WHO IS EDUCATING YOUR CLIENTS BEFORE YOU EVER COMMUNICATE WITH THEM?
It would be amazing if every potential client who came our way was blessed with an open mind and ZERO expectations of what our pricing should be, how we should be handling our business, what the ‘work flow’ of our service is, and what is and isn’t trending in our market … but sadly, every potential client who comes your direction will have been previously educated … below is a list of who is educating your clients before they even ‘walk through your door’ …
PUBLICATIONS
Publications have ONE JOB … to make money … and sometimes the best way to make money? Put an idea out there that makes people turn their head … and sometimes that head turning comes with absurd ideas that people in the particular industry they are writing articles about would NEVER do and NEVER recommend. The SHOCK VALUE they so desperately need to create to sell their magazines or make people ‘click’ on their online articles may end up costing a lot of confused potential clients heading your direction.
YOUR COMPETITORS
Every business owner has competitors … and the likelihood of potential clients ‘shopping around’ to them before they chat with you is probable. The may ‘over promise’ when the future will be filled with ‘under deliver’ moments … their pricing may be skewed in a way that will make your pricing seem incredibly high … they may be newbies and give bad advice … or they might just have a completely different way of doing things that you’ve learned isn’t the best route to take. Either way: your potential client has heard, received, and is now walking around with all that ^^ in their pretty little head.
PREVIOUS CLIENTS
If you’ve been at this for a bit, you have previous clients … if you’ve been at it for longer than a bit, you may have a few previous clients who (I’m gonna say it …) don’t like you. Hey, it happens to the best of us … previous clients talk … they talk about the good and they most certainly talk about the bad …
INFLUENCERS
There are people out there in the world who are taking having a smart phone and social media apps to a whole new level … they call themselves ‘Influencers’ and similar to publications, they have a job to do: MAKE THE SCROLLING THUMBS STOP … while publications don’t bring out an emotional connection (usually), a lot of people who follow influencers feel like they KNOW these people … like they are friends … and the advice they receive goes straight to their soul. Influencers do more than just share their favorite butt shaping leggings or new spot in town to grab a trendy bite to eat … they can do some major damage in the education department … so be on the lookout ;)
THE LADY BEHIND YOU IN LINE AT STARBUCKS
People love to talk … they especially love to give unsolicited advice to strangers … imagine the excited Mother of the Groom who is just 2 weeks away from the wedding and hasn’t felt as included in the wedding planning process as she’d like … and there is your ‘soon to be potential client’ with their fancy new diamond ring wearing the GLOW of newly engaged and ‘wanting to learn all the things’ about hiring wedding vendors … oh boy … game on.
EXPECTATIONS
Let’s say someone avoids all outside noise when it comes to advice on hiring ‘what you offer’ as a business owner … which isn’t likely, but we are pretending … they still will have their own life experiences and expectations of not only what they think a service should be like and cost, but they will also have what they HOPE it will be like and cost … hope it a strong emotion and what follows hope is ‘being let down’ when it doesn’t come out the way you expected …
I’ve learned over the course of my life as a business owner … starting out as a wedding planner … then as a blog editor … and now as a website designer … that OWNING YOUR EXPERIENCE is what will make you stand out in a very blurry and confusing world. Be rooted in your knowledge. Don’t be defensive when someone explains how they expect working with you should go … explain that you understand ‘other’ business owners go that route, but that the clients who hire and work with you do so because: blah blah blah etc … be confident in what you offer and remind yourself that you are in this position for a reason. The clients who don’t hire you weren’t meant to … trust in that message … the times I have ignored ‘red flags’ ended up being the worst experiences as a business owner … it wasn’t work the headaches or the money they paid me.
XO~ Heather
