How to keep a client when things go wrong
The other day I stood the risk of losing a client through no direct fault of my own. Our relationship is now thankfully back on track and even stronger - but only because I took a risk in how I communicated with them.
I knew that the client had concerns. I could tell by what he said and how he said it, but also by what he wasn't saying. And it was the last element that unsettled me as much as it unsettled him.
He was right to feel the way he did. But he wasn't saying what he really felt despite the fact that the work I'd employed someone to produce for this large client, through one of my businesses, was not good enough. This was compounded by the fact that bizarrely they had also acted in a charmless way. Metaphorically speaking, it was a corporate car crash.
I pride myself that the people I employ are not only excellent at what they do professionally, but are also a delight to be with on a personal level. I'd employed this person before on several occasions with no problem. But, for whatever reason, it was like she had been temporarily re-wired the wrong way that day.
I subsequently spent not hours, but days re-building the trust and relationship and rescuing the final product, the end result of which they were thrilled with. But it could have been a lot less painful.
But the reason that the client and I are now back on track, and with an even closer connection, is because rather than trying to bluff and bullshit my way through any hinted at concerns, I had the guts to encourage them to be brutally honest.
When I did that it all came out and I could sense down the phone the relief that they were able to tell me what was really on their mind as well as the reassuring recognition that I had been open to the truth, no matter how difficult that was for them to say and for me to hear.
In a world clogged with slickly crafted and sometimes sickly sales and marketing patter, having the quiet courage to tell it as it is, certainly when things go wrong, can have a much healthier effect on your business relationships and business. It can double the trust and the respect and, as a result, your future profits.
I knew that the client had concerns. I could tell by what he said and how he said it, but also by what he wasn't saying. And it was the last element that unsettled me as much as it unsettled him.
He was right to feel the way he did. But he wasn't saying what he really felt despite the fact that the work I'd employed someone to produce for this large client, through one of my businesses, was not good enough. This was compounded by the fact that bizarrely they had also acted in a charmless way. Metaphorically speaking, it was a corporate car crash.
I pride myself that the people I employ are not only excellent at what they do professionally, but are also a delight to be with on a personal level. I'd employed this person before on several occasions with no problem. But, for whatever reason, it was like she had been temporarily re-wired the wrong way that day.
I subsequently spent not hours, but days re-building the trust and relationship and rescuing the final product, the end result of which they were thrilled with. But it could have been a lot less painful.
But the reason that the client and I are now back on track, and with an even closer connection, is because rather than trying to bluff and bullshit my way through any hinted at concerns, I had the guts to encourage them to be brutally honest.
When I did that it all came out and I could sense down the phone the relief that they were able to tell me what was really on their mind as well as the reassuring recognition that I had been open to the truth, no matter how difficult that was for them to say and for me to hear.
In a world clogged with slickly crafted and sometimes sickly sales and marketing patter, having the quiet courage to tell it as it is, certainly when things go wrong, can have a much healthier effect on your business relationships and business. It can double the trust and the respect and, as a result, your future profits.
posted: 13 Jun 11