BLT: Do you clients love you…and if so, should they?

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Teddy Roosevelt

This week’s BLT topic (rather conveniently on Valentine’s Day) touched upon the concept of ‘love’ in the workplace; namely, do your clients love your product/service? And if so why?

The conversation then moved on as to whether clients SHOULD love you – can you become too close to your clients? Would ‘respect’ be a better word?

And finally, from our own point of view as customers, which companies did we love and why?

1. Getting a client is like falling in love
www.jameswhite.business

Here’s a (highly abridged!) summary from James White’s amusing take on business relationships:

i. Know yourself – Be clear about your dating profile. What sort of partner are you looking for – interests, values, pet hates?
ii. Look for love – bait your hook to find your perfect partner; go fishing in the right places.
iii. Prepare for your first date – Listen. What does your partner want from a relationship?
iv. Embark on a relationship – Commit to the ‘on boarding process’, define the boundaries.
v. Marriage – Clarity and security. The signing of a binding contract (also the very point at which many business relationships stall and fail, with the last-minute involvement of lawyers!)

Let’s leave divorce for the time being though, eh?

2. WHY do your clients love you?

Answers from around the BLT table:

• Values: “I am passionate about the raising the standards and profile of my (unregulated) industry.”
• Caring: “I once just listened to one of my clients, on the phone, for an hour. Afterwards she emailed to thank me for doing so, saying it had really benefitted it – it showed that I cared.”
• Purpose: “I want to help people to believe in themselves.”
• Structured: “Being in the creative space doesn’t mean that ideas just emerge from nowhere – there is a lot of work and a structure involved to evidence this. Clients have remarked that they really appreciate this transparency.”
• Experience: “Over the years, I’ve come to see the same cycle of mistakes being repeated over and over again – I often know my customer’s businesses better than they do!”

3. The difference between respect and love

We tend to gravitate towards doing business with people we like, but we should never mistake business for friendship (love!)

People are in business in order to make money. A business needs to remain objective in order to make tough decisions/money, which means evaluating the merits of the product/service offered, not the quality of the friendship.

People should aim to develop a business rapport – this leads to respect, rather than love, which is far more sustainable in a business sense.

4. Business WE love and WHY

Examples from around the BLT table:

• Communication: DPD couriers. “They text me to let me know where they are and I can track a delivery online to within a few minutes. British Gas can’t even give me the right day!”
• Service: Volvo Stourbridge v Oxford. “Exactly the same model of car but the service at the Oxford franchise was appalling…so I ended up taking it back after a few months…and bought another one from Stourbridge where I do some work. They couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful – they made me an advocate of the product.”

Interestingly, the question was posed as to businesses which we HATE but which seem to prosper despite this. Ryanair was cited as an example (cheap fares but treats customers as an inconvenience) which touches upon most of the previous points made in this blog – nobody loves Ryanair, but it doesn’t promise to be anything different from a very low-cost carrier, so in that sense it is true to itself!

CONCLUSION

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Bill Gates

So, at the end of the day, in business, it’s not really about love but respect.