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Whilst red flags are often associated with negative and caution, here are 7 good red flags that I look for when I'm on a call with a potential client that indicate to me that they’re going to be a good client
You can use these seven red flags to make sure that your systems and processes are where they need to be in order to scale your business.
Flag number one - Best use of time?
If I'm spending two hours writing a proposal, 30 minutes writing an invoice, is that really the best use of my time?
Isn't there a way that I can make it even more efficient?
Time is one of the most valuable sources - are you using it wisely enough?
Ideally you have two to three offers that you're selling and have templates for each of these so that you can then just reuse them whenever you need it.
Flag number two - Is this professional?
If I don't have a process in place there's a really good chance that my boundaries are going to get violated!
For example what's the process for communication with your clients?
Do you tell them you can send me an email, you can pick up the phone, you can schedule a call whenever you want? How do you work with communicating with your clients and your team members?.
Boundaries help you manage expectations from the get go.
If you have boundaries in place it means that you're looking more professional and there's less of achance that the client will come out frustrated if they know what the boundaries are in advance.
Flag number three - Is it sustainable?
If you have three clients that are calling you and emailing you every day, maybe you can handle it. What about five? What about 10? What about 15? How about 50!?!
You want to make sure that what you are doing is sustainable in a way that you can continue doing it without burning out.
Remember, business is a marathon not a sprint.
Flag number four - Does it lead us to the goal?
Is the process leading us to the goals that we want to see for the business?
When I’m working on a process with a client, I look to see if the work I'm doing with my team members is not helping me grow and scale my business, but instead isdraining things from my business and is probably not as effective as it should be. It's probably not something that I want to have in my business. And this is probably not a client that is pushing my business forward.
Your process and the clients you work with should propel your business forward, rather than be draining your resources.
Flag number five - Don’t waste your time!
Is this wasting my time as a business owner or time of our team members, or wasting the clients time?
How can we make sure we work efficiently and lead to the best results for our business.
Flags 1-4 are all encapsulated in this point but this is something that you can look at in general from a bird's eye view.
Think if each task, whether performed by you, your team, or clients, contributes directly to the best results for your business.
Is what I'm doing the best use of my time?
Is what my team member doing the best use of their time?
For example I can edit my videos, I’m a trained video editor, but is that really what I want to be doing? I can write, I'm a writer, is that really what I want to be doing? If the answer to these is no, then it's not the best use of your time.
This is a great place to focus your efforts on delegating to people and to tools.
Flag number six - Does it work for everyone?
Is your process usable for everyone?
Look at your workflow, at its tools. Are you making sure that everything being done is actually usable by everyone all the time?
If you have someone who can't use a specific tool and you have to use that tool to trigger automations it's not going to be effective.
it's not going to be usable by them. It's not helping your business. In fact, at times it may hinder your workflow and make things messy.
Make sure that whatever processes you have in place is usable by everyone. If needed get buy in from your team before you build the process.
The final flag - flag number seven - Cut the mundane!
Identify the repetitive tasks within your processes and explore how they can be automated.
Repetitive tasks can and should be automated.
These flags can be used to analyse your own business. They are also great qualifiers for potential clients.
Make sure that anything you and your team are working on is pushing you forward and helping your business.
Following these guidelines will help you improve your process and scale your business.
