Not all clients are created equal; so why is it we try to treat them as such? Each of your clients comes with their own uniqueness, their own personalities and their own point of view.

The quickest way to lose a great client, is to not see their individuality. You may provide the same services to your clients, but that doesn’t mean you treat them the same way.

My clients are all very different in their personalities, and their expectations of me, therefore, my expectations and treatment of each of them has to be different. I have a mix of male and female clients, not that, that makes any difference, and they are all in similar professions but again, that doesn’t mean I treat them the same.

The value I give to my clients is time, they know they can move stuff from their plate to mine and that it will get done. When I’m reporting back to them, each one of them likes to receive their information in a different way.

I value their time, therefore it’s important that I provide them their information as they want it. I respond to each client based on their requirements, regardless of how I think they need to hear it. I need to take out the noise of what I’m going to tell them, so they can absorb the information in a way that makes perfect sense to them.

Some clients may be happy to receive all the detail in the tasks that you do, others though, are only happy for the umbrella view. All they want to know is that the task is done, they’re not interested in how or what, just that it’s done. One of the worst things you can do that will ultimately damage your working relationship, is continue to provide detail to a client that isn’t interested in it. There is nothing more annoying to them; all they hear is blah blah blah and you can expect pushback from them.

As part of your on boarding process for your clients, always include the following questions. This way, you can always ensure you know that you are delivering what you need to, just as your client needs it.

  • How do you like to receive updates on tasks?
  • What level of detail do you require?

There are however times when you need to give your client more detail than you normally would because of a specific issue you may have had. Part of your role as the SME is to consult up. But you also need to know when it isn’t appropriate to add to the noise in your client’s business.

I’d love to read your comments, please leave one below.