Laying Down In Front of Client Problems
Volume 11, Number 36
Issue 532
I’ve said in earlier issues that I had no shortage of role models growing-up in Richmond. I vividly remember when I was a young boy watching WWBT 12’s stories about Richmonders who, in 1968, laid down in front of asphalt paving equipment to stop the City’s brilliant idea to pave over Monument Avenue’s original Belgian block stones. I remember that my Mom and Dad took me down there to see people so fanatical about what they believed in that they were risking their physical safety and their reputations. It’s hard to believe now, but the City was very much divided on the issue of paving over Monument Avenue. These preservationists were investing time, money and emotion in what they believed.
The most successful entrepreneurs need to be truly passionate about client service. If you think about the most important employees (if you are an employer) or the most important service relationships (car mechanic, attorney, carpenter, plumber, electrician) that you’ve been fortunate to have, how many of these people can you absolutely say were completely dedicated to serving you with true passion about what they do?
Aren’t the most successful businesspeople the ones that apply 100% of their skill and energy to serve you with 100% of their attention and make you feel like you are their only customer. Don’t the most successful service providers make you realize that they are a real person with real emotions who support their customers with their entire heart laid out right in front of you? Aren’t the most successful entrepreneurs the ones that remember your name, get excited when they see you (come back to buy more) and aren’t afraid to get passionate about what they do? The best entrepreneurs are real people who get excited about serving the public.
If you’re lucky to have a car mechanic, carpenter, plumber, electrician, lawn care person or a roofer that is really great, don’t you hold onto them very hard? Yes, you do. Customers hold onto great ___________ s (fill it in with the name of a trade or business) with all their might! So, if you are a businessperson, get going and be a great ___________! Stop being a stick-in-the-mud or stop being bored with or glum about what you do and get passionate about serving.
Back when I started my accounting firm, I found that the smartest clients I had seemed to hold onto me very hard. But, wasn’t tax preparation a generic service that was price sensitive? Why did people keep coming back? I quickly realized that it was because I held onto them hard in a pleasing and friendly manner after demonstrating fundamental and basic competence the first year. As I got to know them, I was able to learn about them and their needs and I became an even better provider the next time and with each problem that they brought to me. I sympathized with their own plight and I was doing myself what I was advising them to do (about being an entrepreneur). As each relationship matured and I took ownership of their own individual situations and needs, not just as their CPA but as their friend, I was ready to lay down in front of their problems and make them mine, just like the preservationists on Monument Avenue did.
When I convey to a potential new client that I want our relationship to evolve over time into one where they will have the most loyal professional service person that they could ever have and that all of my existing skills and talents and passions will be directed to doing what they need, I seem to get long-term clients who recognize that preparing taxes and giving financial advice is an art and not a science. I let people know that I am solutions-oriented, that I am restless about their problematic situations and I let them know that I will be even more driven to meet their needs than they will, if necessary, because that’s part of taking problems over as a professional.
I seem to attract great clients with my enthusiastic approach--ones who want to be on my side rather than be adversarial. When we work together towards the goal of paying the lowest legal tax and brainstorming about solutions to financial matters of a personal and business nature, the smartest clients recognize that it’s a smart investment to have me on their team as soon as possible. The really smart clients realize that they should get me working for them right away before I’m engaged by someone else who will occupy my attention.
Now, a service provider who lays themselves down in the middle of clients problems is not ever going to do it for free or for the lowest price around. The training and education and experience and passion to do that costs money. The best bargains for these types of enthusiastic professionals are had with the ones that work hard to understand the customers’ personal agendas--and every single client agenda is different and must be identified and agreed upon.
I have found that when I look for my own attorneys, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, advertising consultants and other professionals, that the ones who want to help me understand what I need through energetic and talented original thought are the ones that I want to hire. Though price is always important to me, it quickly becomes a lot less important when I find someone who bends over backwards to fight for me who will solve my problems rather than create more. The biggest thing that I start to worry about is not what they charge me, because their passion and enthusiasm is a bargain in today’s marketplace. I just worry about losing them because I’m lucky to have them in the first place.
David B. Robinson, CPA
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