Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key aspect of your business that many don’t think about is your reputation. If you’ve developed a questionable reputation for any reason, you may see your business dry up. The following contributed post is entitled, Reasons Why Potential Clients Won’t Want To Do Business With You.
* * *
As a business owner, you will be reliant on your clients for your income. If you have a steady stream of people to do business with, you will start to make a profit and build your portfolio. But if you don’t? Well, you don’t need us to tell you the consequences of a low client base.
If you are struggling to find clients to work with you, there could be some very good reasons why. These include the following, so have a read, and make the necessary changes for the betterment of your business.
#1: A bad reputation
In business, a good reputation is everything. When people only have good things to say about you, you will garner a lot of trust and respect from others. But if you or your business is less than reputable, you will struggle to reach the clients you need for your business.
So, what can cause a bad reputation? Well, if the quality of your work is poor, you can be guaranteed bad word-of-mouth from past clients. If your business is less than ethical, perhaps because you fail to care for the environment in your manufacturing processes, you will also receive negative attention. And if you have a criminal record, even for something that may have happened a long time ago, you might also struggle to attain new clients if they discover something about you on a Google search.
The key here is to improve your reputation.
Focus on quality in every part of your business to ensure good client reviews.
Establish an ethics policy with guidance for on better code of conduct for you and your employees.
And if you do have a criminal record, check out this advice on online content removal, as you may be able to get mention of your name removed if your conviction is spent. You might also want to seek out the services of an expungement lawyer in an attempt to get your criminal record expunged.
#2: Bad comparisons to your competition
If your business type was completely unique, you wouldn’t have to worry about the competition. However, you’re probably competing against a number of rivals in your bid to win new clients to your side, and you will struggle if you pale in comparison for any reason.
So, research your competition to find out why they might be winning more clients than you. It might be because their products or services are of better quality. They might be charging fairer prices. And it might be that their website is a lot better than yours in terms of professional design and content. These are just some of the reasons why you might be losing out to them, but there could be others.
To beat your rivals, better them in every conceivable way. Focus on quality work, adjust your pricing, improve your website, and do whatever else it takes to stop potential new clients from siding with them over you.
Finally
These are just two of the reasons why potential clients won’t want to do business with you. Of course, there could be other reasons, and to find out, you might want to ask them. Feedback forms are always a good idea, as are conversations on the phone if you want to find out the answer. When you know what the problems are, do what you can to make changes, as the more clients you have coming to your doors, the better.
