It’s the little things that count

Think about it – why do your client relationships change? Could it really be narrowed down to just four reasons?

• You got it wrong in a big way and there’s been a complete breakdown in your relationship with no chance of salvaging it
• The client might not need you anymore - they could be closing up shop or retiring and your services are no longer required
• A competitor came to town and your relationship wasn’t strong enough to retain them
• OR, it could be something little, something niggly they simply got sick of

It’s these little things that can often cause frustration that builds up and the relationship is damaged because of it. We can all think of scenarios – a consistently misspelled name despite requests to correct it, phone calls that go unreturned, incorrect invoicing or poor turnaround time on service requests. As a service or product provider you might often see these as minor details but take a moment to walk in your clients shoes. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. And it can all add up to a change in buying behaviour.

Don’t let overlooking these ‘little’ details create a bad taste for your client. Ask your team what frustrations you hear from your customers on a day to day basis that you could easily fix. How could you eliminate or manage these?

Do the little things well and you’ll build great client relationships and a loyal customer base.