{"id":620,"date":"2019-09-27T07:53:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T13:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/?p=620"},"modified":"2019-09-27T07:53:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T13:53:24","slug":"what-are-your-obligations-to-your-client","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/what-are-your-obligations-to-your-client\/","title":{"rendered":"What are your Obligations to your Client?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am often asked the secret to maintaining effective, smooth, productive and long-lasting relationships with my clients, many of which have spanned across careers let alone companies. My answer is, it doesn\u2019t just happen, you have to work at it. If any company wants to establish and preserve a smooth relationship with its clients, it must first recognize its obligations to the client.<\/p>\n

First, of course, the company must perform<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. Good continuing performance compensates for a great many shortcomings in other areas. I f a company is to survive it must be well staffed with thoroughly competent professional who consistently produce good results for its clients.<\/p>\n

Second the company must respect<\/u><\/em><\/strong> the client. There are, of course, some companies and some executives who don\u2019t deserve respect\u2014and some companies as well. However, if a company feels that way about a prospective client, it should not accept the client. The relationship won\u2019t last long in any case, so why begin it? From the compa\"Respect,ny point of view, the motto should be: respect them or reject them.<\/a><\/p>\n

The company owes the client honesty<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. The company contact or representative must level with the client at all times \u2013 even when it hurts \u2026 and sometimes it will. But the long-term effect is to build an atmosphere of trust, confidence and credibility that will help cement the client\/company relationship.<\/p>\n

Another obligation the company has to the client is responsiveness.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> When the client needs something, or thinks he does, the company must respond to the need promptly and vigorously \u2013 no matter how small \"Responsivness\"or unimportant it may seem to the company. One of the surest ways I know of cut short a relationship is to ignore a client\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Leadership<\/u><\/em><\/strong> is another requirement. The company must develop and maintain the creative initiative\u2026anticipate the client\u2019s needs\u2026keep the ball in the client\u2019s court. The company needs to always be the driving force.<\/p>\n

I may seem obvious not it is far too often neglected and that is the company owes the client interest.<\/u><\/em><\/strong>It\u2019s not enough anymore to preform excellently but woodenly. In fact, it probably isn\u2019t possible. If you don\u2019t get deeply involved in the affairs of your client you can\u2019t do a good job for them \u2013 whether it\u2019s the client holding the company at arm\u2019s length or the company holding itself from total involvement.<\/p>\n

The company must get itself deeply involved and fully committed in its client\u2019s business and still maintain objectivity<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. This is never easy to do if you\u2019re really close to problem and interests of the client, but it is absolutely \"Objectivity\"essential. One of the major reasons for a client to hiring a company \u2013 particularly one that specializes in management consulting or marketing \u2013 is for the objectivity that the company can bring to the client. If the company loses that objectivity, it also loses much of its value.<\/p>\n

Presuming the company does have the necessary degree of objectivity, it must also have guts.<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Whenever the client is wrong\u2014as even the best of them will be from time to time \u2013 the company representative must tell them so\u2026politely, firmly and intelligently. The company\u2019s position must be presented in terms relevant to the client and should be tight with all the specifics you are able to muster. The company must plead its case forcefully and honestly\u2026 and I must suggest here that alternate avenues of actions to replace that envisioned by the client will most likely add to your success in dissuading the client from what could be a disastrous action.<\/p>\n

No list of company obligations would be complete without this last little beauty, and it is perhaps the most obvious, point. The company always owes every client in every situation its best efforts<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. In my own experience, I\u2019ve found<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

that even the most difficult client will recognize and respect honest effort. No company scores 100%, we all drop the ball at one time or another. But is our average is good and we always give our best effort, most clients will respect that most of the time. And that\u2019s all we can ask.<\/p>\n

This brief summary certainly isn\u2019t exhaustive. Rather it\u2019s simply representative of what a company owes to its clients. Hopefully my comments will stimulate a few comments and questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am often asked the secret to maintaining effective, smooth, productive and long-lasting relationships with my clients, many of which have spanned across careers let alone companies. My answer is, it doesn\u2019t just happen, you have to work at it. If any company wants to establish and preserve a smooth relationship with its clients, it … Read moreWhat are your Obligations to your Client?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58,55,34,12,46,59,57],"tags":[37,18,61,16,60,14,35,65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":627,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions\/627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobbinsgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}