The Client Letter
April 23, 2013
The Northland
Sun! 37 Degrees
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Years ago, I had a client who one might describe as somewhat harsh and blunt.
He was clearly used to getting his way and it seemed like he was pretty proud of it. Calling the shots was apparently a large part of this person’s identity.
Enter little old Jason who just wanted to be liked.
I remember one of the first times we spoke on the phone, I made a suggestion to him about the direction of a marketing campaign we were planning.
I forget the exact words he used to respond, but they weren’t nice.
In about 1.5 seconds, he basically called the idea stupid.
Remember, back then I was a little bit “fragile.” My reaction to his statement was to try harder to please him. Ahhhh, the good old days.
Now if that right there doesn’t qualify me as crazy, I’m not sure what would.
Even though the individual ended up being a “difficult” client to work with, deep down, I was looking to please. Everything I’d do would be analyzed to death in terms of how that affected things.
This is a recipe for misery.
You know those stories you create in your head that put an explanation behind everything your clients do or don’t do?
“He didn’t respond to that email I sent, did I say something wrong?”
“She’s never done that before. I wonder if I annoyed her?”
I’m talking about stories like that. Only we all know they get a lot deeper, darker and drawn out than the short sentences above.
Today is the day to give up the story about what your clients’ actions or inactions mean about YOU. This is not your story and you should get rid of it.
And frankly, there’s a 99% chance that the story is a total falsehood your mind made up for you. Sadly, these are the stories that can cause some real damage.
What your clients think of you is none of your business. Helping them reach their goals IS your business.
Listening to these stories you tell yourself about your clients brings out your “small self.” This is not what you want.
A year or so ago, I got fed up with this kind of thing and sat down and made a recording that summons your big self to the parade.
That’s who you want to bring to the table.