A Path to Success

Strategy #5 From the Trenches - Do you attract or repel repeat clients?

“Repeat clients” may not be in the nature of your business. For example, you may provide a service that clients only need once or once in a while. Rather, your “regulars” might be another group of people like those that your partner up with on particular jobs.

Usually a client becomes a repeat client when you have delighted them or it is really easy to do business with you. If you have an easy, transaction-oriented type of business (say printing business cards or providing a personal service), repeat clients are the key to success.

My experience with repeat clients is that a vendor needs to make it really easy to do business with them.They need to be consistent, honest and friendly. Why do we go to McDonald's over and over again? Because we know what to expect every time. In order to get repeat client(s) become a known quantity.

Strategy #4 From the Trenches - It's who you know, still.

No matter how good you are, a potential client could choose to work with someone else because they know them.

Nepotism and favoritism -- all words that mean preferential treatment. There is something very comfortable on being able to pick someone you know through someone else. If anything, it may turn out that if everything goes horribly wrong they can call you and tell you what a crappy choice they made to go with your pick. On the other hand, if everything goes right then you will end up looking like a star. People like go with a known quantity, even if you know that known quality may have an issue.

A few things to remember:

1. If you have gotten burned recommending someone, give them one or two more chances. And then don't.

2. If you know a prospect chose someone they favor, try to turn it into a positive. Find ways to become known to the prospect. They will eventually get to know you as well.

3. Being at the right place at the right time is everything. Don't rely on happenstance and get to know your client. Make it harder for them to go the easy way out by choosing a favored party. If you an, offer them an offer they cannot refuse.

4. Become the favored vendor -- be the one they choose because you are a known quantity. The more clients you do a good job for the better your chances for success.

Strategy #3 From the Trenches - Gauge Client Expectations

If your work exceeds the clients expectations too soon then the bar may be set too high and will be hard to reach later leading to client disappointment.

When a client expects you to deliver on a project you must set appropriate expectations -- rather than say "Yes" to absolutely everything it is important to realize what is realistic and what is not. When you say "yes" you are committing to delivering and setting the bar. If you fail to reach that bar more than a few times the expectations will be that when you say "yes", you really mean "no" or "maybe."

One way to set expectations is to regularly check in and see what the progress is between your expectations and the clients. Disclosing the progress in the project will lead to more transparency and you may be surprised just how close your expectations are to your clients if you communicate frequently.

Strategy #2 From the Trenches - Fight for your Client

If you are required to negotiate for a client you can stand out by being the one that really “fights for your client”.

If your client perceives that you are on their side, working for them, they will reward you handsomely. It my not come in the form that you expect, but if you negotiate a better timeline, save on costs, find a better ay to do something that was not in the original scope your client will be delighted. This is what you are going for -- customer delight -- surprising your client positively by being their partner rather than just a vendor.

Awesome conference coming to Toronto end of May- mesh

Are you interested all things Web 2.0?

The mesh conference in Toronto is a bangup event that is happening for the 2nd straight year here in Toronto. If you blog, vlog, podcast or in general want to rub shoulders with the digerati this is the conference to go to in Tdot.

The mesh schedule is up -- May 30-31 2007.

Do you have the key?

My friend Katie sent me this article by email recently. I thought I'd share it with you.

Do you know the keys to career happiness? Here are 5 keys that have come about as a result of interviewing 200 people for a TV show called The Five Things We Must Discover Before You Die.

Follow your heart

We all have heard this one before but how many of you are doing things that you don't like? Think about it. Are you doing something right now that your heart desires?

Risk more

Sometimes you have to go out on a limb. If you don't risk, you won't get the reward, so it's important to go out on a limb and try something new -- push your comfort level a bit and see what happens. As long as you are not hurting yourself, what could be the harm?

Choose the right balance

This is a big one for a lot of people. It's easy to get caught up in the every day. Instead of answering every email in the inbox, try calling back the people who emailed you. You'd be surprised at their response, since people aren't used to getting calls anymore -- I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

But this is not just about interacting more with people, this is about balance in enjoying your life -- and it doesn't take loads of money either. A nice walk outside in this beautiful spring weather in Toronto will do you wonders. Bring someone along you like like a pet or a good friend.

Focus on the difference

This quote from the article says it all - be different!

"It used to be just about getting a part. But then you realize, so what if they pay you to pretend you are having an orgasm over fried chicken, what you want to know is that you played a part that lifted people's spirits," says Anthony Holland, an 86-year-old actor who continues to perform and direct for the stage.

"One time, I got a letter from a young man telling me he had changed his life because of my performance. That meant more than just about anything in my career," the resident of Gabriola Island, B.C., says.

It's never too late

What you think you're good at may not be what you are actually good at. It's worthwhile to investigate what you feel comfortable doing as you age and value things differently.

Good article, good ideas.

Thoughts from the April meeting on Blogging for Fun and Profit

Thank you to Leesa Barnes of Caprica , Mark Evans of B5Media , Mark Kuznicki of Remarkk.com and Ed Lee for joining the NewPath Network on a discussion of Blogging for Fun and Profit.

We had a wonderful turn out of over 25 people at the event and to my surprise there were many bloggers already in the audience.

The highlights of the discussion for me were the insights on how blogs have evolved over time to challenge traditional media, the motivation for blogging and why blogs make sense for a small business.

It was also interesting to hear that  blogging is not for everyone. It takes

- commitment to blog (text,video or pod) on a regular basis (some blog at 6am before most of the eastern timezones rise, being a journalist doesn't hurt at all)

- decent writing skills

- a passion to blog about something important to you

I think what is most interesting about blogging is that the person behind the business can shine through. Some of us thought that if you had a splashy web page for your business, then your business would appear larger than it really is, but that is a misleading isn't it? What is more important is content rather than flash -- and blogs seem to be a perfect representation of that -- blogs rarely have pictures other than IN content and they rarely have much decoration. They are about your stories and why we should read you and buy from you rather than someone else.

Here's an innovative example of what I mean.

Oh yes there are pictures from the event:

Here is Alex, Kelly and Ed after the meeting...

And here is Mark, Stephen and Misha enjoying the networking...