Poor? OK? Or, "That's it: I'm never going back there again!"?

The ATTACH team evaluates customers' experiences, by beginning with the end in mind. In other words, the tems traces customers' steps back to when they first walked through the front door. The ATTACH team knows that today's customers are angry, bored, and tired of being ignored. Research shows that service is at an all-time low and that loyal, lasting employee and client relationships are a thing of the past.

So, how is your recruiting firm or executive placement company different from all the rest? How do you differentiate your brand in such a competitive marketplace? How can you?

The ATTACH team has the answers! Steve Tyink, former Vice President-Leadership Development & Saturn Operations at the Neenah, Wisconsin-based Bergstrom Corporation, and colleague Sandy Wight, author and former director of marketing & corporate communications at SECURA Insurance companies in Appleton, WI, can help you capture, connect, captivate, and attach - not only your clients but your key employees as well.

Tyink has done a tremendous amount of research which confirms that 70% of customers, whether shopping at a hotel or in a doctor's office, have a neutral experience; 10% have a good, memorable experience, and 20% have a bad, memorable experience. When it comes to good employees and good clients having a bad experience with your firm, they'll never forget it...or you.

Wondering how ATTACH can help you? No one ever wants to lose their #1 client or their super-star employee. After all, training is expensive and finding a #1 client is costly.

Think about this: "Satisfied employees will leave you. Satisfied customers will find something better." In other words, "satisfaction" is not enough. On the other hand, attachment is more than enough. Attached employees will stay with you and grow with you. Attached customers wouldn't think of going anywhere else.

The same is true with your clients. It used to be that a handshake sealed the deal and your word was enough. Not today! Today, clients shop around - especially if they're only "satisfied." They then look at all facets of service as well as the cost of your service. Often, price drives unattached clients elsewhere. Attached clients will not leave you simply because of what it costs them to do business with you. They trust you. They believe in you. They know they can count on you. And, they're willing to pay a little extra for the added value you deliver, day after day.

In evaluating your firm's current level of attachment with customers, employees, managers and your community, ATTACH measures the gaps between their perceptions and your reality; then closes those gaps through behaviorsbased training.

At our national convention in NYC in April, Steve Tyink will challenge owners, like you, to attach your employees, your clients, and your community. Tyink will describe ATTACH behaviors and present research from over 30 diverse, market-leading brands, each of which captures the essence of attachment. He'll also present market-tested, realtime solutions and systems designed to differentiate your brand in a meaningful, memorable, emotional way...the ATTACH way.

Let's "ATTACH!" While we all probably feel we have solid relationships with our employees and clients, we need to ask ourselves if we honestly do. Aren't we always a bit surprised when a client goes with another recruiting firm, or when an owner resigns from our network? The truth is, we should be so attached that we will know this before it happens. If anyone reading this article is interested in attending our National Convention, please feel free to call our Business Office at 920-720-5323 for details.

Elaine Romberg is the President of Inner-City Personnel Associates (IPA). She can be contacted at 920.720.5323, or by email at ipa@athenet.net.