Why it is important

• Fundamental Ingredient: can have great product/service, great staff & nice office but without clients you do not have a business.
• They have large degree of control over your business:
• They provide revenue [80/20 rule] 
• How quickly they pay affects your cashflow
• Large clients very demanding & take time/staff. Also margins often not good. Danger of overexposure.
• Small clients less demanding and margin better. Not catastrophic if you loose.
• They have a direct effect on your reputation. 95% who receive bad service get vindictive. Cannot control what they say. Importance of PR
• Growth: easiest people to sell to are your existing clients. Find something else that they want & sell it to them. Diversify. [eg. Apple]
• They are best judge of your service/product. Encourage feedback 

How to look after them

Customer service:
It is exceeding your client’s expectations. 80% people leave for better service. Has to be ingrained from the top. Under promise & overdeliver. Be obsessive about what your clients want. Attention to detail.

Get to know them.
This enables you to provide customer service. Cannot know too much. Keep records. Do lunch with large clients. Relationship is ongoing and needs to be built over time. Help them if in a position to do so. Become a customer of theirs. 

Marketing/PR: ‘engagement Marketing’.
Talk to them & encourage feedback. Social media, e-mail,website. Face to face. Say thank you for referrals. Pr is about getting your message out there & protecting your reputation. 3 key points about your business.

When it goes wrong

Keep calm & do not get into a confrontation.

Be glad/sure/sorry

• Be honest & apologise immeadiately.
• Give money back
• Encourage complaints as they are opportunities.