One of the keys to building lasting relationships in a service business is the ability to recognize unique client requirements and adapt the approach to meet them. Focused interactions of our front-line managers with a wide range of clients over the past month have revealed just how different these requirements can be. Their experiences have been profound and the findings have been as unique as the managers and the individual clients they serve. One size clearly does not fit all.
 
While the nature of activities performed is often fairly “standard”, the importance of those individual activities to different clients can vary greatly and affects the value they see in what we do. At the heart of the process is the need to understand:
 

• What Quality means to them;
• Their unique Expectations;
• How Responsiveness impacts the relationship;
• The type and quality of Communication they desire.

The combination of these factors forms the basis for how our clients perceive not only the work we do but, equally importantly, how we go about it. Gaining clarity around these essential elements is essential to achieving long-term client retention. It is simply amazing what you will learn by focusing intently on each individual client, asking great questions, and then listening. Anything less is just guessing and the odds of winning that way are no better than at the gambling table. Why risk something as important as a client relationship to chance?