Your Criteria For Accepting Business

What criteria must be met before you consider accepting business from a client?

In today’s uncertain economy, accepting business that has not been properly measured against an established set of realistic criteria is inviting a misappropriation of your firm’s limited resources.

Remember…

Most firms do not suffer from an absence of resources; rather, they suffer from a lack of focus for those resources.

As I’ve said in the past, “every company, in order to be successful, must have in place a set of criteria against which they judge the business opportunities that are available to them.”

Only in this manner can they properly focus their resources. Experienced business professionals understand this reality. As staffing industry professionals, we should as well.

Therefore, consider using the following criteria as a guide for doing business with your clients.

Measure the client’s sense of urgency about receiving the staffing solutions you can provide. This is the most important criteria because typically, the higher the client’s sense of urgency, the higher their level of cooperation and flexibility.
Measure the value the client places on the staffing solutions that can be provided by your firm. This has a direct impact on your fees and/or bill rates. The cost of your service is always linked in the client’s mind to their estimation of the value received (whether perceived or real).
Determine whether or not you will be working with the client’s key decision makers and measure the decision maker’s attitude about receiving your services. While a positive attitude on the part of the decision maker can go a long way toward insuring positive results, correspondingly, a bad attitude may compromise the outcome.
Determine the nature and scope of the process that will be followed in providing your services, including the level of competition, both internal and external. Commitment from all parties to following an appropriate process can help ensure a positive outcome that exceeds expectations.

Although not all-encompassing, following these criteria for doing business will improve your quality ratios, increase client share, and when reviewed with prospects during the sales process, help position you as a business equal. By only accepting business that meet these criteria, you help ensure that resources are properly focused for generating the greatest return in the most effective and efficient manner.

As always, if you have questions or comments about this article or wish to receive my input on any other topic related to this business, just let me know. Your calls and emails are most welcome.