Stop Hating Your Customers and Thinking Your Clients Are Clueless

Brent Osborn • June 20, 2019

Stop Hating Your Customers and Thinking Your Clients Are Clueless.

Have you ever caught yourself thinking your client is clueless, lost, less than savvy, etc.? How about partaking in a complaint-fest about your customer for being too needy? It's time to flip the script and change that way of thinking. Too often, we quickly come to the conclusion that we are smarter than our clients if they make a decision we do not necessarily agree with. Additionally, it is easy to become disgruntled with frequent customer touch points. It's time to stop. As service providers and professionals we cannot afford this mentality. Let's change our thinking.

Here are a few examples of how to flip the paradigm:


If you think 'this client is so clueless'...'they don't know anything about what we're doing'…

Talk yourself through this- your client is clueless because they aren't subject matter experts like the people in your business? Pump the brakes y'all. Your client is brilliant for engaging with your company because they knew the limits of their ability or knowledge base. You should be honored they trusted you with their business an felt comfortable engaging with your expertise. If you bounce off the path of really jiving with your customer and get in this negative rut pick up the phone and call them to remind them how grateful you are to work with them. Your attitude will shift.

But, "they just don't get it"…

This is an opportunity to challenge yourself in your delivery methodologies and processes. Do you use too many acronyms, buzzwords, or industry specific terms? Are you stating deliverables and project components in a way that everyone can understand, or are you leaving too much open for interpretation because of lazy communication practices? How are you helping 'they' to 'get it'? All interactions with your client should have a clear, communicated purpose (the treetops view of what needs to be accomplished and the 'why' behind it), stated outcomes (specific things your client will walk away with), and expectations (the minimum of what you will do and what they will do to accomplish the aforementioned). This is your opportunity to educate your client and ease any uncertainty they may be feeling.

Should you find yourself upset with a customer who reaches out more frequently than you would like and 'they're so needy!'…

Guess what?  You're in demand.  You earned it.  When the outreaches dwindle it means you're no longer a valued partner.  Did you level set expectations at the top of the engagement in regard to frequency of outreaches, method of contact, and acceptable response times?  If the answer is no, that isn't your client's fault.   If the answer is yes, then you have to ask yourself if you appropriately scoped the project. 

And my favorite, 'I could get so much more done without all these customers'…

Newsflash: you would have no business without customers. Stop being angry at them for being your customer and paying your mortgage. This is silly and unwarranted. Instead, fill customer-centric roles within your business and let them go to work. Find a system that works for you to be involved, prioritize daily activities, and place value and emphasis on structuring your calendar in a way that defends critical moments of your week where you're focused on those things you can’t

Stop hating your customers and embrace an attitude of client service. Your business depends on it.



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