As your business becomes more well-known, you’ll have a wide spectrum of people take an interest in your work.
Each of them starts with the same foundational question: what can you do for me?
This is a fair question, and so you’ll want to have a clear answer and a thick skin.

The truth is that you won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s ok.
If someone looks at your business and says “hmm, it’s not for me” that’s totally fine.
The problem is when someone goes “ugh, this is too hard” and leaves.
You hate to see it: an entrepreneur is selling something genuinely great but can’t fuel their business, while their customers continue to wander around, frustrated by the lack of decent options.

I bet you’ve felt it too:
·      Standing in a store, intending to buy something but are unable to find a team member
·      Closing a webpage because you couldn’t understand the differences between products
·      Bailing on a purchase because you had to create an account with a “strong password”
·      Being served by lazy salespeople who make incorrect assumptions about what you need

From my perspective, this is the biggest opportunity for business owners to address; instead of hassling people who don’t need what you sell, make it easy for the people who actually want what you’ve got.
This is similar to the idea of “qualifying the prospect”, which is sales robot talk for
“checking if our work is right for this person”.
By screening people early, we can determine how to best explain our business and understands their needs.
No manipulation, just a tailoring of the next conversation to make everyone’s lives easier.

When screening, we can look at two major variables.
The first is Sophistication – does this person understand how your industry works?
Sophistication doesn’t mean rich and stupid, it means that they understand how to buy the type of products and services that you’re selling.
Can they spot quality when they see it?
Do they see value of a designer’s input?
Are they expecting that the material costs are what set the price?

I bet you’re a sophisticated customer of some things, and totally lost on others, as am I:
·      I have no idea what I should spend on tyres, but I know what makes a good pair of headphones.
·      I used to think that designer clothing was for “idiots paying for the label”, but now I understand that the cut and fabric make a big difference, even on a plain black t-shirt.
·      I was surprised to learn that people pay for fonts, but I totally get why someone would spend a lot of money on a logo.

The second variable is Likeability – is this person going to be pleasant to work with?
Perhaps this isn’t so crucial if you’re selling takeaway coffee, but it is of particular importance if you’re going to be spending a decent amount of time together – work can become miserable if you’re always dealing with difficult or unpleasant people.

It’s not an exact science, but I’d include:
·      Cheapskates who quibble over every dollar
·      People who are angry, rude or love to make threats
·      People who brag about ripping off other vendors
·      People who seem to resent having to buy the types of product/service you’re selling
·      Creeps who make women uncomfortable

This gives us four broad types of people who will stumble across your business, and you’re not going to like all of them.
That said, we can be nice to them, even if nice means sending them somewhere else with a smile.

Sophisticated + Easy To Work With
These people are fantastic, they know what they want and they’re ready to spend.
They speak your language, they cut to the chase, and they have high standards.
They won’t always choose to buy from you, and that’s ok, so long as they see you as a genuine and credible business.
By treating these people well, you’ll grow your market share as well as your reputation.

Sophisticated + Difficult To Work With
These people are…still people, so we want to treat them well, but without bending over backwards.
They tend to have high standards, but can use these as a weapon to demand discounts or additional time.
If you’re not careful, they can become a headache, albeit a lucrative headache.

Unsophisticated + Easy To Work With
I have a big heart for these people, they don’t necessarily know what they want but at least they won’t give you a headache.
These people will take longer to make a decision, since they need to learn about their options as well as what sort of prices they can expect to pay in your industry.
By treating these people well, you’ll win new customers and earn their loyalty.

Unsophisticated + Difficult To Work With
These people are probably not your future customers, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be dismissive.
While they won’t become loyal fans, they can certainly become your enemies, damaging your reputation and causing needless headaches.
By treating these people well, we can nudge them towards alternatives that are more likely to satisfy their requirements.

Again, you are not responsible for pleasing everyone.
Instead, you’re responsible for creating a clear offer for the customers you want, and responsible for graciously guiding everyone else to a more suitable business.
You’re not responsible for whether or not they make a purchase, so long as you’ve put your best foot forward.
The alternative is the dark path you can read about in creepy sales training – using every trick in the book to manipulate someone into buying something that isn’t right for them.
Yuck.

There are four valuable questions for you to think about – getting each of them right can make a huge impact on your sales.

1. Where can you find more of the Sophisticated + Likeable people?
Rather than trying to double the number of people who hear about your business, can you instead focus on growing this specific audience?
Perhaps they all congregate in similar places – groups, online forums, neighbourhoods, etc.
Perhaps they know more people like them, so it might be worth going the extra mile for these customers in order to turn them into ambassadors.

It’s also worth inquiring about what drew them to your company in the first place.
There’s a good chance it was for a subtle reason, and by understanding what they noticed or appreciated, you can double-down on that in the future.

2. Can we educate and support our unsophisticated customers?
If you can make people feel comfortable while they learn about your industry, you’re likely to become their favourite candidate once they know what they want.
Can you offer them a clear menu, outlining the choices that are available to them?
Can you create a FAQ, answering all the usual questions in a fun and helpful way?
Can you help set their expectations, to help reduce “sticker shock”?
Can you show rather than tell, using visuals to help clarify how the options are different?
Can you use frames of reference that they naturally understand?
Can you explain their alternatives to them; what they can expect to find if they choose another path?
Can you help them solve their real problems rather than their surface needs?

If you want to see a good example, have a look at Apple’s website; they make it easy to choose the type of product you’re interested in, then they explain the features and benefits in a way that anyone can understand.
They also have a great product comparison tool.

Or stay up late and watch an infomercial.
They are elite at hammering the viewer with the message of feature-benefit, feature-benefit for 15 minutes, before quickly stating the price along with a desperate call-to-action for the remainder of the program.
Only once the customer is crystal clear on how this product will change their life are they told of the price, and then this gets immediately skewed by the addition of “bonuses” with meaningless dollar values.
If they switched to banner ads that said “Steam Mop - $119” then I doubt they’d have anywhere near as many sales.

3. What’s the difference between tricky and impossible?
The Sophisticated + Difficult group are interesting, I feel like the best way to approach them is with the “Yes if…” filter.
Instead of an overly simplistic “You should take money from anyone” or “never work with tricky people”, we can determine the criteria under which we’re happy to take them on as customers.
e.g. We’ll take customers with high standards and unusual requirements if they pay a premium.
I really like the infamous “Designers Price Lists”:

You can anticipate there being additional time to serve them well, so this gets built into the price from the outset (especially if you charge different rates for different people).
A lot of freelancers and new entrepreneurs are given their first break by these customers.
They take on assignments from tough taskmasters, but they weren’t getting a look-in from the rest of the market.
These clients can bring credibility, but only for a season – you don’t want to become a magnet for only tricky customers.

Tricky customers can be a launchpad for your brand, but there are certain lines that aren’t worth crossing.
Anything that makes your team uncomfortable or at risk is flat-out unacceptable, including verbal abuse, intimidation and any other form of bullying behaviour.
It’s worth getting your plans and policies in place, ensuring that your contracts allow you to cancel a project with someone who is being abusive or unsafe.

4. How can we guide the impossible people out the door?
If you want to increase your blood pressure, have a look at a subreddit called Choosing Beggars.
There are some funny/infuriating examples of customers who expect that freelancers/startups will give them everything for free, often in the name of “exposure”.
This is unfortunately common in the world of social enterprise, where some people cannot wrap their heads around the idea that something good for the world could cost money.
The temptation is to rationalize, justify or offer discounts, but these are fights you just can’t win with impossible people.
Remember, you are not their cup of tea, and watering yourself down won’t suddenly turn them into raving fans.

You often see this in fields where what you do “looks easy”, or where people believe that they could create something similar themselves, such as:
·      Logo design
·      Copywriting
·      Photography
·      Social media management
·      Grant writing
·      Event management
·      Website development
·      Custom birthday cakes
·      Cafes selling smashed Avocado

By contrast, I don’t hear of many people trying to haggle with their lawyer, plumber, accountant or dentist.
They may bemoan the cost, but they understand that the DIY approach won’t bring them much joy, so they pay their bills with relative ease.

My friend Will Dayble recently said “maybe the cheap and complaining customers are the rent we pay for being in business”.
I don’t like that it’s true, but I think it’s true.
The key is in separating their opinion from your reality - just because they don’t see your worth doesn’t mean you’re worthless.
You cannot grow a business with these people as your customers.
You’re better off having fewer customers who are great, rather than filling up your time with impossible people.

It’s likely that your best option here is to politely guide impossible out the door, explaining that other options are going to better meet their needs.
It might be worth thinking about these in advance so that you’re not put on the spot.
·      Where can they go where they won’t have to spend so much money?
·      Who can they go to for a far more customised solution?
·      Which of your competitors might be able to serve this person well?

Again, the secret here is in treating them with kindness, but not by taking them on as a customer.
That leads to either you over-servicing them and losing money, or them leaving a scathing review online, or both.

There are no fixed “rules” here, what constitutes a good idea will vary so much based on what you’re selling and what sales channel customers are using.
Perhaps instead of rules, the best option is to ask “am I trying my best to make it easy for people?”
Platforms change, products change, industries change, but walking a mile in your customer’s shoes never goes out of style.