Getting Good Clients and Making Bad Clients Good

09/15/2007

Before I begin, let me just preface what I am about to say by disclaiming the notion that I am trying to lay claim to an idea as my own, this topic is talked about heavily amongst business professionals and I'm simply offering my point of view on the matter.

Now that you've been properly disclaimed, let's proceed.

I've been working for marketing/advertising companies for the better part of my professional life. Throughout that time, I've found myself leading an interactive team or heading a web department - which in turn regularly puts me sitting across the desk of someone who's responsibility it is to bring in new business to the company. The topic of these discussions is often centered around the best strategy for brining in such new business.

We talk about what factors drive new business decisions and how best to maintain the overall health of the company. The discussion is always flavored slightly different depending on the people in the room. If another employee, department head, or CEO is included, they bring their expectations to the discussion and the New Business person will make adjustments and speak to all of them respectively.

You see, the New Business person is often under a lot of pressure. Depending on their arrangement with the company, he/she might have a commission structure, salary, or both. Bonuses might be offered based on number of new projects brought in to the company, profit, or simply a flat rate percentage of each project. They might be further compensated for bringing in certain types of clients, regardless of the profitability.

However they are compensated, that will be the motivating factor which drives new business for the company they work for. New Business professionals are like everyone else, they want to do well, they want to be patted on the back and told they're doing a great job. The employer gets to say how that pat will be given (monetarily or figuratively). In most of the companies I worked at, we had one person fully dedicated to new business and all of the AEs (Account Executives) split their time between client services and new business initiatives.

There are two main types of strategies to sell anything. I'm simplifying this of course, because I'm not a sales person, so I'll trust they'll correct any mistakes I make herein.

1. The Hard Sell
You already know the hard sell if you've purchased a car. Chances are the sales person who worked with you was using this technique. The identifying characteristics of this method are two fold. One, the sales person will perform in such a way that gives you, the consumer, the impression that every possible thing is being done to keep you happy. "The customer is always right", phrase was born from the hard sell.

Secondly, and more importantly to the sales person, he/she offers pressure to the consumer, they'll try to imply that the contingencies of a successful sale are so delicate that a purchase must occur quickly, lest they become unavailable should too much time pass. The sales person acts from a position of helplessness. Often playing off the authority of their manager, who, at the moment, is inaccessible to you. "Act now", "while supplies last", "only for tonight" - all common phrases leveraged within this technique. It's all meant to get yo to buy without putting much thought into it.

Amazingly this technique is quite effective. The second largest purchase people usually make is a car. And throughout a typical life, people buy more cars then they buy houses. So it remains to be relevant to point out the fact that most cars are sold in this manner. It shows without a doubt that this method works with a significant population of people.

The hard sell is used in other industries as well. Marketing and Advertising companies use this method to sell products and services to their clients and their client's clients. It's a numbers game. If a business owner wants to see an increase in a particular metric, they typically use the hard sell, as it creates a rapid amount of sales in a relatively short amount of time.

2. The Soft Sell
The soft sell is somewhat of a new concept in the life of sales and marketing. Unlike the hard sell, it is based on the idea that the product, not the sales person, makes the sale. Because of its relative immaturity, it might not surprise you to know that it works most effectively on young people. And it is really through their increased consumption of products that has increased the popularity of the soft sell.

Fifteen years ago, fifteen year olds didn't buy many products, now fifteen year olds have a significant influence on the products purchased by their families.

Unlike the hard sell, the sales person provides little to no pressure to the consumer. They extend options and serve more as an educator than that of a sales person. Their job is to inform the consumer of the products/services that their company sells. They explain why one should buy from the company, but, in a sense, leave it up to the consumer to drive the timeline by which a purchase occurs. Very often this method requires a lot more energy by the sales person, and so it takes more time to close the deal.

The benefits of a soft sell approach are felt by the consumer. They are given a sense of control and allowed to study the products/services and judge for themselves untainted by the trappings of a persuasive personality.

So, now knowing all of this, which method should your company use? Well generally speaking, the soft sell is the better method. However it has two significant disadvantages, it requires a quality product and a fair amount of time. Without a quality product at the end of a prolonged courtship the consumer is going to feel cheated. The product or service has to stand on it's own two feet. Also, because of the time investment, it only works if the business owner has the patience so stick it out.

Very often companies make the mistake of thinking that they can let the selling process define themselves as the leaders in their respective markets, and therefor imply that their product is the best on the market. This is a costly mistake, as the early adopters of their products and services now have more ways of communicating their unfulfilled expectations to the rest of the world. That type of short-term thinking can cause the company to develop a bad reputation.

If competition is high in your industry, you should look closely at the hard sell technique, but in all other cases, I've found the soft sell as the better long-term method to sustain a healthy influx of new clients.

At TheoryThree, I have adopted a method and a process by which an interactive project is accomplished. I'm informing potential clients of that process. I believe it to be a value to my current clients as well.

I am not a sales person, I just don't possess that skill. If I had to live by that skill set, I wouldn't make it the first month. Instead, I have to let my company live by the service I offer. It is through absolute belief in that, which has garnered the successes I've felt throughout my professional career.

More recently I've come to realize that the method by which you sell yourself defines the initial expectations that your clients will have of you. If you say you're better, you better prove it. In contrast, if you devalue yourself or your company, your clients will pick up where you left off. Sensing the self-doubt, they'll try to consume from you in the exact way that you're selling to them. An unbalanced and distrusted relationship will occur though such circumstances. A bad client is born.

Instead, maintain a responsible sense of what you can do for your clients. Never over promise and remember, like your mom so often told you, honesty is the best policy.

Shortly after starting my own company I was having lunch with a client of mine. He was outlining a few projects he wanted me to do for his company. He had an expansive list in front of him, and was sharing the budgets of these projects with me.

As he went down the page, he came to a project which he described as large. Because I am unable to go into the details of the project, let me see if I can inform you of the scope by sharing the proposed budget. It was a $250,000 project.

Here I was two weeks into a new company, and I had a project within my reach which was just over two and a half times my annual salary at the time. The only tiny problem with the project is that it didn't need to be created by me. It had already been created as a service by a third party vendor. Unbeknownst to my client, his quarter of a million dollar project was something he could get for about $40/month through another company. He just simply didn't know.

I was faced with a decision as he slid the paper to my side of the table. I could lie to my client, cash in the check and try to find the resources to make it all work. Or I could be honest - inform him that this project wasn't a good fit for me, and inform him of the service I was aware of.

Of course, I wouldn't be telling you this story if I lied, but let me also assure you I won't continue this story without further disclosing that I did pause. My immediate thought wasn't pure. Albeit less than a second, it was tempting to make it all happen. But I chose to be open and honestly inform him of his options.

In the marketing/advertising world they call that "leaving money on the table." I call it building good customer relations.

I still have that client. We openly discuss all the things clients and venders aren't to discuss. I share with them my billable rates, hourly breakdowns and even financial goals. They, in turn, share budgets and honest expectations from the projects we work on.

I've even helped them find and work with a competitor of mine, because I knew they were better suited to accomplish the project than I was. I know it sounds strange, but when they call me up, I feel good working with them. I know they understand the value of what I do, they tell me every time we talk. And I value the way they do business. They're respectful of my time. When they come to me with a tough deadline, I can count on the fact that it's not a hoax to get the work done faster. I've made the promise to them directly - never to lie or mislead them. If I don't know the answer to their questions, I tell them. To put it more succinctly, we respect each other.

Now I know what you must be thinking. Is this guy for real? Not all clients are this way, maybe small clients do business over a handshake, but the larger corporations don't play that game. Well, point of fact, more recently I was able to successfully dispel that misconception when I was asked to work with Kohl's Corporation.

Kohl's is a fortune 200 company. In May of 2007, they asked me to visit their corporate office to discuss a project. I was told, we can't tell you anything about the project over the phone, you'll be asked to sign our NDA (non disclosure agreement) so you will not be able to talk about the project details with anyone, let us know if you're interested.

I was, however not wanting to waste their time, I insisted that I be allowed to bring a friend of mine along. He owns his own interactive company as well, and specializes in high-level Flash development. Not knowing the details of the project, I wanted them to have the right person, even if it wasn't me. On the drive down my friend and I agreed to let whoever was best suited for the project have the work, no matter how it was split.

Establishing a relationship with a company that makes over 15 billion a year in sales can be a bit intimidating. I didn't have a company to hide behind, I was putting myself out there and I didn't want to start things off by making the common misstep of over promising to them.

After arriving at their office, we met and fully disclosed our skills to those present. We were met with open arms. The people extended all the common courtesies and informed us of their intent to work with both of us. We were immediately treated as experts in our respective fields, our opinions were solicited and provided.

Upon the conclusion of the meeting, we were awarded the project. The project has evolved and extended several times and is now slated to have phases released as far out as 2008/09. Throughout the process, I held to my end of the deal, and they have responded in-kind.

This is the basis for which I will continue operate my company. Honesty, openness. I promise...

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