Blog

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I want to revisit briefly a topic I have written about before, namely “loving your customer.”

Here are three simple ways to show your clients and customers some love this month.

Respect their decision-making

We should always respect the choices customers make when it comes to our products and services. It can be hard hearing from a client that they want to go in a different direction or try something you would strongly advise against. That’s the time to step back and realize that the decision-making process behind choices – even ones that may affect our relationship – should be honored and you should make every effort to understand and support their preference.

Sometimes, a customer’s choice may mean trying a different brand than ours. While that stings, and may hurt business, being respectful of their choice is a prime opportunity to show your clients that you value them.

Remember it is a partnership

Ultimately, you and your customer form a relationship that is mutually helpful to each other. This is the essence of a partnership.

What do partners do? They communicate, they work together to solve issues, and they show trust in one another, among many other ideals. This should be the goal for you and your clients, whether large or small.

Each partnership helps drive your business, both in the short term and the long run, so seeing your customers as partners sharing a mutual goal is critical. In the end, they want great services or products, and you want to be successful.

Be honest

No there isn’t a third “R” in this blog, just a simple idea. Be honest with your customers. They not only deserve the truth, but are also plenty smart enough to know when they are being lied to or deceived.

Now perhaps your clients aren’t always honest with you, but that doesn’t matter since you still respect their decision making. And what your client does, or how they treat you, while very important, isn’t something you can directly affect – other than through a strong partnership. It is far better to be upfront with customers.

Since the opposite of honesty is being dishonest, let’s not leave this blog with that in the back of your mind. All I am suggesting is that we remain business leaders of integrity and provide our clients with honest information, truthful recommendations and candid support in a straightforward manner.

That will truly show a customer some love.