The relationships in our life often become the most important lifeboat we can have in difficult times. In business, the health of these relationships can mean the difference between success and failure, especially when it comes to nurturing a connection with your clients. Occasionally, you have to audit your business relationships in your mind and ask yourself – is my relationship with my clients strong enough to withstand the storm?
Think about it from a client’s perspective. If you hire a super marketing agency and they consistently get you positive results, and they’re super vibey and fun to work with, you’re more likely to be understanding if they experience a terrible tragedy and go offline for a week, right?
How strong is strong?
As much as you deliver excellent service to your clients, life happens. It can’t be smooth sailing 100 per cent of the time. Often, a personal crisis gets in the way of productivity, as unemotional as your approach may be. Picture a fire in your workspace – you will need a week (at least) to get your equipment replaced and resume work as usual. How many clients will hang around during that downtime and patiently wait?
The strength of the relationship you have built with your clients will determine who sympathises and supports you, and who reaches out to your competitors. How can you tell? And how can you improve?
Make sure it’s not all about business all the time
Yes, business always comes first. After all, you are being paid to contribute to the productivity of another business or you’re providing a solution to your clients’ personal lives. That’s the goal. You can soften that with some pleasant exchanges and get to know another one a more personal basis.
This is what team building is all about, entrepreneurs have seen that team building and morale exercises improve productivity in the workplace.
The same goes for your relationships with clients. Have a business lunch, invite your clients for a drink, and take the time to listen and connect when they mention family or interests in conversations. Identify shared goals and mention them often.
Are you looking to increase your clients’ exposure, have their equipment running smoother? Or are you both trying to grow your business? Find common points that you both share and bond over that.
Manage client expectations (and be realistic)
Reliability should be your primary goal. If you make ambitious promises around deadlines and prices, you’re at risk of letting your client down. Always factor in time for unforeseen delays.
Don’t try to achieve an impossible deadline, rather be upfront about what you can deliver to the client and the timeframe they can expect it in. Then, follow up as you progress. If you run late, let the client know early.
This requires you to move your perspective from the short-term goal (closing the deal at any cost) to the long term (establishing a reputation as someone who is reliable and trustworthy).
It’s okay to demonstrate vulnerability at times
Authenticity is becoming the leverage point of success for many people. If you want to foster the type of business relationships that withstand the storms and the test of time, be authentic. Be humble and down-to-earth in order to make yourself easy to relate to.
That’s the basis of a good relationship. It’s okay to be vulnerable at times. Don’t lay out your deepest pains on the table, there’s a limit, but businesses who can display their humanity to others always do better.
Hayley Birtles-Eades, founder, beinc
