#Blog4Biz Day 12: My favorite clients...

The Living BRAVE blog re-launches on Aug 1, 2013. During July, however, I accepted the #Blog4Biz daily business blogging challenge. The challenge is designed to help business owners focus on certain aspects of blogging that will expand their skill, boost creativity, and focus their message. Initially, I wasn't going to publicly share my posts, but as I started writing these posts, I saw the value in sharing...and some of this stuff is really good!  If you want to join the challenge, click here.

How do talk about your favorite clients without isolating your other clients? That is the trick to today's #Blog4Biz Challenge.

There are two major aspects to my business. I conduct skill building training seminars/workshop on communications skills and I provide one on one coaching on strategies for executing those skills in real life. 

Therefore it safe to say I have two different types of favorite clients.

My favorite training workshop clients are "corporately others-focused." They recognize that personal development, employee retention  and employee engagement are important in overall job satisfaction  They want to provide continuing education that focus on universal skills in addition to technical ones. 

I love talking to clients about their employees. I have spent many times on the phone listening to managers go on and on about the great team they have. My favorite training workshop clients value continued personal development and seek it out to because they honestly and truly care about their employees.

Because they care, they are actively involved in the planning, execution, and follow up of a workshop.

My favorite coaching clients are what I like to call "selfishly others-focused." They come to me because they want to stop the internal struggle they are having with figuring out the best way to communicate with others. 

No matter which service my clients come for, my favorite clients also have these things in common.

1. They know the true meaning of a consulting relationship. They don't think or expect me to fix everything in one or two sessions. They know we work as team. They are in relationship with me because they value my expertise and advice even if they chose not to take it. 

2. They are capable of a modicum of restraint. 

They act like adults when it matters. We are all tempted to throw tantrums. But my favorite clients feel the war raging internally and choose to pause for a minute to seek out another perspective.  

3. They take action. 

I have clients who agree in theory and after we do work, they don't follow through on action items. Communication skills only work if you use them. They have to be tested and tweaked so you can get comfortable with them.

4. They are teachable. 

They want to know if there is a better solution and if so, what? They are open to initiating a different way as soon as they understand the what and the why.

The definition of insanity is doing the same things repeatedly expecting a different result. My favorite clients are BRAVE enough to stop the insanity cycle. 

I love client times when we challenge each other and come up with the best solution! Just like that old hair club commercial where the guy says I am not just the president, I'm the client. Same here. I am learning and growing with you!

Person to person communication is not going anywhere. It will always be here. My favorite clients all know this and use my services to improve themselves so they can help improve the people around them. Communication skills are the gifts that keep on giving. It just doesn't get any better than that!

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