I lost a pretty good client once because I was stupid.
I don’t know what he’d say about the whole situation, but I’m pretty sure I know what happened.
You see, I always put a lot of focus on getting the client. I like getting clients. But sometimes, I put less focus on keeping the client.
In this case, the client was NOT a marketing wizard. That’s why we were working together.
But this “screw up” of mine is an example of how you can never stop selling.
And I’m not talking about just trying to get to the next sale or the next project with the client.
What I’m talking about is that you can never assume your client has any idea about the value you are actually delivering.
And in business, where you simply can’t guarantee results 100% of the time, making the value proposition clear is a must.
So you need to keep selling the value of what you’re doing the whole way through the project.
This can be a challenge if you’re not conscious of it.
In my example, I was a one-man marketing machine for this guy. Stuff was flying out the door. Salesletters… CDs… Press releases.
You name it, I was doing it. It was FAST and GOOD.
His lead flow multiplied because of all my activity.
Only problem is, I didn’t make it clear to my client exactly how valuable all of this stuff was.
I made it look effortless. You know, “Don’t let them see you sweat… you’re a professional.”
Blah, blah, blah. That was a big mistake.
So we got to the end of our agreement and he didn’t think his money was well spent.
That was my fault. I stopped selling him on the value of what I was doing each and every step of the way.
He got a ton of value. It’s just that no one ever told him.
For me it was game over.
Don’t let that happen to you!
P.S. Ever suffer from what I call the “Client Catch 22?” That’s the problem where your client wants you to do more for less money and you want to do less for more money? It sucks, unless you turn it to your advantage. And that’s what we cover in Tip #13 of 31 Tips for Working with Clients Without Going Crazy. You can get your copy right now. Just take a look at this.