Someone you serve by any other name: customers, clients, or patrons May 23, 2007
Posted by Jeff in Bias, Communication, Conversation, Decision-Making, Highest and Best Use.1 comment so far
Adam, raised in important question about what term you use to identify the folks you serve.
The ensuing conversation completely reframed the way I view people who come in and out of my business. Isn’t it just semantics? Hardly.
The way we orient to an idea will shape how we view it, the identity we give it, and the actions we take in relationship to it.
Adam goes on to share the common definitions/usage of customer, client, and patron. The point he makes is well worth heading. The language you use strongly influences how you relate.
But I felt compelled to raise the following concern.
There are two sources of orientation
One source is yours.
The other source is your . . . well . . . the folks you serve.
In both cases, there is not only the “dictionary” definition, but also personal orientation. Let me give you an example of how much weight personal orientation can have.
My wife and I have this running argument (completely in jest, I assure you, it’s one of the games we play 
). We argue over how many uncles I have. As far as my wife is concerned I have none. My dad is an only child. My mom has one sister who has been divorced for many years. What I have, according to my wife, are great uncles. The male siblings or in-laws of my grandparents.
My parents are short on siblings. My wife’s family is different. Her mom has two sisters. Her dad has two brothers and two sisters. My wife needs to make the distinction because the room at Thanksgiving is crawling with all manner of relative. For me, the distinction is completely unnecessary.
As another example, when I hear the word, “patron.” I hear the Spanish word for boss, “patrón,” from my days managing a multi-cultural staff that included many Mexican natives.
Whichever term you choose, customer, client, patron, I think you have to go a step further than just use a term that best suits your feelings for the folks you serve.
Tell your story
Declare to the folks you serve why you choose the term you use.
Help your . . . folks you serve . . . reframe the value of the term that communicates your orientation to them (whatever you want to call them).
If it is important enough to you to choose how you refer to the “folks you serve” with great care, it should be just as important to communicate this orientation in a meaningful, integrated, reinforced way.
Communication Pitfalls: Common-nyms May 1, 2007
Posted by Jeff in Communication, Conversation.add a comment
I recently picked up Anne Miller’s Metaphorically Selling. I’m really enjoying it and recommend it fully. But, I had a nit pick item come up for me that reminded me of a common client communication blunder.
Miller shares an attention getter she used in a presentation. How many squares do you see? Note: this image is scanned directly out of the book to make my point (I added the numbers).
Most see 16 or perhaps 17. But, this is a perception game. The goal is to encourage you to open your mind to ideas. When you consider different combinations of squares (sets of 4 and 9), you may be able to find upwards of 30.
But, assuming that the image was not distorted in printing, why not consider combinations of 6?
Because that would be a rectangle.
A square (at least to my understanding) is equally distant on all four sides. Which makes the following not squares.
In Miller’s sharing of the episode, there is no mention of any discussion about what defines a square. Her purpose was to share an example of a metaphor that reveals her audiences blind spots.
But, there I was for a moment or two. Point lost on me. Because I was distracted by rectangles masquerading as squares.
Common-nyms should so easy to spot
How often do you think you understand your clients, but you really don’t?
One of the causes of common misunderstandings is the use of terms which have different meanings for different people. I call these Common-nyms. What makes common-nyms so vexing is that by the use of a term that you have a strong rapport with, (i.e. “hands-on”), you can easily fall into the assumption that your client uses the term with the same meaning.
Example:
- Square: A square for me has four equally distant sides. My count is different from Miller’s.
Common-nyms you might find in your interaction with clients.
- Hands-on: A client might describe himself to you as “hands-on.” This might mean he is a micro-manager. This might mean that he needs to take an integrative approach. Your work needs to be completed in concert with other projects. This might mean that your client wants to work collaboratively with you.
- Agreement: This could be verbal, hand-shake, at-will, letter, or contract (using anything from plain English, to boilerplate legal language, to highly dense legalese).
- Approval: As in “I need to get approval to move forward.” This might mean that you are not dealing with the decision-maker, but this is not necessarily the case. It might mean that decisions are made by committee. It might be that certain levels of decisions are made at different points in the hierarchy. It might be that your client simply needs time and space to make a decision, but doesn’t feel comfortable being candid.
Care to share common-nyms that you have experienced?
Declaring a vision for your business April 23, 2007
Posted by Jeff in Client Selection, Client retention, Conversation.2 comments
Imagine you have been dropped into a place completely unfamiliar to you. You have to navigate your way “Home.” All that you have at your disposal is a large map. But this is a very special map.
You can only see the area within your immediate vicinity. The rest of the map might as well be written in invisible ink. If you were to move a mile or so to the north, you would be able to see that portion of the map. But, you will only be able to see a new portion of the map when you move to it.
Oh, there’s just one more thing
Did I say “North?”
The map has no compass orientation. Rather than the traditional map that has north toward the top and south toward the bottom, this map has no fixed direction. The direction you are facing is toward the top.
(For technology geeks—like me—envision a global positioning satellite (GPS) unit with a very large screen, but only a very small portion of it on display.)
Working in your business rather than on your business
(I’m not a big fan of this cliché, but it works in this instance so, please, bear with me 
)
Does this map resemble your view—your vision—for your business?
If you are like most, your attention is consumed with the day-to-day challenges and not as focused with the way “Home.” Collecting your fees, paying your bills, staying one step ahead of the competition, and keeping your clients happy may be all that you have time for right now.
I feel your pain.
I’m the father of a toddler. I know full well how the full day you set aside to work on strategy can disappear in a blink of an eye. I can’t offer you time management tips. I’m not here to tell you that if you “think” it, it will come. (Don’t get me started on The Secret. Rubbish!!!)
And, I’m not here to tell you of a few steps that you can take to see the whole map.
I can add one more tool to your navigation toolbox, however
I’m going to give you a compass. This isn’t a compass that points north, or even magnetic north. This compass points you toward “Home.” That’s where you are headed, remember.
You are still left with a map that doesn’t show you more than your immediate surroundings. You will still have to learn the lay of the new land when you arrive at a new place. You won’t know what to expect. You are likely to encounter obstacles.
But, your compass will always point the way “Home.”
What is “Home?”
“Home” is
- Where you hold the vision for who you are, why you are here, and what you are here to do.
- Where you hold the vision for what your engagement with clients is supposed to be.
“Home”
“Home” for the Happy Clients Newsletter is to enhance the value of the client relationship. What does a high value client relationship look like?
1 + 1 = the sky is the limit.
How does a client relationship become a high value client relationship?
In order to answer that question, you need to understand the role of behavior in relationship. Behavior is the currency of relationship. Behavior is what an individual does to get his needs met. When a client agrees to work with you, it is to get his needs met. A met need is not a one-off event. It’s more than just 1 + 1 = 2.
It’s transformative. It has a ripple effect. What ever you contribute to a client pays forward.
The value of conversation
In order to meet a need, appropriately, effectively, you need to understand your client. There has to be a sharing of information; an openness deep enough for you to understand your client and for them to understand you.
The key to uncovering your client’s need, and realize this transformation, is conversation.
Can you achieve a transformation without a conversation? Perhaps. But for repeated success, there has to be a conversation. There has to be two or more people coming together and building a deeper meaning between them from a sharing of information.
No conversation, no transformation.
No compass, no vision for the conversation.
No vision, no idea what conversation facilitates transformation.
What is “Home” for you?
