January 10, 2013 at 08:18The course of the young soldier "Sell the services of a web designer." Part 2 “The customer is always wrong”
No, this is not another marketing offspring. This is part of an approach to working with clients that results in WinWin collaboration.
I think there will be those who disagree with this statement, and those who agree, finding a cry from the heart, but in my case this is only a cold calculation and nothing more. To accept or not to accept is your business, personally this approach in my work has been feeding me for several years. So, what is the salt of the approach and what are the goodies of this?
Before answering these questions, let's introduce the ideal customer. What skills and knowledge should he have in order to accurately formulate TK on the site? Here are a few that occurred to me immediately:
Perhaps you have met such customers, but in my practice, at least with a couple of such skills, I have not met.
What turns out: the task is posed by a person whose knowledge in this topic tends to zero?
What will we get when, on the one hand, the customer is a “monkey and glasses”, and on the other hand, the helpful salesman is looking into the customer’s mouth and taking notes in detail of his Wishlist?
I think those who were in the situation know what will happen: the customer (most often) receives what he ordered (well, or something similar to what he ordered). And he is trying to "beat back the investment." The result is predictable: disappointment and a site left to chance.
Only developers are in a small plus: another work has been added to the portfolio, money has been received and there is a prospect that the customer will taste all the delights of Internet marketing, become wiser and a little later order the completion of his brainchild. Why is there a "slight plus"? Because the client most likely will not give his recommendations, and it’s not even a matter of the site’s developer but the fact that the person went to the Internet, didn’t get what he wanted, and he doesn’t have any reason to recommend friends / partners (why bother others where to burn himself ?)
Summary of the approach: Most often, the result will be a short-term Win-Lose collaboration, where both lose: the client does not get what he wants, the contractor loses the free market for recommendations and is forced to invest in advertising for further development.
And how to defeat the situation? The situation can be defeated by changing the paradigm of the approach to communicating with a client who, after brainwashing with smart sales books, for some reason, became “always right”.
Personally, at the first meeting, I say 2 phrases that set up the client for proper cooperation:
1. “To begin with, let's determine how we work: I’m stupidly doing what you say, or you tell me WHAT you want from the site, and NOT WHAT it should be . ” So far, none of my customers have chosen the first, for them it is a burden that they are happy to get rid of. For the contractor, the burden of implementing the “unstoppable delirium-creative”
2 is removed . “My client is always wrong until he proves the opposite”. The performer is special in internet marketing, but he is not omniscient. He does not know the customer’s customers, psychology and sales nuances in this area. After this phrase, I begin to simply suggest options, and the customer is forced to critically look at all these developments from the point of view of their specificity. And yes, criticizing the customer is easier than creative, so the work will move faster :)
Summary of the approach: in this case, a more viable product is obtained based on the experience of yours and the customer. The result of such cooperation is more likely to bring results to the customer, and to you new loyal and, no less important, free customers.
I think there will be those who disagree with this statement, and those who agree, finding a cry from the heart, but in my case this is only a cold calculation and nothing more. To accept or not to accept is your business, personally this approach in my work has been feeding me for several years. So, what is the salt of the approach and what are the goodies of this?
Before answering these questions, let's introduce the ideal customer. What skills and knowledge should he have in order to accurately formulate TK on the site? Here are a few that occurred to me immediately:
- Possession of the current situation of trends in Internet marketing
- Ability to sell over the Internet
- Understanding usability and understanding of quality layout
- Technical limitations of sites
- Search engine optimization
- The ability to clearly explain what he wants, attention to detail.
Perhaps you have met such customers, but in my practice, at least with a couple of such skills, I have not met.
What turns out: the task is posed by a person whose knowledge in this topic tends to zero?
What will we get when, on the one hand, the customer is a “monkey and glasses”, and on the other hand, the helpful salesman is looking into the customer’s mouth and taking notes in detail of his Wishlist?
I think those who were in the situation know what will happen: the customer (most often) receives what he ordered (well, or something similar to what he ordered). And he is trying to "beat back the investment." The result is predictable: disappointment and a site left to chance.
Only developers are in a small plus: another work has been added to the portfolio, money has been received and there is a prospect that the customer will taste all the delights of Internet marketing, become wiser and a little later order the completion of his brainchild. Why is there a "slight plus"? Because the client most likely will not give his recommendations, and it’s not even a matter of the site’s developer but the fact that the person went to the Internet, didn’t get what he wanted, and he doesn’t have any reason to recommend friends / partners (why bother others where to burn himself ?)
Summary of the approach: Most often, the result will be a short-term Win-Lose collaboration, where both lose: the client does not get what he wants, the contractor loses the free market for recommendations and is forced to invest in advertising for further development.
And how to defeat the situation? The situation can be defeated by changing the paradigm of the approach to communicating with a client who, after brainwashing with smart sales books, for some reason, became “always right”.
Personally, at the first meeting, I say 2 phrases that set up the client for proper cooperation:
1. “To begin with, let's determine how we work: I’m stupidly doing what you say, or you tell me WHAT you want from the site, and NOT WHAT it should be . ” So far, none of my customers have chosen the first, for them it is a burden that they are happy to get rid of. For the contractor, the burden of implementing the “unstoppable delirium-creative”
2 is removed . “My client is always wrong until he proves the opposite”. The performer is special in internet marketing, but he is not omniscient. He does not know the customer’s customers, psychology and sales nuances in this area. After this phrase, I begin to simply suggest options, and the customer is forced to critically look at all these developments from the point of view of their specificity. And yes, criticizing the customer is easier than creative, so the work will move faster :)
Summary of the approach: in this case, a more viable product is obtained based on the experience of yours and the customer. The result of such cooperation is more likely to bring results to the customer, and to you new loyal and, no less important, free customers.