Going to Extremes for Clients

In a tough economy, retaining your existing clients is Job No. 1. This is followed by building your client base. In both these tasks, your relationship skills are much more important than your business skills. So how far are you willing to go to keep or attract a client?

These thoughts occurred to me after reading an article in the Miami Herald about the extremes that small-business owners will go to in order to keep a client’s business. The article talks about business operators who have missed their children’s birthday parties or cut vacations short in order to accommodate a client. I wouldn’t suggest doing either of these, but the point is clear: In today’s business environment, the customer is king as never before. But at what point do you say, enough is enough?

Home-based agents
in particular run relationship-based businesses with their clients, so it’s a delicate situation knowing when to say “when.” I’d love to hear from some of you about outrageous demands from clients that finally pushed you to the brink, and what you think the limits of the client-agent relationship are. I’ll be posting this discussion on AgentNation, so join in the conversation.