Paddi Pages E-Zine - Issue #7
Referrals - Welcome to Paddi's Practice ... Almost!
Dear Reader,
In the last issue of the Paddi Pages I promised to walk you through Paddi’s business as if you were a customer. There’s a lot to tell you, so let’s get into it…
Picture yourself standing in front of a lowset, slightly Mediterranean style building in a working class suburb about 30mins outside of the inner city of Brisbane.
As you walk through the parking area towards the door, you notice the well manicured gardens, the very large and impressive topiary fig trees (they’re trimmed in a round shape and look like lollipops – you were told to look out for them). As you look at the building, you notice there’s no signs … but of course, you knew you wouldn’t find any!
As you approach the door, you reach for the handle, even though you know it will be locked – but you want to see for yourself anyway! You glance to the left and see the doorbell. As you reach to press it, you notice the little sign that reads, “By Invitation Only”. (more on that later)
You press the doorbell, hear the home-like “ding dong”, and wait to see what happens…
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Now, we’re going to take a slight deviation here.
You might think that the customer service story would begin in this way, with you walking in Paddi’s front door, but it doesn’t. It actually starts well before that. And that’s part of Paddi’s genius.
You might remember one of Paddi’s 7 Key Frustrations…
------------ Key Frustration #4: Paddi hated ‘selling’ ------------
In the couple of years just before breaking point, Paddi tried all sorts of conventional business ideas to try to make things easier. Learning professional sales skills was one of them. Yet Paddi hated ‘selling’. Honestly, he thought it was beneath his professional dignity.
Pat Pringle, one of Paddi’s CareNurses for 25 years, once told me,
“Paddi used to hide from clients ... literally. He was scared to death of talking to them. We’d call him in, he’d do the dentistry, then practically run back to his office with nary a word to anyone. It was impossible!”
But not only was it hard to ‘sell’ his work, for the few that eventually agreed, the time it took from a first visit to case acceptance was crippling. Paddi’s sales process was often long and difficult, and it was suffocating his cashflow.
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To get around that particular frustration, Paddi figured out a way make his customers eager to buy his services without ever having to ‘sell’ a thing. And it’s in how he sets that up as part of the Customer Experience that his thinking differently really shines through.
You see, Paddi’s business now operates {By Invitation Only<
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Paddi has carefully crafted every aspect of the natural process of Referrals in business. If you’d like to read all of his insights on the subject, check out the advanced manual, Mobilising Your Customer Sales Force.
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For now, suffice to say that in Paddi’s business, your experience begins with a friend or colleague, and in particular the somewhat spectacular stories they tell you of their own experiences as a client of Patrick Lund Dental Happiness (yes, that’s right, that’s the name on Paddi’s letterhead – he was serious about finding happiness and so even changed his business name for all to see).
But look, here I am rabbiting on, and I’m trying to keep these Paddi Pages brief! We’ll pick up from here in the next issue. Coming up…
- How your experience begins with the stories your friend tells you.
- How you first come to speak with your new Care Nurse.
- How you’re completely blown away when you receive a special package in the post a few days before your first appointment. (The most powerful sales tool I’ve ever seen!)
All that and more as we continue the Paddi Pages next issue. See you then.
Kind regards,
Fletcher
Fletcher Potanin
Managing Director
Solutions Press Business Publishing
www.PaddiLund.com
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