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The phrase "The customer is always right" was originally coined in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge's department store in London, and is typically used by businesses to convince customers that they will get a good service and exhorts service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction.
Many service providers disagree for valid reasons like:
- It gives harsh/rude clients an unfair advantage
- Some clients have unrealistic expectations, can be abusive and bad for the business
- Some clients are demanding and draining resulting in demotivation and affecting the quality of the service provided
- Some clients are just plain wrong, and the business is better off without them
As Virtual Assistants we provide a wide range of services - the motto can simply be changed to: "The right client, is always right!".
The most important pre-sales “exercise” before engaging in business with clients, is to make sure they are the right clients.
How can you ensure you get the right clients?
- Research your prospective clients
- Be clear on your niche and services - match those with your ideal clients’ needs
- Develop a buyer persona for your ideal client: from success stories and repeat business
- Know and understand your clients: what are their priorities, their work ethos - why they do what they do, what drives them and gives them purpose and meaning.
- Align your work ethos with your clients’: you have to believe in your clients in order to deliver and manage expectations
Once you get to the right clients, then YES they are always right !!