The Real Deal Offline Series: The One Offline Client You Should Avoid Like The Plague...

3 replies
Hey Offliners,

When I first got started in offline marketing, I was desperate for clients. I would work with anyone who had a pulse and $2 to invest.

I'm talking about the type of clients who would want a discount on your marketing services because you don't have a big office, so you they feel that you shouldn't charge alot.

These type of clients would sap the life out of every deal I was doing.

I would start out excited, but would eventually wind up feeling frustrated, drained and overworked because they'd want me to do the enough work to earn them tens of thousands of dollars in profits while only paying me peanuts.

You may be in a similar situation like I was in, so here's a few of the signs to let you know you're dealing with one of these type of clients:

- They constantly remind you that they want to get their monies worth, even though you're generating thousands of dollars in profits each month and charging less than $100 per month for your marketing services.

- They started negotiating your fee down before they even agreed to work with you.

- Even though your contract with them spells out exactly what you will and will not do, they consistently ask you to make exceptions.

- You've told them dozens of times that weekends and evenings are your sacred time for family.

However, it didn't take me long to realize that I would have a ton of ulcers while making less money if I continued to work with anyone.

So, I changed the type of clients I would work with. I no longer advertised cheap offers for a little service, I bundled my services up and charged a premium price of anywhere from $1,000 and up for my marketing services.

That's what led me to start focusing on targetting prospects who had high transaction amounts and were already spending thousands of dollars per month in marketing already.

Here was my little list of ideal prospects:

- Earn thousands of dollars in profit per customer.
- Routinely spend thousands of dollars per month in advertising
- Required to regularly invest in their business education.
- In a industry that embraces technology in their marketing.
- Competitive industry where business owners are always searching for an extra edge.

If I could go back in time, I would've done this from the beginning, but we live and learn, right?

Hope this helps,

Chris
#avoid #client #deal #marketing consultant #offline #offline marketing #offline plr #plague #real #series
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Makarski
    Nice post!

    As Gary Halbert said, "Clients suck!"

    Our job numero uno is to identify, attract, and work with those who suck less.
    Signature

    "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." -Confucius

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  • Profile picture of the author jesseholmes
    Hey Chris,

    I feel ya man! Great list for sure. The big one for me is working with businesses who have a high average customer value like you said. That way, I can charge them a good chunk of change every month and if I just get them one new customer a month they're thrilled!

    What kind of marketing services do you provide for local business clients?

    -Jesse
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    • Profile picture of the author RockstarBen
      I love it! I can't tell you how much better life is - now that I no longer have to work for a cheap, pain in the ass client! That's what I find amazing... My $1,500+ per month clients very rarely bother me or anyone on my team. Back when I took on those "poodle fluffing" businesses as clients, they wanted everything under the sun for $200 per month and kept my phones tied up.

      Attention: if you feel stuck, do what I did...

      Target those high value clients (as mentioned: those who get a hefty chunk of change with one conversion) and charge them at least $700 per month for any of a variety of services (mobile, text, seo, etc) and with each new one you grab, fire your biggest pain in the ass client. You will sleep like a baby when you do this. Keep it up until you absolutely LOVE all your good paying, low-maintenance, awesome clients!

      Keep Rockin!
      --Ben
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