Are you a prolific writer but never saw a fat pay-check? Did you bring out the best of the web designs ever made and still realized that your clients don’t stick? Are your skills on developing software, writing code and doling out PHP scripts top-notch but sadly, the number of clients you have, isn’t? In case you didn’t know.
There is a huge and relentlessly burgeoning community of equally competent service providers across the world. How on earth would you make a Unique Selling Proposition? Why should a client choose you? Let’s sit down and think. Just being good isn’t enough. You will have to figure out certain other ways to make yourself Indispensable:
• Trust comes first: It will take time to get here although this point is being doted on as a very important one. Doing things remarkably well, consistently, unfailingly, ungrudgingly and indispensably would earn you this intangible beauty. Once trust is established, it is only a matter of time before clients stick to you like creditors stick to loan defaulters.
• Beat Deadlines – Over and Over, All the time, forever: Most of the service providers are good. Some of them have always been meeting deadlines for a good number of years and hence have made a mark for themselves. Unfortunately, it is the good old days we are talking about. The need of the day is ‘Beating the deadlines’ and not ‘Meeting the deadlines’. If the due date is tomorrow, you got to deliver yesterday.
• Throw your lines open 24/7: We are talking service and we are talking global. You got to open up your communication lines – skype, messengers, emails (preferably two IDs), website contact forms, cell phones and land lines et all and make yourself reachable. You should be functioning like the Forex Markets – ticking away all the time, never stopping, always on. This establishes a comfort factor with your clients. They would always know that you’d be there for them.
• Consistency in Quality: You would have this a million times. Clichéd, but it is death if you ignore it. Ethics plays an important role here and shoddy, sub-standard services have a funny way to catch up with ultra-fast receding bottom lines. If you are a writer for example, no matter how stressed you are and no matter how much you hate working on a particular topic, you would still have to give it your best shot – researching, meticulous planning, writing your first draft, editing and sending it off. If you were a web designer, you would do well to start every project from scratch and refrain from the temptation of ripping off a free template and calling it your own.
• Doing it well and re-doing it nevertheless: It is sometimes painful for vendors to redo something that they have put their efforts into and found it to be a great piece of work, but still the work wasn’t accepted because your client didn’t like. It happens to anything creative. Every great movie has its critics and every remarkable literature work has had people stomping their feet vehemently. What do you do when your work comes back to you for redoing? Simple, do it again and do exactly as the client wanted it (even if you didn’t like it!). It is a part of the game and keeps you in the business.
Tags: business, service providers
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March 11th, 2008 at 6:51 am
This is a very good post. It is extremely important to provide good service on a consistent basis. That is a very good way to develop the trust that you speak of in your post. I also like the part about doing the work exactly as the client wants it done even if you personally do not like the work. That is a hard one for me to do.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
I think the over riding theme here that you have to be prepared to go that extra mile, come what may. Whether it is in terms of beating deadlines, getting their first or going global, you have to be better than your nearest rival.
March 14th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Nicely done. Great read and for those who are just starting out, should take to heart.
March 15th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I think the main point here is quality. The others go without saying, but quality is something not always observed with the utmost care and I think that if you provide your customer with an excellent product then they’ll always be begging for more.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Its an interesting article. I agree that trust and reputation are the most important aspects. You need to build a good reputation. Even if your services are good, one bad review can cost you a lot of business. Whatever field you are in, there will be fierce competition and people always look for the most trusted service.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
That is some great information. I agree with some others here, that trust is the most important factor. If your not trusted or have a bad reputation, then people are not going to buy things from you. Allthough trust is hard it is well worth it in the end.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Personally, quality is what I shoot for more than anything. You need to think of the customer. If you were the customer, would you be happy with the service they (you) are provided? Your reputation is staked on quality more than anything. But with comes quality comes high prices for your servers. Pros and cons, but it’s worth it in the end.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:20 am
I agree with this great topic. Following this guide will surely help a lot. I think for you to be able to achieve this requires continues practice of it, becoming a habit and therefore becomes easy in the long run.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I think that consistency is the most important thing. You may have great ideas and stunning graphics, but if customers can’t count on you to meet deadlines or always produce results, they will go elsewhere. That kind of thing gets around when people are making recommendations to their friends and business associates about who they should use.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:30 am
Well i think that the main job of the business men is to keep their customers satisfied. This does not mean only selling the product at the right price. Also after sales relationship must be there. It means consistency which you have mentioned. Its a very good note to read and very interesting too.
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
I think that most of the companies that are offering their services around the web are just applying this kind of approach. I haven’t encountered any company that would not do the same because they know that they are the ones to suffer once they haven’t satisfied the client. Chances are the clients will search for another service company to do transaction with.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Yeah everything has to do with the consistency of your services. If you prove your self then they might refer you to others and that’s how you get more business by building up your clientel by word of mouth.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
To entice customers, businesses must provide a good product with good pre and post servicing. Businesses should be made aware of the fact that repeat customers are practically free while it is very expensive to acquire a new customer.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Its a great tips, I agree that we must always hang on to our standard. I found it hard to beat deadlines, and sometimes its even harder to catch up and still manage to have a good quality in each of your work. But to sell a good product or service, we must be consistent. And then he client will trust us.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I think that your Article is an indespensible, relevant, and well thought out piece of literature.
The fact that you emphasise confidently, with no doubt, or question of other possibility on the key points to selling yourself and your service is brilliant and a well needed must read for anybody looking to be successful.
It is far too often you hear advice like “Think about the quality, remember, you are the designer, you know what’s right”
It makes people forget that you are in it for the customer, the work isn’t your primary objective, the customer is.
The work just comes as a bonus when you’ve earned the trust of your customer.
Thanks for the article, I will be sure to forward it to all the aspiring project workers I encounter.
- Malakai
May 20th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
liowkc has given a valuable point here. It is very expensive to buy a new customer. So it is important that we make sure that our old customers stick with us. Customers are the pillars to any successful business.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Beating deadlines is good and all, but it shouldn’t become expected. Just because someone can say “They said the 16th but they always get it done 3 days early so lets hold the presentation on the 14th.” and then it comes in on the 16th.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I agree that it seems like you want to keep the customers you have. However I was just on some customer service site last week where there was a big discussion going on about clients that weren’t worth keeping. I think they were talking about an online store — and they kept getting lots of complaints from one particular person who spent very little money. The consensus there was that it wasn’t worth the time of their help people to keep dealing with this person so when she threatened to take her business elsewhere they said, go ahead. (I’m sure they had already done the first obvious thing of trying to fix her problem but she refused to be satisfied…)
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I just started my designing business on february 2008, this is a good article to read. I agree with you that we have to keep up our good service and built our client trust. My problem is not all my client know how to appreciate our work always demand more with a little pay. How can i stand firm and stick to my price? Is there any suggestion to neg with client like this?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 pm
It is not unusual for clients to try to negotiate a better price, and many do. As the seller, it is your job to convince them your product or service is worth the price you charge. If your price is not negotiable then make that clear up front. You can then try to close the deal by convincing them your price is justified. You can always use the old adage “you get what you pay for”, or that you simply cannot afford to sell for less, or your price is fair market value and well worth the price. In the end, the client will have to make the final choice. Sometimes its better to loose a client then lower your price. Only you can make that decision.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Some extremely pertinent points discussed in this article! Overdelivering and delivering before time gets the notice of the client almost every time and gives him/her enough reason to look for a longterm relationship.Of course quality and value for money have no substitutes and needs to be maintained to keep the client base smiling and of equal essence is trustworthiness.If you have proven that you can deliver the goods before time and some, then in critical and unscheduled projects the client will think of you first.