Becoming Frictionless
Why do our repeat clients come back to us? While we would like to believe it’s because of our breathtaking analysis, our brilliant marketing campaign, or our unique training program, it’s often something simpler – we’re easy to work with. We make it easier for our clients to come back to us than to find an alternative.
When I started my business, I set up a process for how I would handle each client engagement. Clients would have to sign my proposal and non-disclosure agreement and return the original to me; I would require 50% payment up front; I would use a deliverable format that I had carefully designed. Ah, what a sweet summer child I was back then.
I soon learned that all clients had their own priorities and required that I work within their timeline and conditions. Some had their own contract forms; some had payment policies that did not accommodate my payment requirements; and some expected a videoconference presentation and debrief after each engagement as well as my carefully designed deliverable.
If I wanted to earn the trust and respect of my clients, I knew I had to look at each engagement from the client’s point of view. How could I become more frictionless while still ensuring that my own priorities were met? I looked at all the points at which my clients interact with me and considered what I could change to become even easier to work with. The questions I asked myself included:
- How easy is it to find my contact information? Do all my emails and reports include my phone number and email address? Do I respond promptly to all calls, emails and texts?
- How confident do I sound? Am I able to explain my pricing in an unapologetic way that conveys my value? Do I always offer a budget to ensure my client will have no surprises at the end of a project?
- How much time do I spend listening to my client’s needs vs. telling my client about my process or requirements? Do I really understand not only what my client wants to accomplish with this engagement but also how I can make my deliverable as easy to use as possible?
- How flexible can I be about the scope and depth of the project? If the client needs a skill set that I don’t have, can I bring someone else in to address those needs?
- How can I say “yes” more? The Four Seasons hotels have a reputation for providing the ultimate in five-star hospitality and never directly saying “no” to a guest. All employees are trained to find a way to say “yes” to every request. The secret is that the answer might be “yes, we’d be happy to provide that service, and the cost is $X”. Following that model, how can I gracefully respond to any expansion or change of the project by saying “yes, I’d be happy to look into that other aspect of this project; would you like me to send you a proposal for that now, or after we finish this first phase?”
While independent info pros are responsible for setting limits to what we can do for our clients, the more we can be frictionless, easy to deal with, and willing to say “yes”, the more willing our clients are to come back for additional work and to refer us to their colleagues.
Mary Ellen Bates has been an infopreneur since 1991. She provides strategic decision support services for clients and free coaching to fellow infopreneurs. See more at Reluctant-Entrepreneur.com or contact her at mbates@batesinfo.com or +1 303 772 7095.
