Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes is a good thing. And, if you’re a professional service provider, doubly so. What goes on in your client’s mind? What triggers them, to feel that they were served well, by you?
A current project I’m working on is to create a product that will help professional service providers, who work remotely. The core elements of this “help” are built around relationship and collaboration.
When I am in a client role, I want answers to these three questions, related to relationship and collaboration:
- Did they listen? If you have ever hired a contractor, I bet this story sounds familiar… You need work done. You contact a contractor. Contractor asks you want you want. You tell contractor. Contractor does work. Work done by contractor is not what you asked for. Sometimes its best to shut up and (really) listen.
- Did we work collaboratively? We are so much more when we co-create with another. This is the allure of working together. We complement each other. We create something together which neither of us could have done on our own. So, when I hire you, what I really want is for us to work together. I don’t want us to be two silos, each doing our own thing, thinking we know what’s best for the other (or maybe not thinking that thought at all?!) So, break down those silos and re-build from above and below.
- Did my life improve? Daniel Pink, in his book, To Sell is Human, says there are two things at the core of genuine service: 1) if I buy something from you, will this improve my life?, and 2) when our interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when we began? I agree. It’s always a case of “yes, and…”. It’s not just about us. It’s also about something bigger. A bigger relationship.
When our client answers these three questions in the affirmative, odds are pretty strong that the problem was solved, and you did your job well.
Is there another question in your client’s mind, that you focus on?
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