Wave Goodbye and Say Hello

Ever had a client that just doesn’t fit? No matter how much you try, it’s junior school all over again where you’re desperately trying to cram your Size 8 feet into your favorite running shoes that are a Size 7. Ouch!

You muscle through, dreading each email or phone call with them, kvetching to your other half (bless their soul for putting up with the ongoing Client X drama) and resenting their business because it’s making your life miserable. According to the Pareto Principle, they are the 20% of your client base that takes up 80% of your time, causing the other 80% of your customers to not receive quality customer service from you. See where this is going? Downhill. Fast. Like the Crazy Canucks ski team.

But a customer is a customer and must be nurtured at all costs, right?  Not only do we live in a world where the “customer is always right” but stats show that it costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one (Bain & Company). So you grit your teeth and carry on because it’s what you do in business.

But what if you did exactly what you did with those Size 7 sneakers when they no longer fit?

Get rid of them.

Radical, I know. But in order to have healthy growth you need to trim the deadwood.

 

It’s scary to let go of a client. I did it once and it scared the crap out of me because they were our only event for the month. But I realized it was the best decision for them, myself and my company. Were they happy with me for firing them? Well, no. But I knew that if we were to continue pushing through, it wasn’t going to get any better. Customer service industries like wedding planning are highly subjective and largely relationship based – without affinity between the client and provider, it’s impossible to have a positive experience for either party. You need to be magnets (the two ends connecting, not repelling each other).

It wasn’t an easy decision but I’d been down this road a few times over the years and every time I swore like a drunken sailor on a Shanghai shore leave that I’d never suffer through a bad client relationship again. Like a blind date set up by your grandma, it never, ever ends well. No matter what you do, how hard you try or how much you go above and beyond for them, they aren’t happy with you because they are a square peg and you are a round hole. Oil and water. Kanye and Taylor. Some things just don’t go together.

What makes a client fire-able?

• lack of respect for you and/or your staff (like Aretha said, R-E-S-P-E-C-T)
• abusive behavior (ain’t nobody got time for that)
• breach of contract or not adhering to terms and conditions (they don’t want to play by the rules? Pick up your bat and your ball and go home)
• lack of integrity/illegal activity (unless you knowingly work for Tony Soprano and are OK with it)
• wanting continual discounts/insisting on old pricing (you are not the $1 Store)
• change in your business model (they’re a dial-up, you’ve gone digital = time to move on)

So how do you go about firing a client who’s not a good match?

First – with as much compassion and professionalism as you can muster from the depths of your soul. We are all humans and being rejected is painful, especially by someone paid to help you. Give an explanation as to why you’re severing the ties.

They can be for purely business reasons, personal circumstances or, the hardest one of all, the honest approach that you aren’t a good fit.

“After in-depth research, our company has decided to focus on a specific segment of our clientele that are in best alignment with our future goals. Unfortunately, with these changes, we are saddened to say that we are no longer the best fit for your business. “

“It’s been a great experience working with you but unfortunately, due to personal reasons, I am not able to assist you with XX as of XX date. I am so sorry for this inconvenience and please do know it was not a decision taken lightly but the circumstances are such that I am left with no alternative.” (if you want to elaborate on the highly personal reason, you can but not necessary). 

“Lately, it seems that our working relationship has been experiencing a number of challenges. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are the company best suited to ensure your success. “

Suggest a Plan B and Plan C – it may seem crazy to send your competition business but it makes the client feel that you are looking out for their best interests and, if we are being truly diabolical, it ties up your competitor with a time-wasting/high-maintenance customer. *strikes a Dr. Evil pose whilst laughing maniacally 

“Perhaps Company X or Company Y may be better able to assist you in reaching your goals. Both are well-respected in the industry and either would be an asset to your team. I’ve included their contact information here.”

Give a date as to when the relationship is over and what action steps you’ll be taking to wrap things up.

As of X date, my company will not longer be able to assist you on Y (whatever job you were hired for). Thank you for your understanding and please find below what actions you can expect from us to be completed by X date. 

If they have paid you any kind of a retainer or a deposit for future work that may become a sticking point, offer a full or partial refund upfront so you’ve nipped any discussion in the bud. Outline how and when you’ll be refunding them.

If they get nasty, keep it short and professional.

“Your feedback is appreciated, however, our decision is final. As mentioned earlier, here is what you can expect from us by X date.”

And, ideally, do the deed over the phone rather than by email. After all, no one likes to get dumped in a text.

Being successful in business isn’t always about more but knowing when to let go. It requires being fearless and knowing that the short term loss will result in a long-game goal.

Oh, and that client I let go? Two other clients hired us within a week for the same month. Bigger (and more profitable) events with customers who fit like a glove.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Amazing Power of NO

NO.

It’s a short, powerful word that we add to our vocabulary pretty early in life, driving parents crazy around the age of two as we repeat it ad nauseum. But as we grow older, we don’t say it as much, because we don’t want to offend or hurt someone’s feelings. If you’re a people pleaser (guilty as charged), it usually gets stuck mid-throat and rather than fight with the larynx to let it out, we end up shaking our head in the affirmative with a fake smile plastered on for good measure because we want the other person to be happy. To like us – it’s middle school all over again.

Can you work late? – Sure!

Would you like to go to the dance with me?-  Yes!

Could you give me a discount? – OK.

We’ve just screwed ourselves over by committing to something we really, really didn’t want to because we’re afraid of making the other person upset. There is no escape pod to jettison out on, no turning back, no graceful way out without upsetting the other party and looking like a jerk. So we grit our teeth and push on through, silently fuming about it as the black pit of resentment grows deep in our bowels.

Ugh. What a horrible way to live.

What’s worse is the insidiousness of acrimony, quietly gnawing away at relationships like a cancer, eroding trust and camaraderie little bit by little bit until there is an anger filling in all the empty spaces. All because of one little word that was never uttered.

Well, no more, my friends. It’s time to embrace the NO. Own it, make it yours, be unabashedly upfront for your fondness for it. NO creates velvet-roped boundaries that must be heeded. NO creates respect for your time, your knowledge, your love and your service. NO leaves a place for you in a world with an insatiable appetite to gobble all.

Now this isn’t a Get Out of Jail card to go all Joffrey from Game of Thrones since the idea is not to piss everyone off to the point they want to kill you in the most painful way possible. Rather, it’s about sharing what you are able to offer. It’s not a rejection of the other person but respecting them and yourself enough to create an honest dialogue.  Or as the Piano Man once crooned, “honesty is such a lonely word and all I really want from you.”

The thing about NO is that it can be said in many other ways that are kinder, gentler but still truthful. How do you do this?

a) use positive language so a NO sounds more like a YES

Would you like to go to the dance with me? – Thank you so much for the invitation. It’s wonderful you’d think of me. I’m so sorry but no, I’m not able to. I’m sure you’ll still have a great time even if I’m not your dance partner!

b) try to offer an alternative  solution

Can you work late? – I’d love to spend more time on this project but unfortunately, I have other commitments today so, no,  I can’t stay. Let’s see how I can help during the rest of the week. 

c) give a detailed explanation

Could you give me a discount? – I’d love to work with you on this but the price is firm so I’m not able to give you a discount. What I can do, however, is give you (XYZ) as a bonus. How does that sound?

Not so hard, right? No one walks away feeling like the other person is an ass, you don’t feel like you’ve given away the farm for a one-way ticket to Sucky Town and everyone feels  they’ve negotiated for their best interests. Win/win.

Don’t fear the NO. Take it and wrap it lovingly within a velvet glove to be gently offered, as one would to a gentleman upon alighting from a carriage (maybe I’ve watched Pride and Prejudice once too many times).

Be fear-less but gentle for NO is a powerful ally. Make it yours.

How I Learned Fear-Less Selling By Driving a 4 x 4

Many moons ago, I sold cars for a living. Old cars, new cars, red cars, blue cars – I sold them all. A lot of them. But the first day I walked into that Suzuki dealership to start my short but illustrious career in auto sales, I knew nothing about cars, other than put the key in the ignition, turn it and pray it goes. Fact is, I’m a bit of a Luddite so overhead cams, fuel-injection and 16 valves could have been part of heart surgery for all I knew. Yet somehow I got lucky and sold my first car that day.

Very lucky.

Right after I closed the sale and the moment of elation faded, I realized that if I was going to make any money in this business, I was going to have to put my big girl pants on and figure out what the hell I was doing.

So I decided to get to know the vehicles. Intimately (no, not that way). When things were slow on the floor, I’d head into the shop to chat with the mechanics, asking questions about the engines, how things worked, just what the heck WAS a double-overhead cam and why did it matter. I learned and then brought that knowledge about our cars to my customers. And it worked. Within a couple of months, I was the top seller and got lucky again when the Nissan dealership wooed me to work for them.

Very lucky.

Because Nissan was a fabulous company, with excellent vehicles (and much better profit margins). But most importantly, they believed in educating their sales teams on not only about their own vehicles, but about their competitors’ offerings as well. Pure genius.

So once a month, we’d attend a full-day workshop with other Nissan dealers where the morning was spent going over all the specs of each vehicle – where ours dominated and didn’t. Jeep, Toyota, Ford – we picked each one apart from tip to tailpipe, the good, the bad, the stuff they’d rather not talk about.

But after lunch is when the real learning took place, when we got behind the wheel of each vehicle and test drove them in succession and into submission. We spared no mercy, especially when we were comparing the Nissan Pathfinder against the Jeep Cherokee, the Toyota Forerunner and the Ford Explorer. They let us loose on a farmer’s field with hills and mud (which probably seemed like a good idea on paper) to see just what kind of abuse each 4X4 could withstand (quite a bit, apparently).

Once back at the dealership, I’d share all this fantabulous, first-hand experience with my customers. I approached each client with a fearlessness, because I  was confident in my knowledge, my experience, my ability to discuss how superior my product was in meeting the client’s needs.

“I know you’re not just looking at the Pathfinder,” I’d say, ” because you’re an informed consumer, so when you head over to the Toyota dealer, notice how the Forerunner is basically the body of their pickup truck made into a passenger vehicle. Feel how rough the ride is compared to the Pathfinder, which has been engineered specifically as a 4 x 4.” Etc. etc. etc.

Customers were shocked. Here, instead of the typical “sleazy” sales pitch, was a thoughtful, informative discussion about the various product options.  I was viewed by my clients as an expert, not someone trying to turn a quick buck. They trusted my opinion, they trusted my knowledge, they trusted me. So they bought. Then they recommended me to their friends, and they bought.  And then they recommended me to their friends, and so on and so on and so on.

I learned the secret to fearlessly selling that day in the 4X4 – know your product, and your competitors’, inside-out.  Nobody likes to be sold to but everybody wants an expert to show them what is best to help them.

Be the expert. Don’t sell…show. 

 

In a World of White Bread, Be a Baguette

Think of how many messages you’re bombarded with daily. Gazillions (and that’s no exaggeration). Out of all these words and images vying for your precious attention (and it is precious), what do you remember? The ones that are out of the ordinary or the ones that pack no punch?

Too often in business we’re taught to communicate in a certain way, in an innocuous way, to not rock the boat or in any way possibly cause some kind of offense – which is impossible because someone, somewhere, is going to be offended by some perceived slight (brace yourself as winter is coming and so is the ‘Happy Holidays’ hysteria). So we are left with a bland message that is crafted to in no way upset anyone, ever. Corporate communication has become the white bread of the business world.

What exactly does white bread do? Does anyone over the age of five dig into a slice of white bread on its own for a satisfying snack? White bread is just there, to hold the interesting and delicious fillings of the sandwich so they don’t muck up your hands, to be the backdrop to PB&J, to play a background role to other more enticing elements.

Now think about a baguette. It’s exotic, it’s crusty , it’s airy, it’s delicious and it’s sexy as hell (and not just because it’s a giant, hot Phallic symbol you can bite into).  The baguette is the antithesis of sliced white bread, the Superman to its Clark Kent. Ravishing a baguette in Paris is the stuff of dreams – chomping into a slice of Wonder Bread in Spartanburg not so much. At a buffet, no one is going to pass up a baguette for a piece of bread, not even the five-year old as they are just. that. enticing.

We’re constantly marketing ourselves to attract clients yet too often, we fall into the trap of being like everyone else. You’re not like everyone else so stop trying to be. Use your own voice to find your audience, your peeps, your tribe. Will you upset some one? Probably. But there’s people who are disgusted by redheads (seriously ) so don’t lose sleep over it. Hater’s gonna hate.

In a world of white bread, be a baguette.