Is Your Business a Commodity or a Resource?
How are your services and the people providing them viewed by your clients? Are you a commodity readily available anywhere? Or are you a resource where skill, judgement, and critical thinking are valued and rewarded? The difference is important to your business future.[wcm_restrict]
The corner gas station offers a commodity. It is entirely a transaction-based relationship. The gas station owners only care if your credit card clears and you can pump fuel. They don’t care if you have an opinion on the transaction. Similarly, you expect fuel at the advertised price, and maybe a clean restroom. If your needs aren’t met, you go elsewhere.
Does the gas station example apply to your business? Or do you offer something more? Is your business a resource bringing unique and valuable ideas to the table? Consultants, professionals, and other providers of skill-based services should always maintain themselves as a resource business. Businesses that allow their customers to view them as merely a commodity provider attract the wrong type of clients.
A consultant friend recently described such a client to me. The person demanded to be seen right away when there was no real urgency, demanded immediate appointments when there was no compelling issue at stake, and insisted on work being performed according to arbitrary deadlines. You can treat a gas station in such a manner. Fill up whenever you want. But my friend offers much more than a transaction. And he doesn’t take on clients who fail to appreciate that his skills and judgement constitute a resource.
New business owners fall into the trap of taking whatever walks in the door. They think the most important things are to establish a client base. But in time, they learn an important truth: Not every client is a good client.
The client who treats you as a commodity when you offer a resource is not a good client. They will compare your prices to the provider down the street – like in our gas station example. In fact, your skill and judgement may warrant twice what the other provider quoted. Know this and let it be your North Star. You must be guided by this awareness. When the commodity-minded client makes a transaction-based argument, just send them down the street to the other provider. The longer you tolerate commodity clients, the more of them you will attract. The sooner you assert your value as a resource, the sooner you will attract the clients who matter most.
A good working relationship with a client relies on you contributing your unique skills. Otherwise, you are simply an order-taker. And while appeasing clients and giving them what they want may be an easy way to earn a living in the short-term, it’s a formula for disaster in the long run. The client is usually too close to their problem to correctly diagnose the root causes. If you simply agree to help implement the client’s preconceived solution, you are not helping the client or your career. You will not be a resource and you won’t be making a difference. Instead, you must bring your own expertise, objectivity, and outside perspective to the table. You must help the client go back and address the real challenges, some of which they are too immersed in to identify. In this manner, you become a strategic resource, to everyone’s benefit.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]
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About the Author
For more information on Sutton and his books please visit www.ToxicClient.com.
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