Note from Donna: How to Lose Your Client in 30 Seconds

My fiancé, Eric, had outpatient shoulder surgery last week. The surgery went fine, despite the fact that it was more involved than originally thought. After his operation, his orthopedic surgeon explained to me for a full 10 minutes about what he found during the procedure, including many color photos taken inside Eric’s shoulder and supplemental diagrams that he drew.  Unfortunately, I understood very little of what he said to me, despite the visual aids, because the surgeon spoke almost exclusively using medical terms and medical jargon.  My one year of college biology and one semester of college anatomy and physiology failed me miserably — I simply couldn’t keep up.  And, he spoke so rapidly that it was tough to even interrupt him to ask for clarification.

So, out of that conversation I gleaned about 30 seconds of info — that the spider-webby things in Eric’s shoulder were cleared out; Eric’s unusually large clavicle (collar bone) was shaved down; and something that flips up around the clavicle was cleaned out underneath.  Really technical, huh?? LOL

In a service business, in order to attract and retain your clients, you need to speak in language that they understand.  If that to you means "dumbing it down", then you need to do exactly that.  I wouldn’t have been offended at all to have it "dumbed down" for me — I probably would have a much clearer picture of what was done during the surgery than I have now.

So, if you sell a service that’s not critical in people’s lives, prospective clients will shop around until they find someone with whom they resonate. Remember, clients only buy from people that they like, know, trust and can understand.

To your online success!

Donna Gunter, Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach/Manager