Let’s say you are in the middle of working on something you need to have to your paying client in an hour and the phone rings with a cold lead on the other end.  Your first inclination of course, is to take the time and speak with this person because, duh, it’s potential new business! 

You spend the time on the phone only to hang up frustrated.  At the top of the call the prospect stated how quickly they wanted to move forward on finding a resource for their bookkeeping only to hang up 45 minutes later without a way to contact them back!  Now you need to scramble to complete the work for your paying client which needs to be to them in 15 minutes.  You’re angry with yourself for having wasted time talking to this prospect and now you are under the gun to get your client what they need.

Okay, so that didn’t work out so well.   What do you do in these instances? 

If you are a solo-provider or do not have a dedicated person on staff to answer phones.  It’s very simple don’t answer your phone while completing client work, especially when there’s a deadline involved!  In my firm, we did not have a full time dedicated person to answer the phone and we followed the practice that when working on a client account we did not answer the telephone.  Instead we had specific, scheduled times where we would pick up messages and return calls.  If you have a dedicated person on staff to answer phones, they can say the following:

“Thank you so much for contacting our firm.  [First Name] is the person who speaks with all prospective clients about our services and he/she is not available right now.  If you would like, we offer a free 30-minute phone consult with [First Name] that I can schedule for you now.”

At this point the cold lead may either schedule the free consult or decide they are not ready to do that at this time.  But either way you are not being pulled from working on a paying client to chase a fire that doesn’t exist.

Want to know more?  Click here to learn more about my 8-step easy-to-use and easy-to-implement process on How to Qualify a Prospect & Work With Clients You Love!

One of the things that has always been important to me, is creating long-term relationships with our clients and whenever, I meet with a prospective client, that is exactly what I tell them.  I make my intentions known upfront by saying, “My firm and I are looking to enter into a working relationship with you that benefits both of us for the long-term.”  This simple statement really sets the tone for our forthcoming working relationship.

Here are the 6 secrets I use in my own firm to create great long-term client relationships.

1.    Be a good listener. By taking the time to identify the needs of your client by asking them questions and concentrating on what they are really saying gives you knowledge.  Knowledge is power.

Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. Be careful to not make assumptions.  Thinking you intuitively know what your client wants can get you into trouble.   Do you know what three outcomes/deliverables that are most important to your client?

2.  Identify and anticipate needs. Your clients are not buying your services – they are buying solutions to a problem they are experiencing.  When we begin working with a new client, we review all of the requirements/deadlines they may experience throughout the year.  This enables us to be proactive and anticipate upcoming needs well in advance.

3.  Make your clients feel important and appreciated. In my firm we have created a client appreciation system where we are in contact with our clients throughout the year, letting them know how much we appreciate their business and care about what is going on with them.  So when one of our clients obtained their 20th client, which is a very big deal for them, we automatically sent them a celebration cookie bouquet to share in their triumph.

People value sincerity – it creates good will and feelings of trust.  Clients are very intelligent and will know whether or not you really care about them.

4.    Help your clients to understand your process. You may have the very best process for getting things done and if your clients don’t understand what that is, they will get confused, impatient and angry.  Take the time to explain how your process works, not the nitty gritty details, a broad overview so that they can visualize the way the work is being completed.

5.    Get regular feedback. Encourage and welcome suggestions about how you can improve your services.  This does not mean that you have to incorporate into your process what they are saying but it does give you good insight into what they are thinking.  Find a simple way in which your clients can give you feedback.  My computer host company actually sends me a short survey to complete each time a work order is completed.

6.    Treat your staff well. Employees and subcontractors are your internal clients and deserve to be treated well.  Thank them and find ways to let them know that they are important.  Remember without them, you would be doing all of the work yourself!

Our clients want the best value for their money. Don’t you?!

Whenever we are making a decision to purchase a product or service, we’ll most likely take a look around and compare what we are receiving (quality, benefits and results) to what is being offered for that price point.  We then make our decision to buy based on what we perceive to be the best price for the best value being offered from that comparison.

It should come as no surprise that many business owners have an ongoing struggle with attaching a fair and accurate price to the products and services they offer.

When setting prices for your products and services, remember this golden rule:

perception is everything!

Do you know how your customers view your product or service and what they are willing to pay for it is based upon those perceptions?

Pricing is all about knowing your customers — what they want, what motivates their purchases, and how they feel about the products, services and features they are purchasing. 

To help you determine how your products and services are being perceived by your current client base ask them the questions below.  The answers you receive may surprise you and have you reevaluating your current pricing strategy.

1. How do your customers perceive your product and/or service in terms of value?

2. Do they feel the value being delivered is in alignment with the price they are paying?

3. What benefits do your customers get from your product or service?

4. Are your prices consistent with those benefits?

5. What is the current supply-and-demand of your product or service?

6. Does your product have a recognizable name that allows you the luxury of overpricing?

7. How does your price compare with your competitors’ pricing?
Your products and services will be perceived as high-, moderate-, or low-priced, usually compared to your competition or to your customer’s own notion about what “something like that should cost.”

There is no danger in having the price of your products perceived in any of these ways. It all depends on how you are perceived by your target market.

You want your pricing strategy to be in alignment with the perception of your target market.  For example, being known as “moderate-priced medical-care insurance provider” might make some customers nervous and think they are getting cut-rate medical service. The point is to match the perception of your price to the perceptions of your customers.

If you want to eliminate the peaks and valleys in your workload and always know what’s coming up with your clients so that you can plan your time and not have to work unexpected (and long) overtime, then PAY ATTENTION! This article is for you!

Believe it or not, even during busy season, it’s really a rarity that we work overtime. We typically don’t work overtime. If we have to work a Saturday, that’s very rare. The systems we use help us even out the work.

What’s the SECRET?

Client Planning Systems.

Look, I’m just like you…I’ve worked the long hours, the overtime, the Saturdays…I’ve caught things “in the nick of time”…I was starting to HATE my new business.

Implementing this system made work a pleasure once again and gave me the freedom to run the business the way I wanted to run it…rather than having it run me.

What the Client Planning System will do for you and your business…

The Client Planning System allows you to be systematized and structured, and it simplifies things. It will take you out of the details of the work and have you looking at the big picture for your client. 

The other thing it will do is make you a valuable resource to your client. You’re going to be reminding them of things you don’t necessarily do for them. It looks like you are looking out for their best interest, which in fact you are. That goes a long way in a client relationship.

For example, we don’t do property tax returns for any of our clients. It’s something I chose to not get involved with when I started my firm. Property tax returns for Connecticut towns are due November 1.

In September, we remind the client. We ask if they want us to coordinate with their CPA or whoever is going to be doing it. We’re letting the client know this is due. We’re looking out for their best interest. That goes a long way in a client relationship.

I usually do a lot of Client Planning during the 4th Quarter and then update it quarterly. (Actually, I don’t do it myself…I delegate that task. When you have systems in place, you can delegate with confidence and receive excellent results.)

Here is the step-by-step to creating your very own Client Planning System:

STEP 1: Get all important tax compliance dates from the federal and state governments.

STEP 2: Collect a list of Federal holidays – you need to know when banks are closed.

STEP 3: Create profile for each client and update every quarter. (Set aside time to do this. Calendar it or designate a staff member to do this.)

NOTE: This is the most extensive and involved part of the Client Planning System. There are about 15 items. Once created, it is an IMMENSE timesaver and value provider!

STEP 4: Determine day or days to do client processing.

STEP 5: Create Client Calendars – processing, monthly, quarterly, annual and payroll.

Client Planning Systems give you peace of mind, more time – and definitely more freedom. This is what saved me from closing my doors for good…it allowed me to go from “Fed Up” to “Freedom”. It can do the same for you!