Do you know your client?

As professionals, it is imperative that you know what you are signing up for when you enter into a negotiation with your clients. A client’s want is determined by who they are. Who they are is regularly demonstrated by what they do. It is helpful to think about what their professional background is along with their general personality. As you may know, identifying the type of client you are working with will greatly help you develop your own professional track record. On the subject of clients, author Michael E. Gerber has written about the way we strategize our business so we can better cater to the type of clients we face. Through the book E-myth, Mr.Gerber states that it is helpful to categorize clients in six types: Tactile, Neutral, Withdrawal, Experimental, Transitional and Traditional. Below are the breakdowns of how to best strategize for each client type.

Tactile clients

These are the types of clients who get the most gratification from interacting with other people. If you’ve identified your client as a Tactile one, make sure to emphasize the talents in your network. One easy implementable strategy is to tell stories about your career. If you are a career coach or an executive coach, it is very likely that you have been in many career positions and have worked with various disciplines. Leverage your experience and network to your clients when they work with you. The feeling of making meaningful connections to the talents you could potentially bring to the table really counts.

Neutral clients

Neutral clients tend to be more interested in interacting with inadament objects, technologies, and information. Leverage your familiarity of data analytical skills and tools to make a compelling statement about why you are the right person to work with.  Structuring a compelling story through data and information that are relevant to the client is the key.

Withdrawal clients

Withdrawal clients will be most interested in the diverse ideas and concepts you bring to the table. Through storytelling, emphasize the idea of your business and how you can deliver the most provoking thoughts. Your aim should be to focus on their goals by mentioning that you have options to achieve their goals. Be the presenter of multiple solutions as many times as you can.

Experimental clients

Experimental clients most often rationalize their decisions by perceiving what they paid for is fresh, revolutionary and innovative. For this type of client, you should emphasize the uniqueness of your business. Help them understand the value of investing their time and money with you by assuring they can count on your services and technology to be on the cutting edge of the industry. Point out how your latest strategies are different from what they perceive as conventional methods. Pitching a ‘new take' on something they've already heard of is a good rule of thumb. 

Transitional clients

When you’ve identified your client as a Transitional one, it is most important to demonstrate how dependable and reliable you are. Share your previous client testimonials, consistency in the quality of work, and success of past track records. Talk about successful precedents and how your methods hedged against risks. Help the client understand that you are the safe bet because your approach does not rely on an untested methods.

Traditional clients

Traditional clients rationalize by viewing what they bought is cost-effective, a good deal and worth the investment. Talk about the financial competitiveness of your business. Start by identifying major milestones in your process so they can see that you have a solid plan. Make sure to inform your client of the deliverables every step of the way. And make sure to regularly update the results you bring as the project progresses to ensure the client.

Every client is unique and different. Being able to distinguish each client type above will help you identify, adapt and strategize accordingly. Understanding the wants of your clients and communicating the value you bring effectively is critical to keeping them happy. This is no easy work. And as you know, nurturing the relationship with each takes time. Therefore, implementing systematic lead generation solution will open up more space, time and energy towards doing the work that matters.