Respect. One of the basic human wants and needs. We all want respect, crave it in fact and will often work hard to obtain it. But ask yourself, do you respect your clients? No really, don’t answer quite so quickly. Do you R E S P E C T your clients? Here’s what I mean:
- Do you return calls and emails in a timely manner and for that matter, do you know what “timely” means to your clients vs. what YOU consider to be timely? (Hint, they’re often not in sync.)
- Do you keep your clients apprised of what’s going on with their project and do you do this proactively or simply wait for them to “check in” with you for a status update?
- Do you promise the world and then scramble to do the job while the scrambling results in a less than stellar work product?
- Do you provide your client with out-of-the-box thinking or are you pleased that they will accept “just what you give them”?
- Do you miss deadlines?
- Do you change the budget and do so without ample warning?
- Do you do ANY of these things?
Yep, it’s all about respect.