Red Flags......in business

[Baz]

I've been thinking lately about how to make better decisions on what to pursue and what not to pursue, when it comes to business.

In my line of work, I encounter many scenarios which can be real time suckers, if you don't have some kind of system to weed out the losers.

Right now I'm focusing on the 'Red Flags' concept.

One of my pet peeves is lack of proper and/or effective communication.

When I ask something of a client - they need to respond. Otherwise it's a "one-way street".


I've just recently experienced two situations where the client didn't effectively respond to my requests.....so I dropped them. I have another who might get dropped - he's on a short leash right now.

I don't have to take every job that comes my way - I never run out of work and like to enjoy the process. I'm skilled and very attentive to my work. I deserve clients who are good team players....good communicators.

It's nothing personal but if you don't understand how to be a good project partner - it's not a good fit.

I'm curious as to how others here look at the 'Red Flag' concept as it pertains to business....

[ltusler]

Yes, sometimes you have to fire the customer. And its OK.

[stomachmonkey]

Spot on.

You do need to avoid those clients at all costs.

Obviously easier to do when you have as much work as you can handle so kudo's to you, you are doing something right so don't second guess yourself on this.

In todays social media age these uncommunicative clients are not only soul sucking pain in the asses they have real potential to harm your reputation.

They'll be unhappy about some aspect of the work which is the result of their lack of communication. I find people who do not communicate well also refuse to acknowledge it and will unfairly blame you.

They are also the same personality types that are prone to *****ing on Yelp and other social outlets that potential clients may be using to vet you.

[ossiblue]

We, wife and I, use the exact same process on the other side of the equation--as clients. Like you, it starts at the very beginning--returning initial calls for estimates, showing up on the agreed date and time, calling if anything interferes with a scheduled meeting.

Yes, any service is a two-way street and two-way communication is essential.

I cannot offer any business-side experience but if you can "afford" to weed-out clients that raise the red flags you describe then, why not? I'm sure you have horror stories about clients who fail to communicate, have the attitude that you are their "employee" and treat you and your crew as their hired-help. You are a professional, entering into a professional relationship with a client. There must be professional respect on both sides, and that begins with the common understanding that one's time--professional or client--is valuable. A request for communication will not be done unless it is important to the job and, as such, needs to be addressed as soon as possible for the mutual benefit of both contractor and client.

I think your "red-flag" concept is a good start in helping to get rid of the "time-suckers." It's not perfect, but from your past experiences, I'm sure you can detect certain patterns that indicate problems down the road.

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by ltusler

Yes, sometimes you have to fire the customer. And its OK.

This.

[LeeH]

I'm not a hand-holder when it comes to my clients. 2x is about my limit on an info request. No response? I move on to another project.

Eventually, I get the "Is my file ready?" email. Then I respond, " I sent you e-mail on (date) and (date) looking for info. Once I get that back I should be able to knock it out pretty quickly."

What's funny (or sad) is how many times the response is, "I'm pretty sure I sent that to you already," when they have not.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Spot on.

You do need to avoid those clients at all costs.

Obviously easier to do when you have as much work as you can handle so kudo's to you, you are doing something right so don't second guess yourself on this.

In todays social media age these uncommunicative clients are not only soul sucking pain in the asses they have real potential to harm your reputation.

They'll be unhappy about some aspect of the work which is the result of their lack of communication. I find people who do not communicate well also refuse to acknowledge it and will unfairly blame you.

They are also the same personality types that are prone to *****ing on Yelp and other social outlets that potential clients may be using to vet you.

Everything you said is true, Scott. Especially your comment above in bold. A project is always compromised to some degree if there are communication issues....which makes ME unhappy and is not acceptable, all things being equal.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

We, wife and I, use the exact same process on the other side of the equation--as clients. Like you, it starts at the very beginning--returning initial calls for estimates, showing up on the agreed date and time, calling if anything interferes with a scheduled meeting.

Yes, any service is a two-way street and two-way communication is essential.

I cannot offer any business-side experience but if you can "afford" to weed-out clients that raise the red flags you describe then, why not? I'm sure you have horror stories about clients who fail to communicate, have the attitude that you are their "employee" and treat you and your crew as their hired-help. You are a professional, entering into a professional relationship with a client. There must be professional respect on both sides, and that begins with the common understanding that one's time--professional or client--is valuable. A request for communication will not be done unless it is important to the job and, as such, needs to be addressed as soon as possible for the mutual benefit of both contractor and client.

I think your "red-flag" concept is a good start in helping to get rid of the "time-suckers." It's not perfect, but from your past experiences, I'm sure you can detect certain patterns that indicate problems down the road.

Thanks LJ - you would make an ideal client because you understand how to be a team player.

I do have clients like you - some are just amazing - which makes it even easier to walk away from the others.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by LeeH

I'm not a hand-holder when it comes to my clients. 2x is about my limit on an info request. No response? I move on to another project.

Eventually, I get the "Is my file ready?" email. Then I respond, " I sent you e-mail on (date) and (date) looking for info. Once I get that back I should be able to knock it out pretty quickly."

What's funny (or sad) is how many times the response is, "I'm pretty sure I sent that to you already," when they have not.

Thanks Lee...great post, appreciate the input.

I like your approach.

[Baz]

Sometimes I think the business model from legal firms are noteworthy.

First appointment - no charge. Find out if it's a good fit or not.

Next appointment - you are on the clock. (X) amount per hour.

[Baz]

One other thing.....I had a new client leave a voice mail for me on Thursday.

When he spoke his phone number...he said it real fast....and it was hard to understand.

Because of 'poor communication' on his end...I couldn't call him back. He called again the next day, left another voice mail, and this time spoke a lot more slowly and effectively - so I returned his call.

Not sure how this one will turn out....but he's on a short leash.....

[HardDrive]

[Baz]

Ha!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Generally the customer is always right - I'm in a service industry after all (architectural design / construction management). That said I've had two (and only two) instances where the client was such an insufferable pain in the ass I didn't take additional projects from them. They got dumped on our competition. Win-win. We didn't either (1) lose money like we might have or lose the opportunity to put our time / effort / energy into a more profitable client or project and (2) the competition was busy spinning their wheels for these guys and losing out on the better opportunities.

I hate turning away work but every once in a great while it makes sense. The trick is to do it without burning bridges - sometimes the same client can come back after a change in management a few years later and be a much more lucrative opportunity. Also referrals count for a lot. But it's still (sometimes, rarely) okay to tell them "I'm sorry but we're pretty busy with other clien commitments right now and we wouldn't want to compromise our reputation or our professionalism by providing you with anything less than our absolute best service and we simply don't have the resources to provide that right now" (translation: you're a pain in the ass, cheap client who is impossible to collect from and you're not worth my time - come back when you figure out you're the problem and not everyone else").

[Don Ro]

Baz,
If you're as conscious as it appears, I'd say this to you.
In a communication workshop, back when I was self-employed (8 - 10 employees), I learned that 80% of effective communication is the responsibility of the one who is communicating.
.
And this...I cultivated the knack of noticing if the client harbored any anger...especially if they were upset about a previous contractor's work.
Those type of potential clients would want my company to come in and rescue a job that the client didn't like.
As you, I never advertised and never lacked for jobs...most often I'd decline to take a job if I sensed an upset client.
I'd just be next on their ch!t list.
.
I was once offered a two day job (over a wkend...an industrial company that was closed on wkends) that would have netted me well over $8k.
I turned it down...I sensed some bad energy from the company owner.
.
Keep on keeping on....you have a good sense about you.

[Bill Douglas]

I google their name. Ha the power of google. Some people come across as being very nice, totally professional, but have no intention pf paying and this often comes up. Plus companies registers.

I also avoid doing business with people who are a bit flaky. They change their mind at the very last moment and you may have turned down other opportunities.

[MauleM5-235]

Most of my cases are litigation. The majority of the time everyone involved is upset to one degree or another. This makes it even more important to pay attention to the red flags. There are some potential clients who I am convinced we would be better off paying them to leave and never call us again instead of taking on their cases.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Dealing with people can be an excruciatingly painful experience. In my selling cars I encounter a lot of time wasters, people that have no intention of actually buying anything and seemingly have no comprehension that you are a real person, with a real life, who doesn't want to spend hours talking about/showing you a car that you have no intention of purchasing.

In my professional life, it's staggering to me how poorly most people communicate. It's common to get an email from a customer with a "HOT" request, promptly reply with a request for more information, then wait days for them to reply. Also somewhat frightening how poorly most of our customers know their own business. I work for a company that provides electromechanical components for aerospace and defense markets, we work with a number of large multi-billion dollar companies. A great example was one last week that requested to expedite an order, then within two days was requesting to know their cancellation fee.

[Macroni]

Our company is 100yo and it is difficult to disregard any potential that meets our mission statement. It is up to you to assess the true value of the relationship for the long term versus the immediate discomfort of creating the relationship.

Yes, there are targets that hold limited value and they need to be low priority.

It would be interesting to get a sales professionals opinion on this. They are able to take these difficult relationships and transition them to productive partnerships.

[Baz]

I consider myself to be a sales professional but every operation is a little different and right now my mission statement is shifting.

My goal is no longer "Customers for life".

My goal now is "Bazza wants to spend his time doing things he enjoys."

Included in "doing things I enjoy" is working with clients who are collaborators...not competitors.

When you go out to eat - aren't you selective on where you go and how you spend your time. This is really no different.