How to Become a Great Client
How to Become a Great Client
Here are five unquestionable ways to becoming a good client:
Pay Your Bill on Time
Admittedly, this is overstating the obvious, but it’s no fun for service providers to have to chase down payment for services rendered. If you deliver a product or service on time and to spec, you expect to get paid on time, right? Why would you want to make someone do something you wouldn’t do yourself? Paying your bill on time eliminates stress for both parties so do both parties a favor by being on time with your payments.
Don’t Question Methodologies
When you walk into a restaurant, you typically do so with the expectation of receiving quality food cooked appropriately. It’s doubtful that you question the methodologies for preparing your order. The same concept applies to consultants and service providers. If you seek outside assistance, let those professionals do what they do best. After-all, that’s what you hired them to do isn’t it?
Listen to Your Consultant’s Advice
Consultants wear many different hats and stay up to date on many aspects of business which qualifies them to solve many problems. If you seek advice, have the guts to really listen versus dismissing it as inapplicable to your particular situation. You might just solve a problem or improve things more rapidly along with deepening a relationship in the process.
Offer Consistent Constructive Feedback
Consultants get a bad rep for being “know it all” types that don’t listen, but that’s a misnomer with top tier consultants especially those with smaller firms. They genuinely wish to better their business, too so be proactive by offering constructive feedback when an opportunity arises. If handled properly, your feedback will be a welcomed source of useful information.
Send a Testimonial Letter
Any service provider lives off of documented successes as a way to attract new clients. If you encounter a service provider that does a good job, document that success in a testimonial letter to that company. Not only will this validate the accomplishments, but it will help your business generate some positive PR. More often than not, service providers will share testimonials on their website with a link to your site included especially if there are specific quantified results outlined within the letter. Remember, success begets success.
There you have five proven ways to become a good client to a trusted advisor, consultant, or service provider. Try implementing each of them over time where warranted, and please share your success stories with us.
How to Become a Great Client - To learn more about this author, visit Roger Bauer's Website.
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As a consultant, I’m always trying to find ways to provide better service to my clients along with delivering more value for what they pay me. Whether it is a little piece of advice that helps in an area on the periphery of the services I provide or connecting a client with a resource totally unrelated, the focus is always on giving the customer what they need. That got me to thinking about what the customer could do in return to ensure a win-win relationship with consultants or any service provider.
Here are five unquestionable ways to becoming a good client:
Pay Your Bill on Time
Admittedly, this is overstating the obvious, but it’s no fun for service providers to have to chase down payment for services rendered. If you deliver a product or service on time and to spec, you expect to get paid on time, right? Why would you want to make someone do something you wouldn’t do yourself? Paying your bill on time eliminates stress for both parties so do both parties a favor by being on time with your payments.
Don’t Question Methodologies
When you walk into a restaurant, you typically do so with the expectation of receiving quality food cooked appropriately. It’s doubtful that you question the methodologies for preparing your order. The same concept applies to consultants and service providers. If you seek outside assistance, let those professionals do what they do best. After-all, that’s what you hired them to do isn’t it?
Listen to Your Consultant’s Advice
Consultants wear many different hats and stay up to date on many aspects of business which qualifies them to solve many problems. If you seek advice, have the guts to really listen versus dismissing it as inapplicable to your particular situation. You might just solve a problem or improve things more rapidly along with deepening a relationship in the process.
Offer Consistent Constructive Feedback
Consultants get a bad rep for being “know it all” types that don’t listen, but that’s a misnomer with top tier consultants especially those with smaller firms. They genuinely wish to better their business, too so be proactive by offering constructive feedback when an opportunity arises. If handled properly, your feedback will be a welcomed source of useful information.
Send a Testimonial Letter
Any service provider lives off of documented successes as a way to attract new clients. If you encounter a service provider that does a good job, document that success in a testimonial letter to that company. Not only will this validate the accomplishments, but it will help your business generate some positive PR. More often than not, service providers will share testimonials on their website with a link to your site included especially if there are specific quantified results outlined within the letter. Remember, success begets success.
There you have five proven ways to become a good client to a trusted advisor, consultant, or service provider. Try implementing each of them over time where warranted, and please share your success stories with us.
How to Become a Great Client - To learn more about this author, visit Roger Bauer's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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