“Your view point largely determines your point of view”

In essence, where you stand to look at something has a profound effect on what you see and what you see in turn influences your actions.

Clients are the bloodline of every business and regardless of whether it is a B2B or B2C business, understanding clients plays a key role in customer success. An understood client is a better served one, and a better served client is a happy client. Remember, happy clients stay more loyal to your business and are more forgiving of the occasional mishap.

A lot of things come into play when trying to understand a client. Below, I elaborate on the things to consider when trying to understand your client:

Their business

A journey of a 1000 miles they say, begins with a step. The first thing to consider when trying to understand your client is their business. How does their business run? What are the bureaucracies they deal with? What is their company size and culture? Business model? Or business goals? What is their revenue making model? Taking into consideration the nitty gritty of your client’s business positions you to understand the problems they face, their expectations and their goals.

Their problems
What are your client’s pain points? The one or two things which constantly nag at them? Causes them sleepless nights? Is a source of worry? Considering these informs you of their “sensitive spots”. I call them “sensitive spots” because they are spots you do not want to touch wrongly, so to speak. Once you know the problems your clients face, you can work towards bringing them the right solutions they need. Also, taking the problems they face into consideration puts you in a better position to understand them and their expectations.

Their expectations

Problems inform a client’s expectations concerning a solution. Once you have a fair idea of the problems they have, you’ll catch a glimpse of the expectations they have or are likely to have. For example, if a client’s sales revenue is dipping, they are likely to expect that you strategize and bring up solutions which directly result in an increase in sales revenue (such as a sales training program to help sales people close more deals) or solutions which indirectly contribute to an increase in sales revenue (such as social media marketing to increase number of quality leads).

Their goals for the particular task/project

Consider, what is it that they want to achieve with a particular project? Brand awareness? Bigger market share? Revenue increase? Taking into consideration the goals they seek to achieve with the task they are giving you gives you a clearer picture of the kind of solutions to propose, or even how best to execute the solutions.

Industry landscape

Your client’s problems, expectations and goals are push factors. The industry landscape is a pull factor. It affects the feasibility of a project. Prevailing industry conditions affect the rate at which business initiatives can thrive. What are the trends in your client’s business industry? How do they influence their problems, expectations and goals? Taking these into consideration helps you pivot and once you are able to pivot between the push and pull factors, you create a fertile ground on which the right solutions can be generated; solutions which are tailored to meeting the expectations of your client.

Once you take into consideration these five things, you are better positioned to understand client needs and how best to satisfy them. Remember, a satisfied client is a repeat client; and a repeat client means more business, positive referrals and more revenue.

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Watch out for my next article on HOW TO UNDERSTAND YOUR CLIENT.