The Ideal Client – Part 1
(First in a three-part series)
Your ideal client is one whose Needs are exactly what your Giftings are suited to answer. Red Adair’s talents extinguishing oil well fires, for example, are not of much use if the client is in need of a birthday cake, but critically important if their petroleum field is a raging inferno.
The symbiotic relationship between the ideal client and their professional is at the heart of professional excellence because it is where both the client and the professional can enjoy the best of all worlds.
It follows that limiting your practice to those who are your ideal clients makes your life not only easier and more enjoyable, but it is the mechanism whereby your Giftings become richer and deeper. What ensues is a virtuous cycle of ever increasing competence being delivered to ever more grateful clients, with ever increasing safety and satisfaction on both sides.
Unfortunately, the concept of “ideal client” is not widely taught in business and professional schools, and it is no surprise that many professionals and entrepreneurs have no idea what an ideal client looks like, let alone being aware they should be making them their focus.
Many professionals never think much about the ideal client. Sadly, some professionals think the ideal client is “any fool who can be parted from his money”. This is not only bad for the client, it’s bad for the professional. As we will see in the next two Briefings, finding and cultivating the ideal client is a very logical and natural process which not only makes one’s practice more enjoyable and profitable, but safer as well.
Community Service Notice
One of my pleasures in life is serving on the board of the Smiths Falls Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic.
Our clinic serves vast areas of Lanark County and adjoining areas, providing health care to a vast number of patients who would otherwise be without care. The board consists of an equal number of NP members and community members, and as a result of the passing of a community member, we’re now down one.
This pro bono position is purely oversight, not hands on, is not onerous or time consuming, but is certainly satisfying and rewarding. Let me know if you’d like to consider putting your name forward.