Working with clients during a launch can sometimes be a little stressful. Not all clients are equal, and some are much more preferred than others. Here are the top 7 things that a client does that will guarantee you have a disaster launch. As a Product Launch Manager, avoid them as much as possible to make sure you don't get a client that will cost you money and waste your time.
1. The Client Is Desperate - Having a desperate client is like having a rock tied around your neck. Desperate clients will allow any sort of deal from anyone during a launch. I've seen clients accept ridiculous offers from people who contact them just so they can have some sales. It is just a recipe for disaster. You want calm clients, and even if the launch doesn't go as planned, then they're in a position to regroup and relaunch, learning from the previous launch. Desperate clients will want every penny available, despite it not in their best interest, and also yours. When they're desperate, they will also doing things hastily which can mean that things are overlooked and major mistakes are made.
2. The Client Has Little Or NO List - Many people want to do a product launch, which a product that's just finished, or about to be finished, but don't have a list of any sort. They haven't even gone out to see if they can get access to other people's lists in their niche. They expect a Product Launch Manager to bring in Joint Venture Partners to sell their products, without any work on their behalf. Firstly, it's their product and their business. Any relationships that you bring in are for them. It's their responsibility to bring in those partners just as much it is their responsibility to provide a quality product with quality customer care. My recommendation to potential clients with no list is to find 10 people with 10 lists who will agree to mail for them. That way, they're going to have at least 1 person with a quality list who will generate some revenue for them.
3. The Client Doesn't Stick To Deadlines - Going through a launch takes up a lot of time, and if you're working remotely with a client, then when they don't have what they need to have done on time, then it's going to create a lot of problems. There are some people out there, no matter how good you manage them, they just don't get things done on time. Avoid them as much as possible. There's no point in you pulling an all nighter to get the site ready and the copy outstanding if they're not going to get the videos to you on time. If a client ever does that to me, I walk away from them. I finish the launch and tell them I can't work with them. For me, they're too much of a problem that definitely isn't needed during a launch.
4. Clients Lets Customers Pay The Price That Suits Them - I've seen clients take phone calls from people and the people on the phone told the client what they were going to pay. Not only that, but they accepted it! I couldn't believe it when I heard it. Needless to say, that launch wasn't a model to reproduce any time soon! Luckily I was drafted in to work on the launch with a colleague, so I was able to walk away. But it did leave me astounded when I found out the client did this. The client lost all authority with the customer then, and they'll more than likely never regain it. On their next launch, those same people will call them and tell them what they're going to pay, and they'll more than likely accept that too.
5. The Client Changes The Offer 1 Or More Times During The Launch - This goes on line with the previous point about accepting whatever the customer wants to pay them, and also with being desperate. If there is a time when there are no sales, a desperate client will want to change the offer before you know why the offer is not being taken up. It could simply be a case that the emails haven't been delivered yet, or that your target market isn't out of bed to read them yet. Sometimes the copy isn't compelling enough to get them to buy. Rarely is it the offer and some times you just have to wait to see what happens before you change the offer. But a desperate client will change the offer immediately before looking at the other elements in the equation and eliminating them first. Changing an offer DURING the launch means that those people who have already bought will want to get that better offer than the one they got before. Now, when I say changing the offer, I mean changing a split payment from 3 to 5 payments, or 5 to 6 maybe, rather than including extra products or services in the product. It's easy to include extra products for those who already bought, but changing the payments from 3 to 5 means issuing repayments to credit cards, changing the payment length and depending on your payment processor can mean lots of headaches. It also means annoyed customers too, who feel hard done by when you switch the offer.
6. The Client "Knows More Than You Do" - Working with a client who feels they know more than you do will always leave you in a bad position. It's OK to receive input from someone if they know what they're talking about. But if your client believes they can be doing a better job, then leave them to do it. Clients like this will always have you on the defensive making you account for what you're doing, no matter how much of an expert you are. They will dictate to you and you will have no authority with them. Make sure to establish who has the authority and whose job it is to do what you do. A launch is a benevolent dictatorship, not a democracy. As a Product Launch Manager, you are the leader, no one else!
7. The Client Doesn't Want To Delete Any Unprofitable Customers Or Prospects - Unprofitable customers or prospects cost the client money, and during a launch, they cost you money too. These people are rarely going to buy from you, no matter what the offer is. So you need to delete them from the list as quickly as possible so you can focus on the profitable customers and prospects. As a Product Launch Manager, you need to find the profitable people as quickly as possible so you can put all your efforts on converting them to the offer. Trying to convince people who aren't going to buy isn't your job and it's a total waste of time. Find those people who want to buy, and work with them. This makes your job a lot easier, and a lot more profitable. A client who doesn't want to eliminate those people who don't want to buy the product is a huge waste of time, and means you're working on something that isn't going to work. Get them to disqualify these people from the offer as quickly as possible and then sell to them. Deleting unprofitable people will boost their profits quickly and save a lot of time and effort.
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