In the relationship you have with your clients and customers, how far are you willing to go? Let’s speak about the product’s side first. If you sell goods or products on the internet or from a store, are you tracking your sales and returns by customer? A customer that is a buyer on a regular basis, do you have an established method of staying in touch with them? Are you aware of their interests, likes, dislikes and more, so you may add value to their daily lives? How about returns? There were a few stories recently about people who purchased expensive outfits for Halloween parties and then just returned them by stating, ‘wrong size’ or ‘did not expect it to look this way’ and of course demanded a full refund. Do you have an established and clearly stated policy for situations such as these? How about the condition of the product or goods?

Understanding that word of mouth and referrals are critical to your continued success, how are you handling these interactions? For the service based professional businesses, how far do you go with a client down a path? If you have both initially agreed upon the service to be provided, how this would take place and for what amount of money – the scope creep, or extra items requested should be clearly identifiable. Is it really that easy?

For example, if you are working with a client, and it is clear to you that they need a business plan and you have stated this to your client as a fact. If your client asks you to write their business plan for them, would you write their business plan for them? (The assumption here is that ‘writing a business plan’ is NOT your service based business). Do you clearly state and have in writing ‘you are not giving legal advice or accounting or financial advice and if such advice is needed you strongly suggest a trained professional in these areas should be sought out’?

What if in the service based business relationship your client has a presentation to put together in a few days and you are being asked to review the presentation, and to make corrections or suggestions for the specific presentation. Then you are asked to place these changes into the presentation for your client as they are too busy actually preparing for their presentation. What would you do?

All of the situations described here are real. If you have experience in these situations feel free to share your experience.

For your consideration in resolving these situations before they take place:

In the product sales arena or for in person sales have a few sentences you ask your cashier to deliver to each person once the sale is complete. Have this statement be delivered in a friendly manner and it should describe your store return policy and be concluded with something like, “Do you understand this return policy?” Look the customer in the eye and say, “We thank you for your business.” If the sales are in an online environment, make certain to have a statement with a box which must be clicked to conclude the purchase, which describes your return policy.

For any service based business, a brief one or two page understanding of the scope of work agreement should be signed by all parties once the engagement begins, one copy to each party. This will define how you will work with each other and who is responsible for what. This is especially important in the consulting and coaching business. It is important for anyone in any service based business as well.

Are you ready to meet with Mitch Tublin and set up your business for success? Contact Mitch here and book your first appointment: info@easysmallbusinesssolutions.com or call 877-907-8223.