I think we all want our clients to like us, and that means earning their trust from the outset. However, what if we do not like or trust our clients?
The other day I went to see a new prospect. I arrived at her flat and rang the bell. She opened the door but was on the telephone, to her father as it turned out. She interrupted her conversation briefly to ask me to take off my shoes or cover them with plastic slip-ons (no religious purpose here you understand) and then waved me up the steep flight of stairs to the hall. She then left me standing there while she went into another room to finish her telephone call several minutes later.
When she eventually reappeared, the first thing she said was “you look as though something is the matter” in a challenging way. If I was caught with the wrong expression it was not due to her rudeness, but because I was thinking about my Mum, who was in hospital.
When I was finally invited into the living room, the first thing this “prospect” asked me was my price. I said it depended on what she needed advice on, but when pressed I quoted a likely amount for a written note she could use as a reference or map. She pulled a face and then asked for a quote for the face-to-face consultation while I was there. That is an easier answer to give, so I quoted a figure. She said “It would be cheaper if I got the advice walking off the street in the City. I thought locally it would be a lot less”.
To my mind, good advice has a value whether it is given in the Big City or in the boondocks. The value is in the savings for the client. It is not like buying a sandwich produced at higher cost in town or at lower cost in the sticks, and to be fair, ingredients have to be paid for wherever.
Of course this person was being fanciful if she really thought her City advice would have been cheaper, but that is immaterial. The meeting was clearly over within ten minutes, at least as far as I was concerned. As News of the World reporters used to say, I made my excuses and left.
I could not work with this person because
- She did not value me or my work
- She was downright rude from the outset of our meeting
- I really did not like her
This woman cost me an hour of my valuable time in travel, though, but with every bad experience we learn a little more.
I have to be comfortable to work with a client, and to be confident of a good relationship and mutual respect.
Do you like all your customers?
