Client1 Lesson1:
He was one of our initial clients and we as novice considered him more as a mentor. So every word he said, every action he took for or against us was a lesson to us. The biggest lesson came on the day when everything was at the brink of collapse. We could see the relationship going wrong due to typical hierarchy issues where crucial decisions were delayed based on non-availability of a higher authority. It was a sour ending with exchange of few not-so-good-in-taste mails from either party. Though I won’t go into the details, here is the lesson:
Months after we discontinued with the client, one fine day (infact night), I received a chat from the US Head of the company – “Hi Anamika. How are you doing?”
I was partially in shock and partially delighted as I had never expected anything like this particularly after almost a year of not being in contact. The business girl in me sprang two levels high and started telling myself, “See I knew it that he would come back to us. I think he wants to continue working with us. He will nowhere get such a good team, blah blah blah.”.
And with all this random thoughts and excitement I replied, “Hi Sir. How are you. I am fine.”
He sent a smiley and said, “How is work going?” to which I replied humbly, “All Fine.”
All this while I was waiting with bated breath to hear something that’s good for my business.
I said, “Sir, I thought many times to contact you, but for some reason couldn’t. How are things with you?”
And here came the reply which made me smile and left me with the biggest and humblest lesson:
“Anamika, world is too small. When you feel you want to contact someone, do it. Don’t think twice. I am always there to reciprocate to young people like you. We may not have ended up doing business together. But we can always be in touch and be reachable.”
Lesson: In business, there is nothing like bad relation. There is only bad business. So if you end up not doing business, that doesn’t mean you must end up not carrying on the relationship. I still admire him for what he taught me that day. Even today I have this tendency of considering relationship above business and not carrying grudges in my heart.
Client2 Lesson2:
We were going for a meeting with a prospective client. He was a great competition to one of our existing client and we knew that he would grill us with what we have been doing for him. On a second thought, I think he called us for a meeting just to know what we do for his competition. So here was an old man in 50s full of energy and enthusiasm who had all the time in the world and was ready to share his experience and learning open heartedly with us. In his little room placed inside his big godown, I felt like a class going in full swing as he grilled us with some not-so-straight questions. It turned out that we knew almost everyone in his close circle as the industry to which he belonged has just few major players.
He started saying some really bad things about how his competition always copied his ideas and were nowhere near his company’s size. Being young and not wanting to disappoint a prospective client, we kept nodding to what he said. There were points which were not true but we never disagreed as that’s what we thought is best for the situation.
After few such remarks on his competition, he looked at us and smiled and asked us, “So you do agree to what I am saying.”
Feeling a little discomfort in our seats, we said, “Sir, it’s true that you are doing good work. They (your competition) are producing for the masses and hence may be they are not looking for such level of thoughtfulness behind each of their product line. But yes they are planning to come out with something really conceptual which may give you tough competition.”
He smiled even wider and said, “That’s all I wanted to hear. Stand for your clients no matter who is in front of you. I just wanted to see whether you would please me by saying I am right or would you make statement to justify your client. I am glad.”
Lesson: We never got that client. He already had full-fledged team to work for him. I wonder why he even called us at the first place. But we learned that “stand for your clients”. It may be in fashion to say “Yaar ye client ne pareshan kar rakha hai, us client ka dimaag kharab hai.”, but the best thing is to consider them as part of your team and always stand for them in front of others – no matter if that means losing a prospective client. Believe me, you will reap good.
Client3 Lesson3:
We heard about this new hospital and wanted to pitch them with our services. After being fortunate enough to get a rough briefing from their team, we were preparing a full-fledged presentation with ideas and concepts on what all they can do to make their hospital give competition to the multi-specialty ones around. Most of the ideas which we had given didn’t require our services in any way. They were like suggestions which they could implement and execute from their end without any support from us. But we still gave them to give them an understanding of our thoughtfulness.
One of our team members suggested not to give such ideas as what good would that do to us. But being a pitch presentation, we thought it would add to the whole thing and so we kept most of them. The presentation was one of our best presentations ever and we wooed the 7 member panel with our enthusiasm and ideas which we thought they would have never imagined us to come out with. After clappings and some really good expressions from the senior members in the panel, here came the harsh truth, “Very well done. We are impressed. We will get back to you.”
We realised we had done a mistake. We should have included only those services, for which they would need us. After a year almost, I received a call from one of the senior members saying, “Can you give us the rates for your services?”
Till date, it remains as one of the finest and largest project of ours.
Lesson: Give your best. Best yields best. Smartness isn’t in hiding your capabilities but in revealing them. And even if he were never to become your client, still give a presentation that would woo the audience and leave an impression. Did I mention “high recall value”?
Client4 Lesson4:
This client wanted us to quote him for a project which was scalable and we were doing the calculations since a week. We went to him with a quote which he gave a glance and said, “So will you do everything you proposed under the project at this rate?” We nodded.
“Dear, quote me something that will make you smile and do work for me with all your heart. Kuch negotiation ka chance toh chodo. You have under-quoted me. And I know that you will have a hard time doing things in this rate. Go back, think higher and leave the negotiation bit to me and my team. Don’t do it from your end. Ask for what you deserve, otherwise you will disappoint me with your work.”
This was the first time we were asked to increase our rates.
Lesson: May be as a start-up, you want to get a client and a project so badly that you may under-quote. But think of the stage when you won’t be able to deliver quality work because you don’t have resources to fulfil your requirements. Leave the negotiation bit to the client, don’t do it stringently at your end.
Client5 Lesson5:
This is the latest in our kitty. One of our clients, also a rodinhooder, blogged about our work on this platform. The reason is we did something for him without being asked but being proactive towards his brand. It paid off. We didn’t earn in bucks (for that particular project), but we definitely earned in words that were worth a million.
Lesson: Read the story here and you will find the lesson.
Lessons are like gems. You just need to look for them and they will help you shine.
Keep hunting for your own lessons!