It’s frustrating when clients don’t want to connect with you at the level you desire, especially when it helps you provide better service.
First off, remember that clients are humans, too. Not everyone is going to like us or want to talk to us no matter how hard we try. Before we get frustrated or give up, here are a few things to try to get their attention.
Contact Method
Start by asking the client their preferred method, and if they are not responsive to your attempts, other methods are at your disposal. If this relationship is important to you, be willing to bend on your process. Some common methods of contact include:
- Office phone
- Direct office number
- Cell phone
- Text
- In person
- Video call
Meeting Method
Like the contact method, ask your client for their preferences and be willing to adjust your standards to maintain this relationship. In addition to the list above of communications methods for meetings, some clients may prefer unscheduled versus scheduled meetings. I absolutely love a schedule, as do many small to midsized MSPs, but some clients have a different work style, so you may need to meet them where they are for success.
Allen Edwards
Are You Delivering Value?
Sometimes, the content you or your other clients find valuable is not the same for the client that’s avoiding contact.
Once again, ask the client what they would find valuable — if they respond to you. Outside of their response, challenge yourself to determine if you are delivering real value from the client’s perspective. Beware of these common pitfalls:
- Meeting results in a quote: They see every meeting as a cost they are hoping to avoid.
- Lots of data is reviewed: Clients usually don’t care about your data beyond what they need to act on.
- Meetings are too routine: Are you blindly following a schedule that may result in a meeting with no new information?
If you’ve tried different strategies and ensured that you’re delivering value but the client remains distant, it may be time to reevaluate the relationship. It’s possible that the client may not be the right fit for your business. In that case, it likely would be more productive to focus on the clients that appreciate your services.
Overall, if your business is doing well and most of your clients seem to love your services, I’m sure you can rise to this challenge and make the right choice for each case.
Allen Edwards is president of Eureka Process , and head of consulting and co-owner of Gozynta. He released his first book, “Process and the Other ‘P’ Word (Which is Also Process)” in 2022. As a self-proclaimed entrepreneur, he also founded IT recruiting firm MSP Hire and coffee shop/event venue Trickster’s Hideout in 2023. Find more fascinating facts about Edwards at channelWise.
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