***Reading Tarot as a Business, Choosing Clients, Client Relations for the Sensitive Entrepreneur

Accepting whatever client happens when beginning a service business as an entrepreneur is normal. It can be a ruinous detour as a regular practice, though; and you may not be aware of the illfated turn at the time it happens. Example: I opened a court reporting office without directly soliciting any clients first. One of my first clients was a very busy law office run by an unethical man and his unethical wife. He had more than enough business to keep me busy without any other clients. I did not know having this man as a client would mean I would get no others; but I did know the way he was trying to not pay me what I was due was creepy. It was instinct and my quirky personality that led me to refer each and every job this man sent me to some court reporters in his building who were also beginning a business, who gave me the same bad vibes this client guy gave me. He said he did not like them, to not give his jobs to them, but I did anyway, and they got married. Those two guys (the reporters) were never grateful for the referrals, and they never got any other clients to speak of. The lawyer succeeded in making them work for far less than the standard rate. That uninformed rude maneuver on my part was one of the smartest things I ever did even though I went back to having no clients (to speak of) when I did that. Later, I was told that other lawyers would not use the same court reporter this lawyer did: that having him as a client was the 'kiss of death.'

Clients are the foundation of any business, especially a service business. Choosing clients will lay a deliberate foundation for the business. Choosing begins with who you are: That partially determines who you will attract as clients. Deliberately, consistently, project who you are in your ads, in the way you answer your phone, in the way you get paid, in your tone of voice and what you say (and don't say), even in your level of literacy. Everyone has a natural constituency; that is why I voted for John and you voted for Jim. That is why the vice president is a different type from the president. You want to attract your natural constituency because these are the people who also feel comfortable with you, people who will come back and do business regularly with you rather than someone else. You are 'their type.' When you deal with individuals like these, you are comfortable, you are having a good day, you project confidence. When you are dealing with people who are 'difficult' or people you are less comfortable with or are very uneasy with, you potentially project a lesser you for the balance of the day. Invariably, those you find discomforting will be your 'problem children' as clients.

Your ad should reflect who you are and, exactly in detail, what you can do for a first-time client right now. Nothing vague. No 'change your life,' no 'amazing.' People don't do business with you because you are wonderful or talented or respectable or well dressed; they do business with you because you comfortably supply a need or want they have. It is up to you in your ad to demonstrate that you do have what they want for a reasonable price; and when you do, you have a solid offer that gets a solid acceptance: People open their wallets.

You should be consistent in your image, in your presentation. If you are a precise but casual person, then the way you write and speak on the business telephone should reflect 'precise but casual.' If you are a crazy person in the wrestling promotion business, be prepared to be a crazy person all the time. If you are shy, warm and fuzzy, speak in a soft Marcus Welby voice sweetly all the time. There is no one right way to be because there are all kinds of potential clients to attract. Being an actor to some extent is necessary, really, but it is easier to act a character you actually are.

You can do everything wrong and succeed just as you can do everything right and fail. In the South Florida building boom, contractors would say 'Even drunks have steady work.' In hard times, the best people are hurting. But chances are good that anyone will do better in the professional services who states clearly what I need done, shows me he can do it, states clearly how much of my money I will be parting with, and is 'the kind of guy I would like to do business with.' We all have that formula in our gut, don't we? Be there.