|
|
|
A Strategy for Attracting Higher Paying Client
By Catherine Franz Some people have little difficulty attracting and maintaining higher paying clients. Others can't get to first base. Higher paying clients consume less time, exchange energy instead of zapping yours, have higher regards for your...
Are You An Investment Dummy Like Me?
I am good at a few things. I can certainly market well and I consult with others about how to bring more attention to their products and services on the internet for a living.
I am a fair musician. I love music and play all sorts of...
Brief Introduction about China
China is the world's third-largest nation by area and the largest by population. China is bordered by the Mongolian Republic and Russia on the north, by Russia and North Korea on the north-east , by the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea on the east,...
How to write powerful speeches and talks
Most of us get nervous about making a speech, whether it’s to 2000 conference delegates or a PTA meeting at our child’s school. Often, though, people find that’s the worst part of the whole process – the anticipation. The reality is often a lot...
Keep Business Reports Brief
Keep Business Reports Brief By Arthur Cooper (c) Copyright 2004 The point of a business report is to communicate information, or an opinion, and sometimes to persuade or convince. To do this effectively the two keywords are brevity and clarity. ...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Happy Professional Chooses Clients
Many professionals do not refuse clients out of fear of losing money. However, there is another side to the coin -- the high price of the negative effect of accepting everyone who walks in the door.
One happy professional I know, a lawyer, always has a clear view of both his service and his ideal client. Contrary to the conventional notion never to turn away a client, his laser beam approach about what he offers and for whom has brought him so much business he is now in the process of hiring associates to handle the work.
He has a procedure he follows to determine which clients he accepts and which he doesn’t. Everyone is afforded an interview during which the client outlines their expectations. As a patent attorney, he describes the process, the cost and the reality that after a very long period of time, probably years, of living with the case, it may not work out as they hoped. He and the client ascertain if they can live with that kind of commitment.
Next, he clarifies his billing policy stating that nothing will move forward, no filing, litigation, or act of any kind without advance payment. Phone calls are billed in 12 minute increments and calls will be returned within 24 hours. He won’t tolerate foul language or any kind of abuse of his staff. At the end of this interview, it is usually pretty clear if he and the client will be a good fit.
Though my example is a lawyer, professionals in any field can benefit from this type of clarity when taking on new clients.
What can you do to make your practice and life less stressful and more enjoyable when it comes to clients? Here is a suggestion: Make a list of your clients. Design a scale from 1 to 5 or another that makes sense to you. For example, rate polite
and patient, reasonable expectations, provides needed information in a timely fashion, constant phone calls during late hours and weekends, abusive behavior.
Which clients are pleasant? Which are high maintenance, have high expectations, cause you grief because of unrealistic demands on your time and attention? Which pay on time and which are in arrears? Which clients are worth your time, aggravation and effect they have on your health and enjoyment of what you do?
Note the details that constitute a pleasant client or a miserable one. Use the information you glean from this exercise to choose new clients more intelligently. Perhaps find ways to bring present client projects to closure or make a referral to someone else in your network.
Additionally, can you honestly say you are the best professional for all of your clients or did you accept some of them because of your policy to accept everyone?
Rate yourself and your staff on how well you meet reasonable expectations. Ask for feedback about your service from clients you value. Act on it.
Holding yourself and your clients to a high level of integrity will serve you well in attracting the right ones to you and you will benefit in other ways: lowered stress, more time for yourself and family, more pleasant work environment, more efficiency, and a happier staff.
About the Author
Dorene Lehavi, Ph.D. is principal of Next Level Business and Professional Coaching. She coaches Professionals and Business Partners. You can get a free sample of her ebook, Stop Doing What You Hate…Start Doing What You Love at http://www.StartDoingWhatYouLove.com. Contact Dr. Lehavi at Dorene@CoachingforYourNextLevel.com or on the web at http://www.CoachingforYourNextLevel.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Language Tools |
| Translation of text and web pages between English and several European languages. |
| www.google.com |
|
| Language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Gestures are a part of human language too. Some invented human languages have ... In human languages, the symbols are sometimes known as lexemes and the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| English language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Estimates about second language speakers of English vary greatly between 150 million ... Distribution of first-language native English speakers by country ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Free Translation and Professional Translation Services from SDL ... |
| SDL International is the world's number 1 provider of free and professional language translation services for websites and documents. |
| www.freetranslation.com |
|
| AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation |
| Select from and to languages, Chinese-simp to English, Chinese-trad to English, English to Chinese-simp, English to Chinese-trad, English to Dutch ... |
| babelfish.altavista.com |
|
| yourDictionary.com • Comprehensive and Authoritative Language Portal |
| Comprehensive index of on-line dictionaries in more than 200 different languages. Includes an index of on-line grammars, word of the day by email, ... |
| www.yourdictionary.com |
|
| iLoveLanguages - Your Guide to Languages on the Web |
| The Human-Languages Page is a comprehensive catalog of language-related Internet resources. The over 1900 links in the HLP database have been hand-reviewed ... |
| www.ilovelanguages.com |
|
| AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation |
| AltaVista Babel Fish provides the online text and web page language translation! ... Select from and to languages, Chinese-simp to English, Chinese-trad to ... |
| world.altavista.com |
|
| BBC - Languages - Homepage |
| Learn French, Spanish, German, Italian and other languages with the BBC. Start up with our courses or brush up with our audio magazines. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Online Dictionaries and Translators |
| online dictionaries that assist in the conversion from one language to ... If the dictionary only translates from one language to another you will see this ... |
| www.word2word.com |
|
| The Klingon Language Institute |
| Nonprofit organization offers language tutorials, related merchandise, mailing list and membership information. |
| www.kli.org |
|
| MARC Code List for Languages |
| MARC Code List for Languages prepared by the Library of Congress Network Development and MARC Standards Office. |
| www.loc.gov |
|
| Python Programming Language -- Official Website |
| Home page for Python, an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, extensible programming language. It provides an extraordinary combination of clarity and ... |
| www.python.org |
|
| SYSTRAN Language Translation Technology |
| Machine translation products. Free online translation available (the engine used by Altavista's Web translator) - English to French, German, Italian, ... |
| www.systransoft.com |
|
| Project MUSE - Language |
| Language, the official journal for the Linguistic Society of America, ... Edited by Brian Joseph , Language serves a readership of over 7000 and has been ... |
| muse.jhu.edu |
|
| Learn a Language :: English, Spanish, German, Italian, French ... |
| English language courses online: e-learning, learn English online, ... English language learning events,news, conferences, workshops and seminars ... |
| www.edufind.com |
|
| Parlo - Welcome to Parlo - learn to speak a new language. |
| Parlo helps you learn English, French, Spanish and other languages with free online courses, music, a magazine, flash cards, chat rooms, message boards and ... |
| www.parlo.com |
|
| PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor |
| PHP is a server-side HTML embedded scripting language. It provides web developers with a full suite of tools for building dynamic websites: native APIs to ... |
| www.php.net |
|
| Ethnologue, Languages of the World |
| Home page of ethnologue.com, a searchable database of language resources. |
| www.ethnologue.com |
|
| Language Log |
| Weblog run by University of Pennsylvania phonetician Mark Liberman, with multiple guest linguists. |
| itre.cis.upenn.edu |
|
|