“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
Sam Walton, (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) founder of Walmart
Are your clients really “your” clients?
When we say “my clients” it’s often the easiest way to simply refer to those who we know and who have done business with us in the past. On social media we say “my friends” or “my fans” or “my followers,” too, but are they?
It can be a slippery slope. It suggests you have some domain or power over those who interact with you. We can deceive ourselves into thinking they’ll want to hear from us, help us, or send us referrals simply because they know us.
The “my clients” or “my fans” prevents us from adequately keeping in mind what our true perspective should be: “Our clients” care about themselves… not being “our client.” And if you’re going to keep them, you’re going to need to continue to think of ways to support their goals, not yours.
By extension, this means asking yourself if you’re spending their attention with their interests in mind rather than your own. Don’t mistake having a bit of someone’s attention as ownership. Respect their attention and invest in serving them at every turn.
