Business Triage 101

Of late, I have spoken to many creative business owners who are just overwhelmed.  For some, their businesses are booming, some sinking, all feel completely out of control with no sense of what to do.  My response?  Customer service first, pricing and production issues second, operational issues third.

Why customer service first?  No customers, no business.  You can fix your operations, pricing and product/service delivery all day long, but once customers leave, they are likely gone forever.  Yet, what so many creative business owners forget when they get in the weeds is that clients (the right ones anyway) are on their side.  Clients will likely forgive your failings so long as you give them the respect they deserve: talk to them, acknowledge what hasn't been done, tell them what you are going to do address (as opposed to fix) the situation and when.

When you establish who you are marketing to, how you close the deal and how you set out your business practices to a client, you define the product/service you are going to provide.  Done well, your customer service plan sets the road map for the business:  what you are going to do, when you are going to do it and the steps needed to get from sale to delivery.  Done poorly, there is confusion and mis-communication, both to the client and internally. 

A great example: two stationers are bidding on delivering invitations and collateral for a wedding.  The first shows select samples of her work (beautiful to the client) says that all of her work is custom, that she needs at least three months to produce the work, and will need approval of artwork not later than four months before the delivery date of the item.  She tells the client that she can do rush work, but it will result in a 30% surcharge, and she can not entertain work to be delivered in less than six weeks.  She goes over pricing and payment dates.  She finishes with establishing the dates for the creative process — client's vision, concept presentation, sample approval and printing.  The other stationer shows a book of her work, which is amazing too, doesn't discuss the "business" at all.  She says that they can get to business after the clients sees samples.  When asked about prices, the stationer tells the client not to worry – she knows the budget and they will work it out.

Not clear which stationer the client will go with given similar products and pricing.  But which one do you think will be more organized and responsive?  And which one do you think could find themselves overwhelmed when the business grows?

By giving your clients direction, you give it to yourself and your business.  And once you have direction, you will know what needs to be done to get where you and your business want to go.