Boomerang the Client

You’ve snagged the perfect (OK, lucrative) client. You want them to come right back again, and quickly. You might want them to have picked up a few mates along the way, too.

Things to avoid saying, to make sure that client boomerangs right back at ya:

I can’t

I don’t mean you should design a ebusiness website for a large corporation when what you actually do is high class catering for conferences and weddings.

Within similar areas, where you are knowledgeable enough to know when you are being screwed over, subcontract the work to someone else. You might take a hit, financially, but the customer is satisfied at a job well done, you retain credibility and will receive long-term ROI.

Lesson: Think sideways.

I wasn’t well enough informed to do justice to your project

Make yourself well-informed. This is your responsibility. Learn from previous clients. Design interview and meeting proformas for extracting information from the client. Have something to work from, otherwise you may miss small but crucial details, that could save time or effort later.

If you are providing a service, speak to all the stake-holder (the purchaser and the end-users) to see what is really required.

Lesson: Look and learn.

The customer is always right

The customer is NOT always right. Yes, the customer may know their business needs, but do they know training, IT, design, marketing?

There are times to walk away from a client. If you have expertise, experience and success in your field and the client is trying to convince you that your (average market) prices are too high, their ideas are always better (even though you know what they’re asking is insane) or you should just do exactly as they ask without any professional advice or input from you, then walk away.

Don’t be afraid to say that in your experience this is completely the wrong way to approach a project. If your schtick is copywriting, then be firm. Don’t churn out embarrassing clichés if your instincts are telling you otherwise. Some things are actually more important than revenue. Your business reputation, your image (which ultimately are inseparable from revenue), your personal integrity and being able to sleep at night to begin with!!

Lesson: Be confident.

Comment and let me know your tips on getting the client to keep coming back.