Drawing The Line
Learn to say no to those clients, before they start draining your
energy! The key to being able to do this is to understand Your Ideal
Client. Once you know how to
recognize who is ideal and who is not, you can practice turning down
business from the latter. If you have trouble saying no, you'll need to
learn this critical business skill, and what to do to get rid of problem
clients you already have. If you have a coach, ask them to help you
complete the Ideal Client exercise, or to role-play those "saying no"
conversations.
How to discover YOUR Ideal Client
There are many ways to approach the Ideal Client/Customer Profile. You
can sit down and imagine the best, most
wonderful client you could have--whether that is an abstract entity, a
celebrity (what writer wouldn't want Oprah as a customer, for example),
or a specific demographic profile. If your customers are more likely to
be companies,
you could look at your current client list, and pick the company that
gives you the most business, the most joy, the
least heartburn.
The Ideal Client Profile
Whoever you pick, start a profile matrix with two columns: "My Ideal
Client Is:" on the left; "My Ideal Client is Not:", on the right. In the
column on the left, list all the characteristics of that type of person
or company. Use the questions below as prompts to get you thinking about
all the different aspects of each client.
Then, either think of the opposite of all those aspects, or pick the
"client from hell" and fill in corresponding traits in the right-hand
column. Be really honest with this exercise! If you'd rather only have
clients who make over $500,000, put that down! Your clients who don't
fit your Ideal characteristics, whether you write them down or not, will
eventually know it. May as well get that over with
early!
Prompts: Consider these aspects of your Ideal Customer or Client:
What career or business are they in?
What demographics do they fit? (age, sex, race, religion, income,
marital status, etc.)
What do they think is important in business? In life?
What do they like most about you and your business, products and
services?
What is the nature of their relationship with you? (transactional,
long-time customer, acquaintance, friend,
refers others to you, etc.)
How do they do business with you? (by phone, in person, on the Web;
quick transactions, takes time to negotiate; pays early, on-time, at 30
days; etc.)
What personality characteristics do they have?
What do you get from them (besides payment)?
Now What?
Compare your current client list to the two columns in The Ideal Client
Profile. How many have the characteristics of
your Ideal Client? If the answer is "not many," you may need to work on
firing some of your clients!
Next, post your Ideal Client Profile somewhere you will see it often.
Every time a new potential client comes along,
start looking for those Ideal characteristics...and beware the
non-ideal! If that little voice starts to tell you
something might be wrong, check in with the non-ideal list-- and be
ready with some ways to turn away non-ideal clients. Offer them other
options--refer them to someone else who is a better fit, and make two
people happier!
Ideal Clients--For Life
There are many ways to leverage the work you have just done with the
Ideal Client Profile. Here are some ideas:
--Audit your marketing materials. Do your business cards, brochures, ads
and website appeal to your Ideal Client? Are
you sending the right message, to the right potential clients? Hone your
materials, and start seeing better- qualified potential clients walk in
the door.
--Consider your marketing channels. Based on your Ideal Client profile,
where would you expect to find these
clients? Is that where your marketing efforts are focused? If not,
figure out a way to get in front of them!
--Review your contracts, policies, terms and conditions.
Are they set up to be friendly to your Ideal Clients? Do they give you
clear avenues for dealing with non-ideal
clients? If not, update them, and you might see non-ideal clients take
care of themselves.
Start attracting your Ideal Clients today!
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http://www.Solo-E.com
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Terri Zwierzynski is a coach to small business owners and
Solo Entrepreneurs. She is also the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary
Ideas) at Solo-E.com. Terri is an MBA honors graduate from UNC-Chapel
Hill. Terri has been coaching for over 10 years in a variety of
settings, including 6 years as a senior-level coach and consultant for a
Fortune 500 company. She opened her private coaching practice in 2001.
Contact her at:
http://www.FastLaneDreams.com.
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