Here we are again and I am trying to get you to seriously think about the clients or customers that you have or want.

In order to do this I have prepared a series of questions that will help you to drill down into the depths of what actually are your Goals in regards to your customers.

In my previous posts I have covered only one question but today I think that three questions are inextricably linked so I will address each in no particular order.

The first question which is arguably the most discerning is:-

Are they the client that you really want or need?

Much will depend on your marketing. Have you focused correctly or taken the scattergun approach. This in turn will depend on whether you are looking for high volume and low returns or Low volume with greater returns. You will be aware that both models are in existence but not al ways successful. You will need to consider the ethos of your business to decide which best suits but you will also need to be able to know and adopt the 80/20 rules. If you are unaware of these then I suggest a little research will yield impressive results.

The next question is:-

Are they just a nuisance?

Again this is an open ended question and will be answered differently in individual cases. For example I had reason to use a property Lawyer and found the level of service below that which I expected so was frequently chasing. I am sure by that Lawyer I was perceived as a nuisance however had I been kept informed as to the status of the transaction the level of my contact will have been reduced and therefore I will have been perceived as a model client(If one actually exists). So here again it is a matter of managing your clients expectations of your organisation.

If you consider your clients or customers are a nuisance then with respect you are in the wrong career as without them you will have no one to supply either your goods or services. This brings us nicely onto the final question of this post

Do you have a positive approach to comments and or complaints from your clients?

I hope that your answer is in the affirmative since your customers are the life blood of your business. You can learn an infinite amount of information from your clients comments but do you have the tools to capture this data. If you do then your business can be made profitable very quickly since you will be given the secret of why you are being used in preference to your competitors or just as important why you have not been successful in obtaining or retaining the client. Your team and you must train your ears to hear and make a note of the information.It will make or break your business.

So what about complaints! Again if handled well and on the basis that the client is always right not only may you retain them but you may also turn them into clients who will be your best referrers of business. Handle it badly and you will lose everything.

So my advice is to put the most capable of your team into the frontline of dealing with complaints with a very free rein on what they can agree in order to satisfy the client. You will find such a strategy will reap rewards in the medium to long term.

I hope you have found this of interest and look forward to dealing with the final  comments on this subject shortly. Until then have a great time implementing some of the strategies suggested.