This is not a story about the ethics of relationships with clients or customers, but it is a deeper story about why to be effective in business you truly need to love your clients.
You see, I believe in the need to fall in love with your clients (even just a little bit) in order to produce your best work. I know that I need to be able to find that spark within myself, that connection with the client or their product or service in order to be able to write powerfully and passionately about it. If the spark isn't there, the words don't flow.
Love is hard thing to fake. Think about it. What happens when you fall in love? When you care so deeply for someone that you only want the best for them? That you want to help them to take the next positive step forward in their life – no matter what that is for them. When you feel and care that deeply, you come from a place of service, of gratitude and of support.
When you work with a client from that space of love something changes ... something magical happens. Results that previously were unthought-of suddenly become possible and actual. Clients feel your love and respect. They warm to it – they respond to it. People love to feel cared about, to feel special.
You perform amazing, legendary service and nothing is too much trouble. You give more than you expect to receive and you constantly work on ways to surprise and delight your clients.
When you love your clients, fantastic customer service is easy.
Now let's look at it from another way. When you fall in love with your business (and not your clients) what happens? Your clients only exist to feed your business. They become a number, a means to an end. Interactions become transactional and cold. The care is missing. Clients feel that they are not important and are more willing to move on to other businesses. Your service is so-so and you work on systems and processes as a way to remove interacting with your customers. Calls take ages to return, emails go unanswered. Clients are a nuisance or a pain-in-the-neck.
If you are in love with your business (or your paycheck), then fantastic customer service becomes a heck of a lot more difficult.
So what happens if you discover that you are not in love with your clients? Well, it is a lot like realising that you no longer are in romantic love. It could be that you have just "grown apart" and you have been taking your clients for granted. In those cases, some concerted action and checking what you say and think about them may be enough to bring you back together. You may need to renegotiate boundaries and relationships, but that is all part of the process.
It could also be that you are with the wrong type of clients. How clear are you on the sort of clients you want to work with? Does the marketing, website and language that you use reflective of those types of clients? Do you say "no" to clients that are not really your type or do you say "yes" because they are the only person in the room who asked you out? What can you do to meet more of the clients you want, and less of the clients you don't want?
You also may discover that you really are simply "not that into" these particular types of clients or job. You may need to change jobs or careers to find the right match. If you find yourself dreading going to work each day, or if the complaints outweigh the positives – to be blunt you are probably in the wrong job. Take a break away to think and recharge as you may just be tired and need a holiday. If you feel the same way after the break, then move. Life is too short to be spent working with people you hate.
Yes, this is written from a female perspective, so if you are looking for a masculine view, read the work on Servant Leadership, where leaders who serve the needs of their colleagues and clients can be powerful and effective leaders, or the work of Tad Hargrave in the way of the "Radical Business". This approach is broader than gender.
Yes, it is confronting. Yes, it calls on you to be more open and a little bit vulnerable with your clients (after all, they can reject you). But if you do manage to fall in love with your clients, your business will boom. After all, who doesn't enjoy being the centre of attention and cared for?
HR Tip of the Week: Harassment Training
This is a follow on to my blog post about the Jackson Jive issue. As a manager you have a legal responsibility to ensure you have clear and up to date:
Sexual harassment policies
Anti-discrimination policies
Anti-bullying policies
Racial vilification policies
In a court case against you - these policies are going to be called up in evidence. But, you also need to have evidence that you have trained each and every one of your employees in these particular policies.
I always recommend making sure that these policies are part of each induction for new employees and are refreshed annually at staff meetings. I also recommend formal training every 2 years - with someone coming into your workplace and training your people on your policies. You need to document and keep on file who attended - there should be zero absences from the training (and yes, this includes the CEO).
If you get a complaint but the person doesn't want to take formal action - then the very least you need to be doing is running a general awareness campaign for all staff again.
When was the last time you ran this training in your workplace? Can you meet the legal requirements? Our HR Manual contains full and detailed policies that you can tailor to your workplace.
One of my colleagues Beverly Neil is a world champion resume writer (literally - she has the awards to prove it). She is so good that she now trains other people to become great resume writers.
But over the years we have been working together, to me the biggest gap was that she wasn't sharing her knowledge with people who wanted to write their own resume. Maybe they couldn't afford a professionally written resume, or maybe they just wanted to do it themselves - but they didn't know where to turn.
This week Beverly finally released her DIY resume writing course ... and it is brilliant. If you want to give the best first impression and to cut through the competition you need a brilliant resume. Beverley's course will certainly help you get there. And for only $47AU, it is a real bargain.
Ok -this is a very long post but in it I talk about the Jackson Jive issue from a managers perspective. What is shows about your workplace and what you need to do now as a result. The issue is much bigger than you think!
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
Thank you(and I love you too). I also love that for your first online comment you chose your mum's website. Pretty cool. Now remember all we have talked about the online world and choose your words and your posts wisely.
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This is a follow on to my blog post about the Jackson Jive issue. As a manager you have a legal responsibility to ensure you have clear and up to date:
One of my colleagues Beverly Neil is a world champion resume writer (literally - she has the awards to prove it). She is so good that she now trains other people to become great resume writers. 
