5 ways to lose a client
Getting clients to your proverbial door is only part of the challenge. After you have won them over to your business, the real work begins. Someone else is always waiting to take your place. In today’s marketplace, there are many ways to remedy the five client-cutting mistakes I’ll describe. Although this is targeted to the technical services field, it can be applied to other disciplines.
Five Ways to Lose a Client (and how to prevent them from happening)
1. Stop Communicating
This is one of the largest problems freelancers and small business owners face when workloads pickup. The tendency to get bogged down getting things done overwhelms the need to let clients know if there will be a delay or that a product hasn’t arrived yet. In web design, continuous communication is needed to make sure that you understand what the client is meaning, rather than just what they are saying.
Do you have a client you haven’t heard from lately? Email or call them to see if there is a product or service they need that you can provide. Ask them how their business is going and what trends they are seeing in their field of work. People like to be asked questions, because it gives them a chance to speak. Don’t make the mistake of just asking the questions for the sake of asking them, try to find out what direction your client’s business is taking. Find out if they are growing, or if the economy downturn is affecting their field. Knowing that extra piece of information about your client’s business may give you and edge over the competition, or help you find a niche other solution providers are not filling.
2. Don’t give advice
Your clients chose you because they believe you to be the best in your field. They want to know what you think in your area of expertise. If you sell and repair computers, don’t give them advice on political parties, but take what your learned from #1 above and offer advice on how new technology could impact their business. If you notice they are still archiving paper records and running out of storage, suggest electronic archival (with backup of course). When you suggest new ways of doing things, everyone wins. You get revenue and your client gets a burden taken from their back.
3.Overbill them
Your clients work hard for their money and overbilling them could lead them to believe it was intentional, especially if they haven’t been working with you a long period of time. I once sold a client a storage device that turned out to be defective. I happened to have another on hand, so I took it to their office and installed it, picking up the old one while I was there. At the same time I sold them another storage device of a different model and installed it for a different purpose. Later that week they called to ask if I had mistakenly billed them twice(fortunately, they had been long term clients and we communicate pretty well - see #1). I explained that one bill was for the device, and one was for the second model, not the defective’s replacement. After carefully comparing bill numbers and totals, they recognized that they were two separate bills and everything was fine.
If communication hadn’t been well-established prior, I may have lost a client, without cause. Over-billing is a dangerous mistake to make and can have long-term consequences. Someone who is over-billed will be quick to tell someone else if your business’ name comes up in conversation.
Keep a policy of double-your-money-back if over-billing occurs. Even, and especially if you notice it and the client does not. Without calling, simply write a short note and a check for double the over-billed amount and mail it to them, calling to follow up in a week or so to be sure it was received. It will make a good impression and keep your client list healthy.
4. Talk about them to other clients
Have a client that made a “dumb” mistake? Is a client’s business slowing down? Don’t mention it to other clients or friends. If someone tells me something about someone else, I have no doubt they’ll repeat something about me to someone else. Your client’s privacy should be closely guarded. If you use a past experience with someone as an example of something, be sure to leave out any names, or timelines that could reveal the origin, and don’t say anything you wouldn’t want the other client to hear. If your clients know they can trust you with their reputation, they will know they can trust you with their work.
5. Never do anything for free
Do you have clients that occasionally call with a technical question that takes 15-20 minutes to answer? Do they ever see you at the store or your place of worship and ask you for some advice? Don’t charge them for it. Make it clear to your clients that you back up your work and can help out with smaller things without sending them a bill. There may be some that abuse this convenience, but most won’t. They will know that their business is important to you and that you care about their livelihood.
BONUS: 6. Charge them for your mistakes
Did you make a mistake while working at their site and it caused a problem? While updating their website, did you misconfigure something? Fix it right away and be sure not to include the time it took to correct it, when you bill them for the project. And while we’re on the subject of mistakes, if you make one, admit it. They’ll appreciate the honesty.
Afterthoughts:
Making mistakes is human and we all do it. If we were perfect, we’d be getting paid a lot more. My goal in this article is to help you notice mistakes you may be making without realizing it, and help you avoid problems before they arise.
If you have other client-cutting mistakes to avoid, post them in the contents!
