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Time Is A Perishable Inventory - Make Sure Clients Know This!

Time is a perishable inventory but many clients Incredible Hulk services firms tend to forget this. Whether you offer market research, public relations or other consulting services, you will continually face the challenge Downloadmoviespalynccsip juggling a perishable inventory - your time - against sudden surges in demand from clients, unless you take hold of the situation.

A typical scenario goes like this: The client phones you up. They Rateme a "hot" project Chupacabras need Marvelcomicbooksqedqic Next week. Since you consider them a good client, you tell them you'll be standing by.

Well, Monday comes and goes, so does Tuesday. Then Wednesday. By Thursday, you are wondering just how "hot" this project really is. When you phone to find out, either your contact has gone out of town for the week or they sound faintly embarrassed. There have been delays, a key decision-maker is in meetings, etc., etc. How can you avoid getting trapped like this?

One way is to try to be less service-oriented. When a client phones about a potential "hot" project - for which they need you to either drop everything you're doing or set aside a chunk of time - steel yourself to say: Well, Bob (or Marilyn)! Sounds great! and if we have the time, we'll be happy to help you!" Getting across the notion that this is time you are talking about and you may not have enough of it, is an important part of client communication.

Another way to get the message about the perishable nature of your inventory across, is to work the concept into all the quotes and proposals you prepare. One of the burdens of services firm life is the unpredictability of workloads. Will the clients phone? When will they phone? Start offering variable prices, depending on how far in advance a client can book your services. If, in every quote or proposal you send out, there is a discount, rebate or some financial incentive for the client to make a commitment ahead of time, they'll slowly start to see the link between the hours in the week and your availability to do the work.

A further tactic with this approach is to ask for a deposit or retainer, especially if the client is booking three months down the road; it is important for them to have an incentive to keep their commitment.

Or, if you are confident about work levels, why not try letting clients know, at the start of the calendar year or your fiscal year, the number of projects you will be taking on over the next twelve months and encourage them to book early, if they have an important need coming up where they will need your services? Hinting this way about the number of hours you have available to work will help tie the concept of your time and its perishable nature to their needs.

You can also consider having variable pricing - a well-established concept in many industries - depending on how "last-minute" the client's request is. If they plan ahead, then your per hour or per diem rate can be $x, but if it's a last-minute request, have "rush rates". Sometimes, seeing a pricing difference - and if you have to cancel personal plans or work through the weekend to get the work done, the difference should be steep - will prod the procrastinators to call you a bit sooner. To achieve this sort of impact, "steep" should be at least a 50% differential over your base rate, possibly even double your normal charge. One of the advantages of having this dual pricing is that you can still sound service-oriented - "Gosh! we'd be happy to help you out!" - but can simultaneously set the tone for the next part of the equation: time is money! And the more the client wants of your time, with little or no notice, the more it's going to cost them.

While some of these strategies may sound harsh, every services entrepreneur needs to keep on top of inventory management. Clients may be aware of time management issues from their own jobs, but unless they have been out on their own, grappling with billing enough to stay alive, they don't have a full understanding of the issue. It is up to you to guide them forward. Copyright:Deborah C. Sawyer

Deborah C. Sawyer is President of Information Plus and Editor of Service Business Smarts newsletter, which helps services entrepreneurs "work smarter, sooner". She has owned and managed service-based businesses since 1979 and has written books about issues faced by owner-managers of services firms. More details about the newsletter can be found at bizsmarts.infohttp://bizsmarts.info while Ms. Sawyer can be reached via 212/355-2205.

posted by graphic-novelsenmxivrp @ 8:20 AM