Happy 5th Anniversary AllWrite Ink

Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on February 15, 2010 under Customer Moments | Be the First to Comment

On Monday, February 14, 2005 I opened the doors of AllWrite Ink, a freelance writing business.  Having worked in the corporate world more than 25 years I decided to give it a go as an entrepreneur.  I had experience.  Working side by side with Pearle Vision Franchise owners had taught me a lot.  But oh, what I didn’t know then….

As I look back on five years a few lessons come to mind and since this is a customer relationship blog – I’m going to talk about the one big lesson I’ve learned.

PICK THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS

When you first start out – or even if you’ve been around awhile but times are tough – you want to say YES to any customer and to any project.  Here are a few I said yes to than I learned quickly the error of my ways:

• A European company bringing an adult porn telephone service to the U.S.  They needed content for their marketing material.  At first I thought – one product is just like any other – it is all about the customer’s needs….that’s as far as I got.  I realized that although the company sounded like it would be successful and the people I talked with were great – I wasn’t so sure I wanted to align my company name with theirs.  So I quickly said “I wish you all the best but I’m not sure I’m the best writer for the project.”  Lesson Learned:  Align your company with those that match your mission, vision and values.
• A website project for a company managing liquidation sales.  The guy was awesome.  The company terrific.  The challenge was in writing styles.  He wanted Harvard Business Review and I offer People Magazine.  We tried.  But it was stressful for both us.  We finally said “best of luck” and I gave him a recommendation for a different writer. Lesson Learned: There is such a thing as a “good fit.” Make sure you are the right solution for your customer – you’ll both be happier.
• A small business with a limited budget and big ideas. The scope of the project creeped and creeped until he wanted four times what we’d originally talked about for the original price.  This was my fault.  I didn’t set boundaries.  I didn’t fully explain the value of the original project.  I completed the project but the next time he called I was more confident about what I offer.  We didn’t work together again.  Lesson Learned: if I don’t value what I offer – neither will the customer.

One other lesson I learned was about positioning with my customers.  As a writer I thought it made perfect sense to offer my services to web developers.  One of the biggest complaints I hear from developers is that they are forever waiting on website content from their customers.  It seemed like the perfect solution.  I would offer that content.  It never took off. 

I was walking the track at the gym recently with a developer and said – why didn’t this idea make sense?

“What did you offer the developers?”

“Content.”

“Ahhh, that’s your problem.”

“But that’s what they need.”

“Yes, but you didn’t show WHY they can’t live without it.  What you were really offering them was SALES.”

“How do you figure?,” man, sometimes I’m dense.

“If they have great content, the reader stays longer and then picks up the phone or emails or places an order, right?”

“Yes – that’s what I offer.  Words People Read.”

“Nope.  You are offering them sales.  You didn’t position it right so that the customer truly understood what you could do for them.”

Ahhhhh.

Light Bulb.  So I’m always learning.   What has your business taught you about your customer relationships?