Clients are the most important resource you have. You can work hard, be brilliant at what you do, but without clients, you can not make a living off of it.
Good Clients
Good clients are difficult to find at first. When we first started, I decided our main service was going to be as a budget company. No matter what we did, we’d do it so inexpensively people would be idiots not to have us do their work. This is self-defeating, however. You end up working so hard just to pay the rent, you don’t have time to actually do a good job. And we rarely got new good clients.
Once we decided we would become a quality provider, things changed. Our rates had to go up to do this, and we became more selective of the work we would do. But over a short period of time, we grew with clients whom we both respected and were respected by.
A good client is one who understands the value of what you do, and is willing to pay for quality. Attracting that type of client depends solely on your attitude. The best attitude to have when meeting a new client is “I would like to work with you, but it is not a condition of my continued existence.” In other words, define your limits, and do not exceed them. A good client will understand and appreciate this. They will take it as a sign that you value your own work, which means you will return quality services for the money they pay.
One of the big mistakes I made during the early times on our business was the fear of being too expensive and therefor losing work. Plus, I did not understand how much revenue actually goes out as expenses. Because of this, we almost failed because we were so busy working just to try and pay our bills.
Finally, after being beaten over my head by several friends, I realized that Daily Data’s services were extremely valuable, so just being reasonable in our pricing was a deal for our clients. We are still slightly below market, but only as viewed under a microscope, but we now have the time to devote to our projects, and we can turn out quality results.
Bart once told me the key to his success was “under promise and over deliver.” At the beginning, I wanted the work so badly I would tell them the job could be done in half the time, and at half the cost. This resulted in weeks of 12, 14 or 16 hour days, with the associated sloppiness, and then having to take on too many jobs just to pay the rent. Once I learned limits, and bringing our prices in line with our expenses, I was able to begin providing the type of quality service that attracts good clients.
If you are constantly having problems with “bad clients”, look to yourself first and see if you are doing something that is attracting them, while repelling the type of client you really want.
Bad Clients
Bad clients are easy to acquire. Just offer them the deal of a life time, $1000 worth of work for only $500, or refusing to say “sure, I can do it in 2 weeks” when you know very well it will take a month.
Bad clients always want to make a deal. “If you’ll do this cheaply, I’ll make sure you get it back when I make it big.” This never happens, because someone who does not value your work does not value their own, so they’ll never make it big. Be very wary of anyone who asks you to help them out because they have a once in a lifetime chance of making millions.
Another bad client is already a success, but they have succeeded on the backs of others. They will pay you decent money, but they feel when they do this, they have purchased an exclusive right to you. We had one client who we actually had a good working relationship with, but when we began working for someone who she did not like also, she argued that she was paying us good money and we should not work for this other person because she did not like them. When I refused to stop working for the other client, she got very upset and finally gave us an ultimatum; stop working for them, or stop working for her. Then, she was very confused when I told her “Ok, I’ll be happy to help you find another vendor if you like.”
The last type of Bad Client is not really bad at all, but is a result of being a small business.
Firing Bad Clients
Don’t be afraid to fire bad clients. You will spend so much time and effort on a bad client that you can not take care of your good clients.
Do it nicely, but be firm. I prefer to say something like “I do not believe our association is the best thing for either of our companies. I would be happy to help you locate a replacement, but we will no long be able to provide service after the end of next month.”
In some cases, I have found the client to be confused, and even hurt, and requiring an explanation. If you find yourself in this position, feel free to explain what brought you to the decision, but do so without attacking the client. Since I’m not good at thinking fast, I usually plan what to say before I let the client know we will be breaking off the relationship. This also helps me if things become confrontational; I can keep my (bad) temper in check, because I prepared myself for the chance the meeting will go poorly.
Once a client has left, be helpful. Let them know that, for a limited time, your replacement can feel free to call on you for help adjusting to the new client. As an example, when we lose a web hosting client, we offer to package up the web site for the client, offer advice for placing it on the new server, and we even archive their existing web site for 6 months until we’re sure they have all they want.
Losing Good Clients
This will happen. The important thing is to not take it personally. One of our mottoes at Daily Data is we will work just as hard to help a client move away from us as we work to help a client move to us. It has resulted in a very good reputation amongst all of our ex-clients. In some cases, they have referred other clients to us, or even returned after a few years.
We lost a good client one time, and for three months afterwards, our replacement would occasionally contact us for some help with things they had run into. Our only restriction was the initial contact must be via e-mail, cc’ing the client. We helped, and made sure our replies also cc’d the client. The client knew we were being helpful, and they have actually sent other prospective clients to us since then.
We also had a web client who left us, and we helped; packaging their web site, their e-mail, and offering a few suggestions on shortcuts to get the contents moved. A few years later, they came back to us asking if we would consider taking them back as a client, which we were happy to do.
Don’t beg. Don’t get surly, or be uncooperative. I like to think of them as a good friend who has to move away. It hurts, but if I’m a true friend, I want what is best for them, so I’ll ignore my own feelings and help in whatever way I can. Be a good friend to your clients who decide to leave you, for whatever reason.
If they are leaving because of something you did — substandard service, not being able to perform some tasks — use it as a learning experience you can apply to the rest of your clients. Don’t make a big thing of it to the client who is leaving; at most, you can say “thank you for letting me know, I can apply that lesson to my other clients” or something, but it is best to not even mention it. Just help them. Then, fix it so it doesn’t happen to your other clients also.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is to treasure your clients, and leave the best impression possible with those who must leave for whatever reason (even if you “fire” them).
Clients of any type affect your reputation, and your reputation is the most important thing you can have in a business. By treating them fairly, and requiring they treat you fairly, you enhance your reputation and end up, in some cases, with people who like your business so much they can not wait to tell someone else about it.