hover around at the higher end of the fee structure, where you can compete in prestige. What about an average fee? The middle fee segment is interesting because it puts you in an "invisible" area as far as the market is concerned (where more supply is concentrated).
This book wants you to obtain 100% visibility!
A lower fee does not mean more clients. It just means being like the rest. In business, being equal to the competition is cheap. Do you want to be cheap?
If you're going to compete, compete on quality and differentiation. As I said, “price wars” always lead to a bad ending because they ruin all the contenders. If you compete, do so at the high end of rates, or find other reasons to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
In addition, a low fee creates distrust in the market. Would you buy cologne for six Euros? I'm afraid not. Value has its own price. It happens to everyone: cheap ends up being expensive. For God's sake, do not be a cheap professional product with a plain white label on the shelf in a large area. Differentiate yourself!
4
Choose Your Ideal Clients
Do you choose your friends? Do you choose your partners? Of course! What a question. So I do not see why you wouldn’t also choose the people who will be an important part of your day: your clients. Have you figured out how much time you spend with them?
The first thing that must be clear in your mind is that you cannot offer a useful service to everyone, so you should carefully select your clientele.
Someone who has money does not make him the ideal client, be clear about this. Money is not the reason people work with you: no, no, and no!
Do not think anyone and everyone should be your client. Just think: if everyone were to be your client, then no one is your client. As the adage says, wanting to be everything to everyone will lead to nothing for all. Remove the people who you believe are not a priority, and devote your time instead to those you want to give priority to. Work only with clients who inspire you, and whom you wish to inspire. Work in such a way that this is optimised both ways.
Author David Maister was clear: "Why spend most of your life working with acceptable clients in matters that are ordinary and tolerable, when, with a little effort into client relations, marketing and sales, you could spend your days working on interesting people on exciting issues?"
You need to answer these questions first: Who is my ideal client? Who do I meet in my profession? I imagine that clients will take advantage of your work, no doubt about that.
Who is your ideal client?
Watch out for three characteristics:
1) They are asking for more services or products because they perceive that these services and products are valuable.
2) They make the best of you as a professional.
3) They refer other people to you.
You will know your ideal client because you enjoy the relationship and he does not decrease your energy levels.
If you love your clients, you will enjoy your profession. You'll be fine. If you feel uncomfortable with your clients, everything will go wrong. Professionals who enjoy their work feel good, improving and making the best of themselves because it is in their nature. They don’t see it as an obligation but as a necessity. Apply the Japanese technique of continuous improvement (kaizen).
If you enjoy your working relationships, you will feel good, things will go well, you help people, and you fill up your schedule.
You have to understand that you are your clients. I will repeat this just to be clear: you are your clients and your clients are you. It is a mutual reflection. Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you what kind of person you are. Professionally, that’s 100% true.
Imagine that you are an image consultant. But you’re scruffy, unkempt, dirty, messy and untidy. And then you’re going around proudly telling everyone you're an image consultant. Just imagine what a walking advertisement you make. You’re ruined, you are bad press, a curse. You can’t afford to advertise like that!
Who would you like to be identified with?
Do not work with people who do not understand, value, appreciate and apply what you have worked on together. To whom would you refer a client who is not ideal? Exactly, another client is not ideal when he drains you of your energy. When all clients are "not ideal" business will close.
Proceed to identify with whom you want to work; it will be useful to start with them because they define for you who you do NOT want to work with. Identify behaviours and attitudes, in addition to those features that you’re not interested in working on. Make a list. Stop reading this book. Do it now before you forget. It's as easy as making a shopping list of things you don’t want to buy.
Got it? Now put it in reverse and list the characteristics of the ideal client you want to work with. You need to work with a niche clientele whom you have defined as strategic clients. Stay away from clients who don’t fit into that niche. Businesses that try to win clients worldwide just end up closing their doors.
I remember my bank training in the savings account department where I was office manager. As I opened a new office, I felt pressured to attract new clients which lowered the bar, leading me to accept clients with doubtful accounts.
Within a year, I had an office full of clients who gave me more problems than satisfaction. It took me more than two years to get rid of them and soothe the scares felt by the department of risk and debt recoveries. I learned my lesson from that moment: I sent the new non-ideal clients who came to my office to our competitors, and after that everything got better.
There is nothing wrong with non-ideal clients. They might be ideal for your colleagues, but not for you. Period. You can make exceptions, as in everything in life, but make few, very few exceptions. Try not to walk away from your ideal client base or your clients will keep you away from your dream project. When that happens, you will no longer enjoy your work and you'll start thinking about quitting. And leaving is just a matter of time.
Choose clients who inspire and energise you. The rewards are amazing. Take that leap of faith, give up what does not excite you, and make space for those that give you energy. I can almost hear what you’re saying: "As things stand, and with the competition to consider, I cannot afford to choose, I take it out ...." I tell you that this strategy has taken numerous professionals down. There’s bread today but tomorrow, there will be hunger. Trust me on this.
Obviously, you can gradually raise your bar but do not start with a level lower than what you consider acceptable, or else you’re going to pay for it later.
Your first task is to define your ideal client:
• Who is he and what’s he like?
• What are you looking for?
• What problems or challenges do you face?
• What solutions are needed?
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