If you’re a client of mine… I’m not there to be your friend!
Sure… I get one with all my clients, and it’s important that I like them otherwise I wont take them on…
But if they like me, that’s just a welcome bonus…
I never go out of my way to be liked… Not by them, or anyone else…
It’s much better to be respected than liked…
Being liked means that I’d have to pussyfoot around… Watching what I say so I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings…
It means I’d avoid telling a client what they really need to hear because I wouldn’t want to upset them…
It means I’d let them skip all the hard work it’s going take if they want take their business to the next level…
And it means when I have to tell them a few home truths to stop them from making the same costly mistakes…. I wouldn’t be able to do it because I know it’s going to be hard for them to take…
I nearly had a client of mine in tears a few months back…
And it’s not the first time it’s happened!
Not purposely of course… Just as a result of what was said…
I won’t disclose her name for obvious reasons… But like so many Coaches, Trainers & Consultants I speak to, she had a serious problem with one of her clients…
Long story short, the client never paid on time, would readily miss appointments, spoke to her like crap and wasn’t valuing what my client had to offer…
My client knew exactly what she needed to do at one level… But at the same time, she needed someone from outside the business to tell her… And so I did!
And it gave her the courage she needed to face the problem head on and deal with it!
But If I was worried about being liked, its something I could have quite easily avoided…
… But being respected means I tell them what needs to said, even if they don’t really want to hear it!
And you should treat your clients the same way…
Anyone that’s paying for your services is not paying you to be their friend… They’re not looking for a “yes” man or women who just tells them what they want to hear to keep them sweet…
They want the truth!… And they want someone they can respect!
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