Do you make assumptions about your client relationships?

by | Mar 1, 2022

Our customers often tell us, “We know our clients so well, we really understand each other.”

In our experience that is only rarely true. It is very easy to make an assumption that you know what your client is thinking or feeling. When we carry out client interviews and ask searching questions, the real situation is often very different.

Here are some direct quotes from client interviews we have carried out:

They think we’re really happy, but we’re just being polite.”

I’m really interested in the new work they’re developing, I’d like to know more about it but they haven’t offered.”

They should be more careful about stakeholders and politics and pay more attention to what is going on.”

Some of these people are happy with the service they are receiving, others less so. In every case what they said was a surprise to the feedback recipient, and ran counter to the assumptions they had been making.

This is why client feedback is valuable. It’s a reality check for you…
…and it can test your assumptions to destruction.