MAKE THE CLIENT’S PROBLEMS YOUR GAIN
Whether you have worked for a client for years or are just getting started, what do you know about their customer or client process?
As a FMO, your role is to increase their bottom line to the best of your ability. It can be to your advantage to determine and be able to help combat problems in their process. This is especially true when the people you are directly reporting to do not tell you what those problems and obstacles are.
Here is an example. Suppose your client sells red, green, and blue widgets in four states, but sales drop for Q2. Different clients may have different reactions. One might cancel their advertising source and move their dollars elsewhere. Another might increase their marketing budget, while still others might consider reducing or canceling their output.
Such decisions are often made without drilling down to determine the specifics of the problem. Using this example, suppose the problem is “really” that sales of blue widgets dropped significantly in three of the states while those for red and green slightly increased.
In this case, the outcome SHOULD have been to evaluate and potentially eliminate marketing and sales for only the blue widgets. Decisions could be made on whether to closely evaluate the blue, or use those funds to expand sales of the red and green. However, by reducing or canceling, the business has made a potentially damaging decision.
There may be other problems with the client’s process. Those range from having too many returns to technical problems with ordering online or not having promoted inventory in stock, and many more.
Our suggestion is to become a potential customer or client for the business you are working for. Check their website and various sales channels. Read the reviews and see what people are complaining about. In addition to learning more about your client, you may be able to identify problems they are not aware of. Being able to help their potential customers/clients to solve problems before they happen could be the reason you keep your role with them.
