Here are seven guidelines and important questions to consider in establishing and maintaining good farrier-client relationships.
1. Be on time for your shoeing appointments. It is easier to build a good long-term relationship when the first impression is favorable. If you wish to be successful, you must advertise success. Are you making a good impression?
2. Build value in the mind of the customer. Convince people of your desire to be of service and to do it right. Show them that you are providing excellent service because of your training, experience and credentials. Your attitude, training and dependability have tremendous value. Have you paid the price to be a qualified, valuable asset to your client?
3. Devote time and attention to your best clients. Develop a system for prioritizing who the strong clients are in your business. Paredo, an Italian marketing specialist, gave the rule that 20% of your clients will give you 80% of your business. The end of the year is a good time to evaluate your client base — determine if a customer ranks as “A,” “B” or “C” in your business. Focus your time on giving great service to your best clients. How important is the client relationship to you?
4. Show empathy for the concerns of your clients. Create a systematic way that you can record and remember each specific horse’s name that you have worked with. These records should include both problems and successes that you have had in shoeing their horses. Do you keep accurate, helpful records?
5. Set up standards for your terms of payment. Control how the fees for your service are received. If you don’t set up a standard and stick to it, your clients will control how and when you receive compensation for your service. Does your client know how you do business?
6. Send thank you notes and gifts to clients for new business or referrals. A short note can go a long way in building value for your service. Are you grateful for your client’s business?
7. Sponsor a Customer Appreciation Day, such as a barbecue or educational event, to endear you to your customers and help them appreciate your qualified service. Do your clients know how much you appreciate them?
We wish you the best in getting the New Year off to a great start!
Butler Professional Horseshoeing School
495 Table Road
Crawford, NE 69339
(800) 728-3826
jacob@dougbutler.com
If you think you want to become a farrier (or know someone who does), this book can help you make that decision. Horse owners will learn the importance of choosing a qualified farrier and how to select the “right” one.
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One of the most if not the most important things to remember to keep and
impress your client, is how you get along with their horse when shoeing it.
some owners can be hard to please, as some farriers can be hard to get along with,however the owner sees their horse as very important to them.
The farrier should shoe the horse correctly,have no problems with the horse
while shoeing, clean up the working area when finished. When shoeing for
customers farriers should care about the quality of their work and how
they get along with the horse, do not lose your temper the rest will follow.
Doug and Jacob,
These are great points of customer service to observe for the established farrier as well as those just building a client base. I owe much of my business success to the continuing education, in all aspects of the craft, that you have always provided. In the tough economy today our loyal clients are the backbone of our business.
Thanks, for all you do for the farrier industry!
Pat Burton CJF