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So you Alaska Lemon Laws now operating your own service business and every client is precious. After all, you had to work hard enough to get them.

You do Weird Science want to lose a single one. "I'll over-service them like crazy," you think. "Customer Service is my middle name. I'll do anything to retain a client".

STOP! Think again. Some clients are bad for your business and your business will not survive if you have too many of them. You not only do not want to retain them you should really cut them loose for the safety of you business.

Who are these bad clients?

Let's consider first who are good clients. What attributes do they have that will allow you make a profit servicing them:

1 Need for your services.

2 Able to pay for your services.

3 Willing to pay for your services.

4 Value your services.

Need for service

When you are just starting out you will sometimes pick up a client who doesn't feel he has a need for your service and will come on board just to help you out. No matter how much you knock yourself out trying to convince him that he has done the right thing, Carol, Sweetly Carol works and you spend valuable time on work he doesn't value or appreciate. Cut him loose.

Able to pay for service

As a new consultant I found many clients whose business had become so unprofitable that there was no way in which they could pay me for the time needed to get their business up and running again. Often I felt sorry for them and took them on anyway. Big mistake. I spent hours and hours of irrecoverable time. In the end it was not appreciated and the hope of recovering some of the lost time was just a dream. The client felt I was charging more for the current service than he felt was fair. The solution is to accept only clients who have the ability to pay.

Willing to pay for the service

Many clients who appear to be the perfect client will penny-pinch on your fees no matter how wealthy they may be. You will have followed the correct procedure. The fee for the service will have been agreed prior to commencement of work and you and he will have agreed on a payment schedule. You will have explained that work will cease if payment is not made.

However, this client will nickel and dime your fee to such a low figure that you tell him that any further reduction must mean that a total service cannot be given. Agreement will be made for one aspect of your service to be cut. There can only be two options for you. The first will be a service that is less than excellent or even unprofessional. For the long-term health of your business you must never agree to this. No matter how successful the outcome, your client will not appreciate it and will certainly blame you if something goes awry.

The second outcome will be for you to cut from the program something that really needs to be done. If the client is unwilling or not skillful enough to do it, in order to save the project you will have to do it yourself. Your client will not thank you, will not pay for the extra work involved and will expect you do it for the same fee every time.

Do yourself a favor do not take this client on.

Value your service If your client was the 'perfect client' when he started but now continually wants you to justify each minute spent on the work; has ceased to pay on time; continualy asks for copies of invoices before he pays, then he no longer values your service. In all cases you should immediately cease work when there are outstanding fees. Something is wrong and your client is telling you this in this negative way.

You must iron out any problems that he has with you so that he becomes the perfect client again or kiss him goodbye. Anything else will drain the life out of you and your business.

Kelvyn Peters has operated his own business since 1969 and he knows what works and what doesn't. He knows the mistakes newcomers make because he made them himself so he's a great teacher.

Kelvyn is a skilled educator and after-dinner speaker who loves to tell stories. Now he has been convinced to put some of them in writing.

Author
Kelvyn Peters
Business Consultant
target="_new" www.consulting4profit.com">www.consulting4profit.com
target="_new" www.acidreflux-and-gerd.com">www.acidreflux-and-gerd.com

# posted by ronnieadtg : 8:40 AM