Implementing an effective ergonomic solution can help move the relationship forward with your client. Certainly, not everyone’s going to be your cup of tea, not everyone’s going to want to work with you, but there’s always an opportunity to provide ergonomic services to ideal clients that you enjoy working with. If you know how to position ergonomics according to what your prospective client wants, this can encourage action and help further your relationship with them. 

Valuable Things To Think Of When Offering Ergonomic Services To Clients

But how exactly can we effectively serve our clients? In this blog, I will show you why it’s important to shift your viewpoint in the way you offer your services to your ideal clients. 

It all comes down to building a long-term relationship with your client.

Of course, you don’t want it to be just a flash in the pan. For instance, you get a call from a prospective client requiring an ergonomic assessment to every employee in his company, but that employer doesn’t really know what they are getting into. As an income-generating activity, this situation seems very ideal for you. But most of the time, this is going to be a flash in the pan. Probably the biggest limiting belief that you may encounter when you talk to prospective clients who are considering doing ergonomics but haven't moved forward with you yet is that ergonomics is costly. For instance, if one employee gets an ergonomic assessment, everyone else will follow suit and demand new equipment. This limiting belief might cause them to burn out and quit in the end. Nevertheless, you can come up with other solutions if you develop your ergonomic services. 

So where do you get started? What approach should you consider taking? How can you build that relationship with the client? 

These are the questions you may be asking yourself right now. Well, the best way to position your ergonomics is through a measured approach. I’ve come up with 3 effective ways to help you answer these questions and to help you get your ergonomics process started.

How To Provide Quality Service To Clients

1. Address Your Client’s Ergonomic Need Based On Their Situation

In order to create a long-term relationship with your client, you need to be aware of their issues and concerns. Ask the employers what specific services they require from you, what their priorities are, and its impact. Some employers might be doing this because of that one squeaky wheel employee who always complains to the employer to do something about ergonomics, or they might be seeking your help because of a workers’ compensation claim. Perhaps they might be doing ergonomics because it was recommended by a corporation, or they just want their workplace to look appealing to work for people in their community. It might be that they want to move forward with ergonomics and they need your help to come up with a holistic solution to increase employee involvement and productivity. Whatever their reason is, understanding their need is essential. All those reasons are entry points that will help you determine what ergonomic solutions you’re going to offer to them.

As ergonomic consultants, to be a trusted resource is a great value.

Once you’re able to satisfy your clients with quality service and build a long-term relationship, they can actually generate referrals, case studies, and testimonials that will help diversify your business. With the help of these referrals, you’ll be able to work with multiple organizations, instead of just focusing on one employer. So there’s a huge amount of value when you establish an ideal long-term relationship with a client.

2. Provide Other Related Services

As ergonomics consultants, it is a given that we prioritize the employees in analyzing a workstation. We want to serve our clients in a way that will improve their ergonomics. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone will require a full office ergonomic assessment. Of course, every person has different levels of need within an organization, so you really can’t expect a solution that would apply in all instances. Perhaps some people might need a full office ergonomic assessment, some people don’t. But there are also other services available that we can provide that will help get to the root cause of their situation. 

When you’re not required to offer a full office ergonomic assessment, I want you to take a step back and ask yourself, is there another solution related to ergonomics that will motivate them to go forward with you? 

3. Determine what you want

The last important thing that I want to point out to you about is to decide what you really want. Because at the end of the day, whether you’re giving an ergonomic assessment as a side hustle or it’s a full-time job, what really matters is how we want to run our business and what direction we want to go. Do you want to focus your attention on getting a steady flow of revenue, or build a good reputation, or perhaps make a big impact within your community? 

Once you’ve determined what direction you want to go, of course, you’ll have to market yourself to get your ideal client’s attention.  You have 2 strategies on how you can move forward. The first strategy is to proceed on your marketing campaigns and wait. Let as many people know that this type of service exists. The second is to encourage action so you can build relationships and move forward with them. This is something that you should plan beforehand. Think of something that you can offer proactively to your client before an injury occurs. Is there something that you can offer them that would pique their interest? Once you get your foot in the door, it's an opportunity to talk about all the other ways that they can work with you. 

Generate a positive impact

One common characteristic that we, ergonomic professionals, share is our desire to make a positive impact on our community. We always want to make sure that we can deliver quality service, improve our client’s productivity, and create a safe working environment for them. Fulfilling that desire isn’t really a problem because we know that there are a lot of companies that would need some ergonomics assistance. Statistics show that most of the workers’ compensation claims are attributed to Musculoskeletal Disorders— this presents a great opportunity for us. And giving an effective office ergonomic assessment can benefit your community in a number of different ways. If done well, your ergonomic solutions can be a major contributor to your community’s success in the marketplace and offer a comfortable work experience to the employees.  As an ergonomic professional, you need to know the best way to position your services because this will make companies want to work with you and you’ll enjoy working with them as well. 

There you have it! I hope that this blog inspired you to move forward with ergonomics. If you want to learn how other healthcare professionals are adding office ergonomics to their services, I have a training for you to try. Just click on this link and get started today.