Be Friends with your Clients, not Servants

Table of Contents

• Why shouldn’t you see your client as the “King” of your catering business?
• If you can’t treat them as ‘kings’, what should they be?

There’s no question about the fact that clients are the backbone upon which profits made in businesses are hinged. Businesses would not exist without clients or customers. By that token, we ought to teach them well, right? Relationships with clients are a part of quality catering.

Like kings over their subjects, your clients can decide to flex their infinite power to buy or not buy from you, which either way can affect your public brand perception. In this age of advanced technology and social media, most businesses are always on their toes to satisfy clients and escape bad marks or reviews.

The question is, knowing how clients can get intoxicated by the excessive service you render, sometimes at your expense, and the sense of entitlement that follows, should you still treat them as kings?

Why shouldn’t you see your client as the “King” of your catering business?

Yes, you want to ensure that the clients get quality catering that makes them come back for more, or at best leave a positive review on the catering services offered

But when you confer on them the title of absolute ‘kingship’, like kings with absolute power, clients may start to feel entitled to some certain level of service. And they start demanding a high quality of service for ridiculously subsidized rates. Something you’ll probably not be able to keep up with in business, like excessive freebies.

If you’re answering every whim of your clients in the name of being kings, what does that make you? Servants? That’s certainly not a title for a catering company with quality caterers.

When you place your clients on the pedestal of being kings and lords over you, what kind of relationship do you think you’re building with them?

We can tell you for free that the relationship you’re building is nothing short of that between kings and their subjects. Your clients are the kings, of course, and you are the servant.

The fact is when you believe that your customer is king and unnecessarily create a king-servant relationship, it’s hard to become transparent. You’d find yourself mostly acting out of fear because you always want to keep the king happy.

If you keep fueling your client’s kingship ego, nothing good comes out of it. You become a servant. And being a servant, you’re easily replaceable.

If you can’t treat them as ‘kings’, what should they be?

Rather than creating a king-servant relationship with them, become friends with them instead. So you treat them the same way you’d treat your best friends. And how do you treat your best buddies? By showing you care about them having a great customer experience, doing things in their interest, also, by being kind. It’s as simple as that.

Finally, you should establish a cordial relationship between you and your client. Most importantly, don’t just treat them like ‘walking dollar signs. Ensure that you always have their best interests at heart when suggesting products to them.