When times are good, it mightn’t be too hard to keep your business or professional practice busy but how sustainable is your business? How well are you maintaining your market share now that times are ‘slowing’? How deep and well developed is your relationship with your customers or your clients? Do you care?
You make sure the basic product or service is acceptable in your marketplace. The folding tables are sturdy, the engineering or architectural designs are efficient and effective and well presented, the training package is fine-tuned.
Take a step back and reflect about your business as a whole. Do you:
1. Not care too much about how your goods or services are received – the cheque is in the bank, the contract is the contract and that’s that.
2. Make sure what you deliver is fit for purpose.
3. Make sure your staff understand your brand of customer service and train them in this.
4. Develop a relationship with your client, understanding their needs and priorities, and the factors outside the contract that are significant to them.
5. Engage in a real and meaningful partnership with your client.
There’s a spectrum across these five snapshot points, from no relationship to an excellent and fulfilling relationship with your client. Do you know where your business falls on this spectrum?
Take the time to realistically diagnose your business applying these five questions. Whether your business is booming or things have slowed down, now is the time to be clear about this question. Work on whether you have the tools to change any of this.