I built my #HR business initially on networking, recommendations and referrals - as so many professional advisers do. This means #reputation is key, you need to deliver on what you say, build #trust and provide excellent client service. (so what, so obvious no doubt?!)
The challenge with business #growth, is building a team and ethos to continue to ensure this same consistent standard and approach is experienced for all clients when you as founder/owner step away from providing the services directly yourself.
Truly passionate client service comes from partnering with your clients, essentially seeing yourself as an extension of their team. Our approach to this was linked to our values of #Trust and #Empathy.
As a business founder and owner myself I could empathise with my #entrepreneur clients, but -💥most importantly💥 - our #success as we grew was how (when trusted and empowered to do so) our wider team demonstrated this, continuing to build trusted, partnership relationships with clients at scale, acting as an embedded addition to their teams, complemented our wider support, knowledge & resources.
Our clients appreciation was reflected in our testimonials, case studies - and in visible gestures like clients including us in team and social events.
So many companies have glib, cliché value statements that talk about the focus on their clients, but in practice don't deliver on these. Or worse, treat their customers as just another metric, to be tied into inflexible contracts & squeezed to bill as much revenue from as possible. This is short term thinking and won't allow your business to stand out in the market, and longer term will impact client retention and reputation.
Some practical tips:
📍As #founder you have to be willing to pass on key client relationships and empower your team to lead these to build that ethos at scale. "Helicoptering" back in ad hoc can distracting and damaging.
📍When interviewing for our team we looked for passion, enthusiasm and interest in the clients and their businesses, as well as HR consultancy itself.
📍Invest in a tool to gather regular client feedback. As we grew in size, it was no longer possible for me to check in regularly with each client. I was delighted to find MyCustomerLens (Paul Roberts)
📍We used this client data to inform quarterly reviews or for any escalation issues. I monitored closely but ultimately the team members had to take responsibility and to address any concerns or actions.
Every business journey is different but these are some tips and learning that worked for me in profitably growing my HR services business to exit.
⁉️I'd love to hear thoughts or questions below!⁉️
Next up I'll cover #TeamBuilding - please make sure to connect with me or follow to see the posts and if you find the content helpful I'd appreciate a Like or Share 🙏
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