“Harmful” Customers
Those who are engaged in business, in particular web development, do not need to talk about "harmful" customers. My comment on this topic in one of the topics caused positive feedback, so I’ll tell you what I think about this. Namely: how to differentiate customers by "harm"; how (and whether) to work with “harmful customers”.
First, we define who is considered a "harmful" client. A commonly used more scientific term is loyalty. In the simplest case, customers can be divided into three groups: harmful, normal and loyal.
A loyal customer delivers the fewest problems, usually making an order for a larger amount than the average customer. In addition, they often make re-orders. Such clients need to be cherished and cherished, for which you can develop a loyalty program.
A significant portion of customers can be classified as normal or medium . There are no special problems with them, but they will not show miracles of loyalty either.
The worst option is “harmful” or problem clients . For each organization, the “harmfulness” of customers is determined differently. In all areas of activity, such clients include those who do not comply with any form of agreement, and, above all, this applies to the financial part. If we talk about web development, then here it is worthwhile to single out clients who themselves break deadlines: do not provide materials, do not have time to check the work done, and so on.
First of all, it is necessary to define a “harmful” client before problems appear . This can be done by checking and in the process of direct communication. Next, you need to calculate the possible risks: problems with payment, various delays. In the simplest case, it is necessary to mark in CRM that there may be problems with this client.
Secondly, you should think carefully: do you need this client ? Here, the approach should be comprehensive, because you need to take into account both the cost and timing of the project, as well as possible risks. I will give an example from life, the business process of creating a site in the web-studio “N” is designed for a short time (the final calculation takes place after the completion of the work). The client makes it clear that the collection of materials will be quite a long time, but at this time work should be carried out on the site, because it starts an offline advertising campaign. For a web studio, such a project would be disadvantageous, first of all, in terms of time, and the client refuses to divide it into stages. If there are other projects, this client can be “merged”:
transfer it to other performers for a percentage, and if the client is completely “frostbitten,” we can recommend him to contact competitors :)
Thirdly, if a decision has been made to work with a “harmful” client, then a separate contract should be prepared for this category, where it will be written “how many times he can go to the toilet during the brief” . Seriously, the entire business process should be described in detail in the contract, especially, often problems arise with the design. Therefore, the contract should contain phrases such as “The Contractor is not obliged to take into account the aesthetic preferences of the customer”, “The Contractor will be guided by his own knowledge and experience” and the like. The contract must clearly state the penalties for disrupting the deadlines by the Customer, for example, in the form of forfeits. I recommend that the contract was reviewed by a lawyer who dealt with contracts in the field of IT .
The next step will be the preparation of technical specifications. It will be an annex to the contract, and must be drawn up before signing the contract . The terms of reference should be very detailed so that there is nothing to complain about. In addition to the terms of reference, an estimate (or a cost justification) is attached to the contract. I am writing about the cost because it is in it that one must take into account possible risks. I will not mention prepayment - if you work with such clients without it, then you are wasting this article in vain.
Fourth, the sales manager (hereinafter referred to as MP) must convey all the information in the contract to the person who signs the contract (let's call it conditionally “boss”) and to the person with whom we will have to work directly (“trustee”). By the way, in the power of attorney it is worth duplicating the section “Obligations of the Customer”, so that the trustee does everything necessary and precisely in time.
Fifth, such a client must be led by an experienced MP , whom the customer will not sit on the neck. For this, the MP must position itself as a solid and tough professional. In my experience, this is possible with various types of potentially harmful customers, such as “red directors” or “brothers”.
Sixth, each stage of the work must be written in writing by acts of work performed . The customer must clearly understand that by approving the design, it can not be changed. From personal experience, I will say that there may be delays, such as “the boss is not there”. According to this, the deadlines for signing the acts should be specified in the contract, and the right to sign the acts is delegated to the authorized person, who will notify the head.
We differentiate customers
First, we define who is considered a "harmful" client. A commonly used more scientific term is loyalty. In the simplest case, customers can be divided into three groups: harmful, normal and loyal.
A loyal customer delivers the fewest problems, usually making an order for a larger amount than the average customer. In addition, they often make re-orders. Such clients need to be cherished and cherished, for which you can develop a loyalty program.
A significant portion of customers can be classified as normal or medium . There are no special problems with them, but they will not show miracles of loyalty either.
The worst option is “harmful” or problem clients . For each organization, the “harmfulness” of customers is determined differently. In all areas of activity, such clients include those who do not comply with any form of agreement, and, above all, this applies to the financial part. If we talk about web development, then here it is worthwhile to single out clients who themselves break deadlines: do not provide materials, do not have time to check the work done, and so on.
How to work with problem clients
First of all, it is necessary to define a “harmful” client before problems appear . This can be done by checking and in the process of direct communication. Next, you need to calculate the possible risks: problems with payment, various delays. In the simplest case, it is necessary to mark in CRM that there may be problems with this client.
Secondly, you should think carefully: do you need this client ? Here, the approach should be comprehensive, because you need to take into account both the cost and timing of the project, as well as possible risks. I will give an example from life, the business process of creating a site in the web-studio “N” is designed for a short time (the final calculation takes place after the completion of the work). The client makes it clear that the collection of materials will be quite a long time, but at this time work should be carried out on the site, because it starts an offline advertising campaign. For a web studio, such a project would be disadvantageous, first of all, in terms of time, and the client refuses to divide it into stages. If there are other projects, this client can be “merged”:
transfer it to other performers for a percentage, and if the client is completely “frostbitten,” we can recommend him to contact competitors :)
Thirdly, if a decision has been made to work with a “harmful” client, then a separate contract should be prepared for this category, where it will be written “how many times he can go to the toilet during the brief” . Seriously, the entire business process should be described in detail in the contract, especially, often problems arise with the design. Therefore, the contract should contain phrases such as “The Contractor is not obliged to take into account the aesthetic preferences of the customer”, “The Contractor will be guided by his own knowledge and experience” and the like. The contract must clearly state the penalties for disrupting the deadlines by the Customer, for example, in the form of forfeits. I recommend that the contract was reviewed by a lawyer who dealt with contracts in the field of IT .
The next step will be the preparation of technical specifications. It will be an annex to the contract, and must be drawn up before signing the contract . The terms of reference should be very detailed so that there is nothing to complain about. In addition to the terms of reference, an estimate (or a cost justification) is attached to the contract. I am writing about the cost because it is in it that one must take into account possible risks. I will not mention prepayment - if you work with such clients without it, then you are wasting this article in vain.
Fourth, the sales manager (hereinafter referred to as MP) must convey all the information in the contract to the person who signs the contract (let's call it conditionally “boss”) and to the person with whom we will have to work directly (“trustee”). By the way, in the power of attorney it is worth duplicating the section “Obligations of the Customer”, so that the trustee does everything necessary and precisely in time.
Fifth, such a client must be led by an experienced MP , whom the customer will not sit on the neck. For this, the MP must position itself as a solid and tough professional. In my experience, this is possible with various types of potentially harmful customers, such as “red directors” or “brothers”.
Sixth, each stage of the work must be written in writing by acts of work performed . The customer must clearly understand that by approving the design, it can not be changed. From personal experience, I will say that there may be delays, such as “the boss is not there”. According to this, the deadlines for signing the acts should be specified in the contract, and the right to sign the acts is delegated to the authorized person, who will notify the head.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/23163/
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