Ideal Clients for your Business
Do you know who your ideal client is? This is relevant for all types of businesses and every business should know what their ideal client looks like and also how to manage them.
By developing a clear understanding of who your ideal client is you reduce the risk of working with a client that will not suit your business. The client that will not suit your business is the one that tries to get you to do the things that you don’t do. For example, if you don’t want clients who haggle prices, contact you late at night (expecting a response), don’t value your time etc.
As business owners we, all fear saying no to a prospective client as we all have bills to pay. Saying no can, however, free you up to do business with the right clients!
Potential Clients Checklist
- A willingness to invest and not just look for the cheapest price
- Understanding that a contract and schedule of payments is standard
- A readiness to listen and move forward with recommendations from you the professional
- Has the ability to make decisions or will assign a decision-maker rather than several decision-makers
- Has an idea of where they are going and why they need your services
- Knows how to respect your time for deadlines, arriving on time to meetings and not constantly rescheduling, not extending every conversation longer than it needs to be, not constantly asking for more than was agreed.
Potential problems with no Checklist
Scope Creep
Creative businesses, graphic designer, web design, freelance, service business, etc. will all be familiar with something called “scope creep”. This is where the client constantly asks for more and more which they feel they need or deserve as part of their service.
Hourly rate
Scope creep will affect your hourly rate or income overall as the more time you spend the more watered down your quote becomes. It also cuts into the time you could be working on other clients or generating new clients. Lastly and worst of all is that the client may be so terrible that you have to chase them for the payment for your services. Remember that having clients that are not your ideal clients will hurt your business in many ways.
Business
These non-ideal clients are potentially harmful to your business. They may drop you at the last minute or leave a bad review because you didn’t meet their overstretching demands. The final result may not be something that you are proud of as a business.
Conclusion
- Communicating your rules ensures that you both know where you sit.
- Having a written agreement which outlines your requirements means there is no room for conversation.
- You and your ideal clients will have a strong relationship
- Your business will evolve with clients that appreciate you and your business
- Recommendations are more likely to follow as the good fit is easy
- Your income remains where you expect it to be
- Business growth is inevitable
If you need help building your ideal client checklist, contact Kelly @ My Sassy Business
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