Are you working with the right clients?

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Are you working with the right clients?

Hi, this is Judi Otton with GrowthCast, and today I want to talk about ensuring you’re working with the right clients so you don’t have to fire them, as I talked about last week.

First of all, and most importantly, can you help them? Are you sure you can help them? Now, you may have stretch assignments. Recently, a client came to me and wanted me to help her with something that I hadn’t done before. I was very honest. I haven’t done this. I love learning new things. I would love to work on this with you. And in fact, I even gave her a slight discount on my fees because I was going to get some knowledge and more experience out of that. So, you know, certainly, stretch yourself, but really make sure that you can help them before you take them on.

Be as specific as possible about what your service includes. And sometimes, this can be challenging. For example, again, in my own business, I start out my engagements with a very extensive diagnostic service. So I don’t always know what I’m going to find. Yes, I have some ideas from the sales conversations and what the CEOs say. Still, I may, and often do, uncover other things that may be as or even more important or more critical than the original problem that the CEO has encountered.

Make sure you get to know them and let them get to know you. For all of us in service industries, chemistry is a big part of what we do. There are many marketers, mediators, and fractional CFOs out there, and some of us are good fits for some clients, and some of us are good fits for others.

Don’t chase them. I have never succeeded in chasing, persuading, or coercing business owners to do something. If you have to persuade them to do it, they’re probably not going to do the work they need to succeed.

Trust your gut. Always. This I’ve had to learn the hard way more than once because I’ve made offers to people I was a little sketchy about, and I always regretted it.

And finally, remember, you don’t have to make an offer to anyone. You can give them a referral. You can give them suggestions or send them on their way. Nothing says that you have to sell to everyone that crosses your path.

This is Judi Otton with GrowthCast, and I’ll be back next week with a new Fiscal Fitness Tip of the Week.