This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
A lot of service-based businesses rely on clients providing accurate details, whether it's measurements for custom clothing, that's what we're going to hear about today, specs for a project, key business data, whatever the case may be. So what happens when clients give incorrect or incomplete information? Well, first of all, it can be frustrating. That's the first thing that happens. But what do you do about the problem?
How do you actually handle it? So today's question comes from a custom clothing designer who struggles with remote clients sending inaccurate measurements. And this leads to costly fit issues, leads to customer dissatisfaction, leads to problems that she has to solve later. So let's consider how she and anybody who's dealing with client-provided details can improve the accuracy, set better expectations, and just avoid wasted time and money. Let's just try to be more efficient so we can run our businesses better and just have more time for what matters.
Okay, how do you get clients to provide more accurate information so that you can better serve them and everybody is happier? That's today's question, detailed version in my answer in just 30 seconds. Hey, Chris, I hope you're doing so well. Thank you for all that you do. I've been listening for a while and I'm based in mid-Missouri.
I sew custom clothing, both in-person and online. I'm offering an online option and it's really helped my side hustle expand significantly, but I have a problem. For remote clients, their self-taken measurements are sometimes inaccurate and that leads to poorly fitting garments. How can I guide them to get better measurements so neither of us waste time and money? Thanks.
I can see why this is frustrating, but I think there's a way to solve it or at least mitigate the problem. We're going to address the issue here specifically of measurements, but I think it applies in lots of different client work. What you want to do, in the case of measurements or something else, first create a simple guide. Create a foolproof guide or at least a fool reduction guide. Basically, try to make it as simple as possible.
Show people, develop a clear visual guide with step-by-step instructions on what they need to do. The easier you make it, the better results you're going to get. You want to help your client give you better data so that your work is not frustrated later. Maybe you need some diagrams showing how to take body measurements correctly. Add some labels like measure snugly, but not too tight, for example.
For everybody who's not measuring clothes, maybe it's a detailed project intake form or a checklist with some examples of well-filled out responses. Again, hold your client's hand and make it as easy as possible. Use short instructional videos, even perhaps. Next, standardized forms or templates. It kind of builds on that detailed project intake form.
Require clients to submit information using a standardized form that reduces guesswork and inconsistencies. Use something like Google Forms, Typeform, there's some others. Basically make a guided questionnaire with clear instructions. This reduces the back-and-forth communication. When feasible, offer virtual consultations.
If precision is critical, consider offering virtual consultations where you guide clients through the process via a video call. Maybe a 15-minute call would actually save you potentially more than an hour later in this example. If it was a tech service or a design or something, you could offer live onboarding or project kickoff calls just to clarify the project specs in real time. Again, spending a little bit of time up front to save you some time and money later. Basically, anything you can do to get better information will help you with all these frustrations.
So those clear guides, standardized forms, well-defined expectations, perhaps some videos, maybe a visual console, if possible, it's going to give you a smoother process. But of course, client work always comes with ups and downs. So that's going to continue to be a factor, but again, hopefully we can mitigate some of the issue. Listeners, let me know what you think. Go to school.com/questions, we'll be featuring them throughout the year along with updates from other listeners as they launch and grow their projects.
Thank you so much for being out there, 3,000 plus episodes. You're amazing. I'll be back again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
From the Onward Project.
