Musings on Clients & Prospects: The Lifeblood of Your Business

Some of you probably think that I fell off the world or stopped “nospinning.” Nope. I’m now in my seventh year of NoSpin Marketing. 2008 has been an interesting year for me so far, including some fun projects: my current favorite being Jaros Guitars. But I’ve gotten way behind on my own web site update and other marketing – not paying attention to my own advice – which I still promise to remedy. I got to meet Perry Marshall, one of the top online marketing gurus on the planet and Google Adwords expert extraordinaire and have learned a ton of things that have benefited my clients (much more in upcoming Debunkers).

It’s not been my easiest year by a long shot, but I thought I’d get back in the saddle with my Debunker newsletters and talk some about the lifeblood of most businesses: clients and prospects—and mention a few things I’ve learned or re-learned this year. Perhaps some of my observations will hit home for you as well, epecially if you sell services of any type..  

• “It” will happen on THEIR time frame—not yours: when they decide to buy/sign up and when the project happens (assuming that the client has any significant involvement), etc. Of course, you may still get blamed for the lack of progress, regardless. Try to control the key variables as much as possible from the outset.  Yes, you often need to push things along, but patience is critical.
• If you stick with a loyal client when they are having a tough business time, they’ll stick with you. Bend over backwards to give them a break if at all possible.
• Life things (personal or family illnesses, etc) impact clients, too. That’s just the way it is, and you need to back off until the appropriate time…for any next steps
• If you’ve got some extra time or resources, devote them to clients who genuinely appreciate what you do for them, who trust you to try new things, and who will follow through with what you’ve initiated. Worst case, you’ll learn a ton, and the future rewards can be great as well.
• Unsolicited, a new prospect/client says he/she understands what it will cost – and money is not THE issue—but the topic keeps popping up in your discussions. RED FLAG times TEN! It’s all about money, and they care little about what they are getting from you as long as it doesn’t cost “too much.” Someone else would do just fine.
• Unless you’re in a business niche where it’s a highly uncommon practice not to do so – make sure that you get a percentage of your money up front from any new client – and then get paid regularly as a project progresses. When you get paid is an expectation that has to be crystal clear from the get-go.
• As the outsider working in a family business (with multiple family members), you are the most likely candidate to get cut off at the knees in any family political thing or if anything goes wrong – by anyone of them. Be very, very careful about dealing with family owned and operated businesses or avoid working with them altogether.
• If an obvious difference in basic values about how business is conducted surfaces, you should collect what you can and then get the heck out of Dodge. It can only get a lot uglier, and you’ll be left holding the bag.
• And if things do go south with a client – despite all of your best efforts – take the high road. Be as gracious as possible, and just leave. Life is too short, and you’ll burn a lot of needless time and energy…and possibly some unknown bridges...if you hang around. There are plenty of other clients out there who will bring you more money and be a lot more enjoyable to work with.

So yes, while clients/prospects are vital to your business it’s important to remember that you really only want those who treat you the way that you’d like to be treated as a client yourself.   

Until next month. And please forward this Debunker to your buddies. Thanks,

Tom Ranseen

NoSpin Marketing

615-661-6042

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