🎯 Work Smart Wednesday - March 20, 2024
No customers can be a good thing, my counterintuitive replacement strategy, and one of my favourite proverbs
Work Smart Wednesday
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In these emails I will share with you 3 things to help you work smarter in 3 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,077 more minutes to conquer your goals this week
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1. 🚮 It is worse to have a bad client than no client
I truly believe that it is worse to have a bad client, than to have no client at all. The same is true for employees.
I have experienced this myself in my business, and I see it all the time with clients when they first start working with me. While I say this from a position of privilege, I got to this position using the exact counterintuitive strategies I often share - including firing bad clients (so I can focus on the good ones).
Looking back, the most draining, difficult, exhausting, and frustrating periods of being in business that I have ever experienced have all come as a direct result of working with/for a client I didn’t like. It makes you dread starting work and it can make you feel trapped.
A bad client:
Saps your time
Bad clients often demand more time, attention, and resources compared to good clients. They may be overly demanding, changing project scope, requiring constant revisions, meetings, or support. This makes you dependent on them, as you simply don’t have the time to serve other clients or to find new, better, clients
Steals your energy
Time is one thing, but we also only have so much energy in the day. Bad clients often drain our energy, leaving us unable to muster the motivation to work on important things that actually move the business forward
Makes you question your sanity
Dealing with difficult clients can take a significant emotional toll on team members, leading to increased stress, burnout, and decreased morale. This affects productivity and ultimately impacting the overall effectiveness and success of the business.
Erodes your self worth
Bad clients question everything. They make you feel like the prices you charge aren’t worth it, or the work you do isn’t good enough, or that you don’t really know what you’re doing, or that you are not good enough. This erodes your self worth, and starts a spiral of poor decisions.
This is without mentioning other traits of bad clients, such as being more likely to be litigious, to pay late, or to damage your reputation.
Bad clients do more damage than they could possibly add in value.
While you can sometimes change a bad client, it is rare and is usually not worth the time and effort. Often, we have “trained” the bad client to be bad through our own actions like unnecessarily quick replies, agreeing to negotiated discounts, and not enforcing boundaries. It is difficult to change cultural norms. I often prefer to cut the losses, cut them out, and focus on building back better with a new client.
ACTION: Consider whether you have bad clients (10 minutes)
Write out the names of your clients. After interacting with this person, do you tend to feel energised or drained? Have they shown any of the traits of bad clients mentioned above? What can you do to address this issue?
2. 👥 Find your replacement
My next point may sound crazy, but bear with me. When I stop working with a client, I often offer to find my own replacement. Free of charge.
The customer paid me to solve a problem, if they cancel it is likely because they believe I failed to solve the problem for them. That means their problem still exists.
The ex-customer's main frustration is usually that they hoped I would solve the problem, but now they have to put a lot of time and effort into finding somebody else to solve the problem.
They then hope that the new person can do it right - which feels risky as the last person (me, in this example) didn’t get it right. The whole process is both frustrating and time consuming. That frustration is often taken out on you.
By finding your own replacement, you get 4 major benefits:
You make the customer happy. You make their life easier, you solve a problem for them, and it feels like you did really care about them all along as you are going above the norm to help them now
You can squeeze some value out of the client, often via a ‘kickback’ or referral fee for sending them to somebody else. The business you refer them to will often pay you for the referral. Not obligatory, you should prioritise getting the right fit for the client and provider over any potential kickback as the referral fee will be minor in comparison to the value you get from facilitating the right fit. A referral fee is just a nice bonus.
You can see what the new business offers or does to make the client happy that you didn’t, which allows you to improve your business.
You build partnerships with another business. The other business will love you for sending them clients. They will likely send you clients in return in future. Win-win.
There is one caveat to this - be honest about what it was like working with the client when you do refer them so the new business is prepared and agreed. Don’t try to trick the client or the new company, that undermines everything and doesn't help anybody. Besides, different people like working with different people and the new business might like that client. There is a solution and a provider out there for everybody, make sure it is a good fit.
I have done this regularly with my businesses over the years and it works wonders. It takes time to find appropriate people to refer to at first, but soon enough it is quick and easy as you have the contacts in place. Not only do I build a stronger network, but I also build goodwill and referrals as that previously frustrated client is now delighted. It is a win-win for everybody.
ACTION: Consider who you can refer to (10 minutes)
It is good practice to keep a list of complimentary businesses and professionals who you can refer people to. This is great for building your network, as well as increasing the value you provide.
Consider clients who have left you in the past, who could you have referred them to? Write that list. If it is within a reasonable amount of time (often up to 2 years), you can likely still make that referral.
3. 💡 Quote I'm pondering
"A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it” - Proverb
As great as you might be at solving problems, you want to be the wise person.
That's it! I can't wait to hear what you think. What did you find most useful? What do you want more or less of? Reply to this email now and let me know
I adapted the style this week, with bolded action points. Your feedback would be much appreciated - how do you feel about the change? Email me at John@JohnJDMunn.com
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Have a great week,
John
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