Small Business Online: Thriving in a Virtual World

Managing Difficult Clients in Tough Times

The long arms of the recent recession seem to leave no stone unturned when it comes to business management and client care. One side effect of the recent downturn is a certain loss of freedom around client management, especially for small businesses and solopreneurs. Where small businesses and service providers used to be able to pick and choose clients – at least to some degree – this is no longer the case.

While the bottom line is always a top concern in any company, one of the perks of owning a business has always been that during good times, business owners could decline projects from difficult clients. With businesses closing everywhere we look though, even a difficult account is worth its weight in gold. So how do we successfully, effectively manage a tough client or project? Here’s three steps to help you set the tone.

Step One. Communication is definitely key in this situation. To begin with, make sure that all of your brainstorming sessions are recorded. If they’re conducted on the phone, use a recordable conference call line and consider having the call transcribed if it’s not too long. Create a punch list that is confirmed both verbally, before the call ends, and in a follow-up email, specifically outlining who is responsible for what and what each party’s next steps are. Remember to keep phone calls short so that frustration will not show if a conversation gets tough.

Step Two. Make sure that the client submits all follow-up or ancillary instructions in writing, through your formal inquiry system – either obtaining a “trouble ticket” or a confirmation from you or your team. Verbally exchanged instructions can be a virtual minefield to navigate and can lead to ever-widening circles of misinformation and misunderstanding.

Step Three. Keep the boundaries clean and clear. If you do not work on weekends, and that is in the policy and procedures that you have provided to your clients, don’t respond to random emails with questions or updates during that window. Although you may think you’re providing great customer service, it definitely sends a mixed message. Obviously, real emergencies are a different story, but 99% of life or business will, hopefully, not fall into that category. Another important boundary to keep in place is who does what. If you have a perfectly capable team in place and they have been empowered to handle IT issues, for instance, redirect your difficult customer to that team or individual. If you make yourself the “go to” person for everything under the sun, you will quickly find yourself mired in the day-to-day and unable to navigate the larger issues that really ARE under your umbrella (like funding and new business).

Finally, remember that from a client’s perspective, they are not difficult. Tough clients most likely consider themselves detail oriented, or perhaps even moderately controlling. But difficult? No. Most of us do not see that in ourselves. Remember, all clients need to be treated with the same level of courtesy and patience. Navigating the ups and downs of tough clients or projects not only protects your income stream, it also builds your referrals and your reputation. It says that you are an exceptional vendor and THAT is a reputation worth fighting for.

The Richest Commodity: YOU

There are so many ways that the richest commodity in your business is YOU. Right now, let’s just focus on two of them: Intellectual Property and Client Care. When we talk about these two things as part of your business’ RICHEST commodities (and thus something you want to GROW), we also need to talk about the POOREST commodity (and what you need to shrink): Sweat Equity.

(Hang in there, this isn’t as hard to follow as it sounds.)

Important Idea #1. If you are a solo entrepreneur or own a small business, then your ideas and your expertise ARE your business. How you implement those ideas and expertise are your Sweat Equity. This piece is something that we can OFTEN outsource, once we’ve put some amazing standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place. Why? Because if you can’t create SOPs and outsource your implementation, you are almost always tied to an hourly wage in one form or another. Alternatively, once you build an amazing team of smart, hard-working professionals to do some of the hands on, you can be freed to a) come up with MORE ideas, products, product paths, services, etc. (Intellectual Property). Hey, don’t forget that your team may also have some great ideas to throw your way and keep your business growing – definitely ask them at your weekly catch-up sessions for their input.

When you have as much as you possibly can PROCEDURALIZED and DELEGATED to your team, you can move on to the second reason that your company’s richest commodity is you: Client Care. Now I’m not talking about day-to-day customer service here. THAT is something you definitely want to delegate and outsource. What I AM talking about is that special interaction that your clients look for: The conversations, the brainstorming, the quick “touch-base” conversations – the stuff that reminds them WHY they want to work with YOU and why they chose you as their service provider. Let’s face it, clients often choose us based on that one magical ingredient that we can’t really ever outsource: Connection. Having made the connection and gotten the client, actively keeping that relationship in motion is really important. If you’re busy cranking out the work 24/7, you really won’t have time to do the relationship management that KEEPS great clients on your roster.

This leads me to one last tip: Treat your client as PART of your team. Invite them to listen in on teleconference brainstorming sessions about their account. Send them documents that your team is working on (even before they’re finished) just to keep them in the loop or get periodic feedback. If you use a project / client management system, consider setting them up with a login & password just like you would a subcontractor so that they can easily look for updates and see if benchmarks are being met.

The bottom line is this. You are one person. And if you own a business, you’re probably an AMAZING person with a ton of great ideas. But if you don’t learn to build a team, delegate your tasks, manage your time AND manage your clients, greater levels of success may simply elude you.

Time: The Richest Commodity - Part Two

There are unimaginable rewards to having this type of foundation solidly in place at the start of your business, especially a small business. One is that you will obviously build and KEEP a great client base – and the other is free time. Without a system, believe me, you’ll find yourself working twice as hard and for many more hours than you would otherwise, and you’ll be so busy treading water that even finding ONE day off will feel like a miracle.

Another pitfall of poorly managed time? Money! I won’t even talk about the potential money that you can’t make because you’re busy spinning your wheels ineffectively and NOT marketing in those lost hours. Let’s just talk about the inaccurately tracked project time that you can’t invoice your clients for. Or the time that is forever lost when you spend it tracking down team members and following up missing documents and unmet deadlines.

Look, when it comes to running your own business, big or small, you MUST have a time tracking system BEFORE you start invoicing. Preferably you’ll choose one with easy reporting. That will allow you to not only invoice your clients simply and correctly, it will also let you easily cross-check your incoming subcontractor’s invoices.

The POM Factor. Finally, when it comes to the business of business, NOTHING beats POM: Peace of Mind. It’s tough enough to do the work, run the show, and please everyone on every side of every equation. Putting foundational tools into place before things get crazy will allow you to focus on creating great work and marketing your services and your company. It’s extremely difficult to be mentally available for great, unexpected opportunities when you’re tracing and retracing the same issues and questions every day. Managing your time and your projects is like having a safety net under your high-wire act. It leaves you free to focus on the work directly in front of you and the other people you’re performing with (and for).