Providing good client service is often not as complicated as people think. It’s as simple as standing by your word, doing what you say you will do. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy; client trust takes a long time to build and can be lost in the blink of an eye.
Jamie Bumgarner’s recent Zweig Letter article goes over the key steps to building and sustaining strong, lasting relationships with clients:
- Take care of your employees, and they will take care of clients. Good company culture is essential.
- Always do what you say you’ll do. No matter how small.
- Be honest, even when it’s not good news.
- Be responsive. Responding within a day is a reasonable goal.
- Make all decisions with project success at top of mind.
- Treat all people well, not just clients. It’s the key to good relationships across all sectors of life.
Good client service provides the base for everything we do in the AEC industry. It’s not always easy, but the benefits are well worth the effort. Integrity is what it really comes down to: doing what you say you’ll do and treating others the way you’d want to be treated. At the end of the day, providing excellent client service is the right thing to do. You can read more on this topic here.