Keeping things simple

ShannonCherry — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:00:45 +0000

The beauty of a small business is that it’s usually very community oriented. Owners really get to know their clients and customers. When you’re trying to impress, build or maintain a relationship with a partner or investor, it’s so important to be yourself. Don’t be fake.

When it comes to the whole “wining and dining” thing, a lot of times it’s considered traditional to take clients out to a fancy dinner and take care of the bill. This can work sometimes, but it really doesn’t have to be the only way you close the deal. (And trust me, I know it can be PRETTY expensive, too).

It’s all about building relationships; you want to get as close to possible. There are a lot of advantages to knowing your clients well. E-mail them, give them a quick phone call, and find ways to take a little time to just chat with them. The more you learn about them, the easier it is for you to strengthen those bonds. Wining and dining could be an option if you’ve taken the time to learn that’s what the client wants, but there could be much cheaper ways the client would enjoy more.

Gifts are a great way to show how good of a relationship you have. Walking through the store and notice a book your client mentioned they wanted to pick up? Grab it for them, now you’ve saved yourself an expensive night out, and grabbed a more personal gift they will undoubtedly appreciate.

This isn’t common sense, guys. We’ve been taught to think there’s a formula for these things. Well there isn’t, everybody’s different. Take some time to get to know those differences.

Post from: EveryJoe

Keeping things simple

Great expectations: why you need them to be clear

ShannonCherry — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:03:52 +0000

I lost a client today. Someone I respected as another marketing professional.

And I lost this person because of expectations. His expectations (right or wrong) were not met and as a result, he was disappointed.

Setting expectations needs two components: the ability to listen and the ability to educate. I believe I failed on the latter.

I recently had changed the way I have been communicating and tracking info from clients, and somehow thought he understood that. He also asked for additional information above what I normally do. It wasn’t wrong, but what he expected. I should have explained the process better.

Lesson learned.

Making sure client expectations are set will determine success or failure. Sure, the other portions of the project are important but if the client you’re doing work for doesn’t have a clear understanding of what they’re getting and when they should expect it, you’ll fail. No matter how wonderful your work is… No matter how fast you produce… it won’t matter to the client.

As for me, I’ve already implemented another process/system to help make sure the client is comfortable with how I work, using an online project management system.

So is the client always right? Sort of. But we need to manage their expectations better in order to help them always BE right.

Post from: EveryJoe

Great expectations: why you need them to be clear

EveryJoe » clients

Keeping things simple

Great expectations: why you need them to be clear