What if you could spot problematic clients before they derail your projects and cost your peace of mind? What if you could transform your client selection process to guarantee mutually beneficial partnerships? What if you only worked with awesome clients, who understood your value and were grateful for your work? It’s all possible. Not everyone is your client. And letting everyone in is a false economy. Change how you filter to transform your business and disposition. Use these ChatGPT prompts to improve your client screening process and set the foundation for successful projects.
Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through. Unhappy clients make bad clients. And unhappiness comes from the difference between expectation and results. “I’m always looking for a gap. I’m looking for a problem to solve,” explains Do. The problem might not be them, it might be you. Understand the disconnect between what clients want and what they’re currently getting to reveal potential challenges and opportunities. If a relationship started off great and then it turned bad, figure out what went wrong and make sure what you’re delivering is up to scratch. Your service can always improve. H
ere’s Balmer’s prompt. “You are a business analyst specialising in identifying gaps between client goals and current results. Based on this initial client statement (insert potential client’s description of their needs), identify potential gaps between their desired outcomes and current situation, (add details of their desires and realities), and suggest three probing questions to better understand these gaps, as well as possible red flags (theirs or ours) that might indicate unrealistic expectations or misalignment.”
Explore the client’s future vision
Travel forward in time with your client to understand what success looks like from their point of view. Are they unrealistic from the start, or can you ultimately satisfy their needs? Chris Do recommends you ask your potential client this question to gauge their clarity and commitment: “If we were having this discussion 3 years from today and you were looking back over those 3 years, what has to have happened in your life both personally and professionally for you to feel happy with your progress working with us?” Ask every client this question to see if you’re up to the challenge of working with them. Get help assessing their response with this prompt. “You are an expert in analysing responses to the question I ask potential clients before working with them: “If we were having this discussion 3 years from today and you were looking back over those 3 years, what has to have happened in your life both personally and professionally for you to feel happy with your progress working with us?” Based on this client response [insert client’s answer to the 3-year question], evaluate the clarity of their vision, and potential misalignments between their goals and my services, (describe your services).”
Assess the client’s willingness to change
“Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights,” said Ronnie Coleman. “Everybody wants different results, but they don’t want to do anything different,” said Chris Do. If you’re willing to put in the work to make a client relationship a success, you want the same in return. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. This prompt created by Balmer, helps identify clients who are truly ready for transformation. “You are a change management consultant. Given this summary of a potential client’s current practices and desired outcomes: (insert summary), analyse the scale of change required to achieve their goals, with potential resistance points or areas of discomfort. Next, suggest three questions I could ask them, to gauge their genuine willingness to implement necessary changes.”
Evaluate the client’s perspective on expertise
Is the client going to welcome your opinion and let you do your thing, or question every decision and micromanage the process? Spot the warning signs early. While Do knows that “clients will know their own business best,” they have to be open to professional expertise. Identify clients who might be overly prescriptive or dismissive of your work. Paste your emails or record your sales calls and upload the transcripts along with this prompt. Read between the lines with ChatGPT. “You are an expert in client-consultant relationships. Based on these statements from a potential client about their project needs [insert client statements, potentially from a triage call], assess their openness to professional advice and new perspectives. Then, identify potential signs of micromanagement or distrust in expert opinions. Finally, suggest three tactful ways to address any concerning attitudes about the value of your expertise.”
Identify potential scope creep
When you quote for a body of work that ends up being double, that’s scope creep. It’s common for creatives. Everyone gets excited about what could be done. One conversation leads to another and before long you’ve committed to a long list of tasks within your current brief. But improving at quoting and requoting can help you handle this problem. “I’m not afraid of the scope list that comes out,” says Do. He has a winning system. Understand and apply comprehensive project planning to make sure you’re covered. This prompt helps anticipate and address potential scope issues. “You are a project management specialist focusing on scope definition. Given this initial project description from a potential client [insert project description], identify: three areas where scope creep is likely to occur, questions to ask the client to clarify project boundaries, and potential red flags in the client’s language that might indicate unrealistic expectations about deliverables or timelines.”
Identify problematic clients before you commit
Use these prompts to apply the wisdom of Chris Do, improving your client screening process and setting the stage for more successful, mutually beneficial projects. Dig into the gap between expectation and reality to never come up short, and know what your client wants in the long term. Assess their willingness to change, know their openness to professional expertise, and pre-empt scope creep so it doesn’t catch you out. Uncover crucial information and make informed decisions about any client partnership you take any further.
