Many of us use annual checkups to keep tabs on our physical health each year. I believe annual checkups are vital and very important to your professional health as well. Here is part one of a two-part series on the ten questions that should be asked to check the health of your client relationships.
Most doctors firmly believe that certain types of regular screening tests and checkups are essential and help save lives. And most of us, no matter how much we despise devoting an hour or more to getting poked and prodded, dutifully go for an annual checkup each year.
After all, our health is vital to our overall well-being and happiness. In fact, I believe the practice of annual checkups can play a vital role in your professional health as well – especially with regard to client and customer relationships, which are the lifeblood of every business.
With that thought in mind, you should absolutely review the “health” of your client relationships on a regular basis. Here is why: Most clients vote with their feet. They do not tell you they are unhappy – they simply start to give their business to your competitors. Client relationship checkups can help you gauge the health of these relationships, prescribe changes when necessary, and identify ways to further grow them.
I recommend infusing your client health checkups with power questions. All business interactions are human interactions. Part of being human is acknowledging that you do not know everything about everything – and that you certainly do not know everything about the other person’s needs. Questions help you understand these things more deeply, and they are an essential tool when assessing the health of client relationships. Here are the first five questions you should ask yourself when you are considering the health of your client relationships:
- Do You Have Access?
- Do You and Your Client Trust Each Other?
- Does Your Client Openly Share Information?
- Does Your Client Confide in You and Bounce Ideas and Decisions Off You?
- Are you the first person the client calls when they need something in your area of expertise?
If there were such a figure as a “client relationship doctor,” Lloyds Banking Group Chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff would be the archetype. The former Schroders CEO and Citigroup chairman is a renowned trusted advisor who has calmly and wisely guided hundreds of CEOs through bet-the-company transactions and deals. Last year, I asked Sir Win, “How do you know when a relationship is not going well?” His first response was, “If it’s taking a very long time to set up a meeting, that’s usually a bad sign!” So, ask yourself, “Can you actually get in to see important executives in your client’s organization?” Some leaders are notoriously busy, and it does take time to get on their schedule. But if you do not have access, you may not be considered relevant! Plus, if you think you have a good relationship, but the client says, “There’s nothing going on. It doesn’t make sense to meet,” that is still a bad sign. It means they do not really value your ongoing insight and perspective.
Trust is the essential foundation of every long-term relationship. It is the feeling that the other person will come through for you. It is the belief that they will meet your expectations. It is the confidence that they will demonstrate integrity, deliver competently, and focus on your agenda, not theirs. When trust is present, you do not need to constantly check up on the other person. You do not need to put in place endless controls and systems to monitor results. If your client is constantly micromanaging you, then they may not trust you, and you need to find out why.
In a healthy, trusting relationship, there is transparency. Does your client give you access to their plans and proposals? Do they freely share information with you, within the constraints of confidentiality? When you are a vendor, you get very limited access to information – it is on a “need to know,” restricted basis. When you are a trusted advisor, your client treats you as part of the inner circle.
Does your client ever call you up to run a new idea or potential proposal by you and get your opinion? Or do they make important decisions and then call you afterwards? It is not reasonable to expect them to discuss everything with you. However, if they have an issue in your domain, and the relationship is a strong one, they will most likely draw you in before reaching their final conclusions.
This is an essential litmus test of a healthy relationship: loyalty. If the client views you as interchangeable with other suppliers, then you are a vendor, and you will be subjected to constant price pressure as the client continually shops around.
