The Art of Client Service

Chapter 52Five Client Service Principles to Believe In

I was in Cleveland not long ago, conducting workshops for a client that acts more like an advertising or marketing agency than the technology company they claim to be, and realized I needed some form of shorthand people could use to guide their actions once they left the presentation room. I am a believer in the rule of three, and started there. Are there three pieces of advice I could leave my audience with?

I couldn't get quite manage this. Three is too hard a number for me. But five pieces of advice work; they are:

1. Show up;
2. Follow up;
3. Speak up;
4. Make it up;
5. Never give up.

Yes, you've heard all of this before, right here, in the pages of this book, but I follow the rule of “Tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; then tell them what you told them.”

We are at the “told them” part.

Show Up

Traveling to see your clients is expensive, hard, and time-consuming. Email is cheap, easy, and fast. Why not email instead of visit, especially when you realize clients are busy, too, and don't really want to see you?

This is one case in which I will tell you to ignore your clients' wishes, follow your best intentions, and get on that plane, train, or automobile. Do not wait until there is a crisis to show up. Visit them instead, when things are really good, and use that time to patiently build a connection with your clients so that when things go south, you will have a reserve of goodwill to fall back on.

There are other ...