Are you letting clients know where they stand? Most aren’t, and due to that situation have locked themselves in an adversarial relationship with their clients.
They see a client email, start breathing heavy, sweating, getting chest pains and maybe develop a bit of attitude with their staff. The sad part is that most business owners have actually built and made the keys for this prison themselves.
First and foremost, if you are delivering a stellar product or service as you promised, then you have the first ingredient right. If you have a bad product or service, then your clients have the right to be pretty upset with you.
That’s why Brandon Williams was inspired to write “Don’t Be a Slave to Your Clients,” he wants to help business owners break the chains, and run their business, not be run by it.
Something weird happens with employers once they sign a client: they think that they have to endure anything and everything for fear of losing a client. No one should run their business like that.
The interesting thing is that most clients just want to know that their concerns are heard and addressed, more than that, they want to know the ground rules. What should you be telling your clients that you most like are not?
- What’s out of the scope of service: if its no in the original agreement, tell the client that, don’t feel obligated to go beyond your agreements.
- If They are Being Rude to Staff: as the business owner, you should set the standard on how your clients are allowed to treat your staff. Don’t lose good staff because of a rough client.
- If Timelines change: Clients change their timelines, let’s face it, a business can be unpredictable. However, clients also need to keep a business aware of changing timelines and cannot just demand they need something now.
People want to know where they stand, and it allows a business owner to have a better level of control of the client relationship; rather than feeling like taking the bus to crazy town.
“The truth is is that people don’t like it when they don’t know where they stand. That’s one of the biggest things that people can’t stand when they know where they stand and they know exactly what will and won’t get them into some trouble.”
-Brandon Williams
Brandon Williams Grew up on a farm in Indiana. He struggled his whole life with success, but now he has cracked the code on marketing and sales. He can sum up all the data on it very briefly without a lot of fluff.
He’s the author of Don’t Be a Slave to Your Clients: Break Your Chains and Regain Your Sanity: How to Attract the Ideal Client, Create Mutual Respect and Feel Great Again About Your Business.
Brandon Williams sits down with me, Jeremy Ryan Slate, on the latest episode of the Create Your Own Life Show.
