It's A Two Way Road
When I was younger, my Uncle gave me some advice on relationships. He said that the most important part of any relationship, whether it be romantic, friendly, or business is the expectations that were placed between parties. Without the right expectations being set prior to entering any relationship, especially one where money is transferring hands, it will inevitably lead to the worst outcome. A complete breakdown of your relationship. Trust me when I say this was one of those “I wish I knew then what I know now” situations when it came to business.
As you must know by now, every new business goes through growth pains and it would be ignorant to say they do not make mistakes. It is important to recognize those mistakes and appropriately address them, otherwise they become failures. In our own history, expectations were not set and we lost a big client early on because of this. Insanity they say is defined as doing something the same way every time and expecting different results. You must grow and evolve as you hit these business hurdles. After this incident it became very clear what my Uncle had tried explaining to me all those years ago.
You see in business there are two types of communication, one-way and two-way. One way refers to mainly advertising and how a business addresses its customers with the appropriate information to benefit them. It is where a business can show the potential customer their W.I.I.F.M. (What’s in it for me). The second though is equally, if not more important. While both forms directly affect sales of a company, the later will determine your brand, client’s opinions, and a company’s reputation. As the world becomes more responsible, companies are being held to their standards by consumers. Social media alone has made it more common and appropriate for companies to open up two-way communication lines and be transparent.
Here is what I want you to get out of this, though, as you start and run your own company. Do not be afraid to make it an expectation of your client to communicate with you regularly. This is one of the most common mistakes small businesses encounter because of the fear to enforce any rules with money makers. If you are dealing with an older company then you they will understand why you need this communication line open to complete your job. They will expect the same from you, and if it isn’t handled appropriately you will garner a bad reputation in your industry.
One of life’s greatest adversaries for the human race is fear. If you have started your own business, you have already shown that you have the potential to overcome fear. Now you must push through this in an ethical and reasonable manner. I am not saying demand this from your clients, but professionally state this when you are opening lines of communication to do work with them. Get it in writing. Never forget that it is a two way road between companies to ensure quality work is done and everyone is happy at the end of the relationship.
We here at MachinaTek will always promise hyper responsive communication to our clients and expect the same in return.
