Deal with scope issues immediately

Every job a client hires you or your company to complete should have some scope of work tied to it. If this is a regular part of your business practice (as it should be) - great work. Now that you've got that down, here comes the challenge - make sure to manage that scope with your customer.

The biggest part of this challenge is raising up the red flag the minute the project crosses the line from being within scope of what they're paying for, to outside of that scope. My first tendency is to put it off - maybe we'll just do this one more thing and that'll be it; just one small step outside of scope. But once this starts, its like an avalanche - it will get out of control really quick.

I dealt with this just yesterday. I knew a project I was managing at work was on the line of scope and was about to cross over. Sure enough, I got on the phone with the client, and here it came - they were asking us to do something that was outside of the original scope of work. I raised up the red flag right then and talked them through what was included in scope and how this request was outside of that. We talked about it for a while (these usually aren't quick conversations) but came up with a good solution. I told him that bottom line, I wanted us to be focused on doing great work for them, rather than worrying about trying to do the work as quickly as possible because it was outside of what we originally quoted. He got it, agreed that they wanted to pay us for our time and work, and we're quoting out this new aspect of the project. Problem avoided - we'll get paid for our time and the customer will get a better product because of it.

So bring up these issues with your clients immediately. If you wait, you'll let the issue slide too long and it'll be a much harder conversation (or you'll just avoid it altogether). Don't hesitate - business is all about relationships and this is just part of the dance.

Good vs Bad Profits

It stung when I had to call a client today to let him know I had screwed up. I hate screwing up. The mistake could have cost our company a good bit if it wasn't for the fact that our client caught the issue just in time. Our client was depending on us to take care of something for them, and we let them down and probably lost some trust. We'll have to regain that, but that's for another post. Today, I'm focused on a side conversation we had at the office about it. We were discussing our liability in situations like this. We talked about that fact that ultimately, it doesn't really matter whose direct fault it was. What matters is that we were at the helm when something went wrong, so guess what - its our fault and our problem. That's not pleasant news for most folks, as it leaves no room to wiggle out.

When faced with issues like this, you can try and get down to the nitty gritty details and see if there's some way you can put blame on someone else so they have to pay for the mistake. But all you will have done is forced someone's hand into paying you for something they're not excited about. You'll also probably ensure that they'll never come back to your company for future business. Your other option is to suck it up, take responsibility, pay up whatever cost the mistake incurred, and show your client that you really are interested in their success. You or your company may initially loose some money going in that direction, but you're far more likely to not only retain that customer, but have them recommend you to someone else down the road.

Deal with the initial loss incurred by giving up "bad" profits - don't chase after them. Instead focus on profits for which you've provided something excellent to your customers - profits you'll have earned that your clients were happy to pay.

The Rule of 3

As consumers, we're almost always focused on one of three characteristics in our buying decisions: Quality, Time, or Price. Its rare when we can find an instance that all three of these are equally catered to.

When I moved to Atlanta and was looking to purchase a house, I sacrificed a bit on price to get into a house in the timeframe I wanted. When I last bought a car, my purchasing paradigm completely shifted. I wasn't in a rush so I took my time shopping and ultimately got the price I wanted. In both cases one of the three took precedence (Home: Time | Car: Price). It didn't mean I didn't care about quality when I bought my car, or didn't car at all about price when I bought my house, but I was willing to sacrifice more on the other two at varying levels.

Discovering which is most important for yourself can definitely help when you're making a purchase. But the real lesson here is that helping determine which is of the three is most important to a customer can revolutionize your relationship with them. This can be a challenge, as a lot of times people will say one is most important (usually price) but reveal that something else entirely is important when they have to pick and choose between the three. Look at their actions more than you listen to what they say, and focus your efforts accordingly. It'll help you guide them toward the best decision and position yourself as a problem-solver.

Don't just sell it - give it away

I love Andy Samberg's SNL Digital Shorts. I was hooked from the first time I watched "Lazy Sunday" and I wasn't alone. It had some 1 million hits on YouTube just a few days after it aired on SNL. Then "Punched" came along last year with the same mass results. I wish I could add a link in here to view both of them. However, YouTube has removed all of these "Shorts" from their library of videos due to issue NBC/Universal has taken up with their material being broadcast for free over the web.

I'd argue that this was a misdirection on their part. Think about it - who is talking about the latest sketch on SNL these days? It must be a select group cause I'm not hearing anything about it anymore. If SNL was still allowing their videos to go out for free on YouTube, they'd allow for more opportunities to position themselves as THE best late night sketch comedy around as more and more people were likely to email links to the videos, show them to their co-workers in the workplace, etc. They would not only be multiplying, but also empowering passionate fans.

So why does any of this matter for the Squeeze? Buried inside this example is a much larger issue that applies to more than just the TV and music execs of the world. Its an issue facing most of us involved in any type of business - the battle of giving away your best vs selling your best.

Traditional marketers and business folk alike have a mindset that if you've worked hard for it and created something competitive, no one should have a right to it unless they pay for it. Our instinct is to protect our competitive advantage - hide it so no one can steal it. There is obviously some logic in this. But at the end of the day, most competitive advantages are eventually copied by someone. In today's marketplace this mentality no longer works.

Don’t fear sharing how you produce the excellence that you do in your work. Share it with rival companies and even co-workers, if asked. If someone is asking, they already see you as an expert. This will always keep you one step ahead as someone else tries to catch up. It will also position you as the expert they have to catch up to.

The Proactive Apology

Dealing with screwing up is never easy to stomach. I dealt with a mistake the other day that resulted in some really frustrating issues for a client. I knew there was a problem, started trying to fix it, and then reached a point where all I could do was wait until certain steps were taken beyond my control. Then I hit a fork in the road on how I was going to handle the issue with the client.

They hadn't called or emailed me yet to tell me there was an issue...maybe I should just wait until they do, crossing my fingers that by the time they notice the issue, it'll be fixed. No harm no foul - right? Then I got that gut check - I saw there was another way to handle it. I could call the client right that moment, even before they noticed the issue. Apologize, explain that I didn't know how much longer it would be till it was fixed (which in my opinion, is one of the worst things to have to tell someone), and take responsibility. The 2nd option sounded like 3 nasty punches to the gut. I felt like I'd rather chance them finding out in a couple of hours and cross my fingers that it would be fixed by then - afterall, its not like I had any "real" news at that point since I couldn't tell them yet when it would be fixed (that's me trying to wrangle out of facing the music).

So I sucked it up, called, and told them what was going on. Looking back, that was the smartest thing I could do. It positioned me as being in front of the issue, supportive, and relational. But none of those 3 things were on my mind when faced with the the decision, although they should have been. Lesson learned.

Apologizing as soon as a problem comes up, by voice (in person or by phone / no emails) may not be easy, but it is the path that will separate you from the pack.