How clients make a decision while buying

We’ve been seeing a couple of independent schools for our daughter moving into Year 7 next year. There was an open evening of one in Southampton on Friday evening then an open day yesterday in Winchester. Big decision for us as she’s our only daughter (she has 3 annoying brothers according to her). 

Funny how we make decisions and the influences that lead to the decision we make...Academically they’re both on a par. So what we have go on is our ‘perception’ of whether it would be the right school. For me i’m swaying towards the Southampton one and here’s why:

• When we arrived at the school we were warmly greeted by multiple people as we made our way to the registration desk
• We were politely registered by a current pupil who scanned the QR code on an iPad we’d been given in advance as our ‘ticket’.
• We were then asked whether we’d like a guided tour or self tour - opted for guided and were then assigned a current Year 7 pupil called Gryff who proceeded to take us around and came across very well mannered and knowledgeable
• Every classroom we went in had some fun activity going on and we were greeted warmly by the teacher and pupils every time
• The Head’s speech took place in the new theatre they’d built for drama and plays which was pretty impressive looking
• The speech didn’t focus much on the school’s history but more on the opportunities for the pupils and the school’s drive to help each child fulfil their potential
• Two pupils came up and gave speeches saying what they loved about the school (in front of an auditorium of around 100 parents) and they were exceptional
• There were canapés, sandwiches and cakes served after the speech (my highlight!)

In essence, I was wowed by the ‘client’ experience. I got a good 'feel' about the place. And because this is all I really have to go on, it plays a huge part in my decision making to proceed

The same is no different when people are looking to work with you in your accounting firm. All they have to go on is their ‘perceived’ value of your offering and the ‘experience’ of seeing and talking to you before they sign on with you. Look and feel matters

Remember what Maya Angelou said “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel”

So make sure you do thing to wow your clients. 

PS: I have 4 kids in private school. It’s less painful on the pocket because I have a tax efficient structure for paying the fees. If you have your own company and have kids in private schools but not doing it tax efficiently get in touch and i’ll show you how