Client Mindsets

I prepare to meet a client. I need to know how well they are focused on mission of organization, the longer-term vision of the organization, and what both entails. I wonder what is bothering them, what the possibilities are? What are their primary needs, and do they conform to what most bothers them?

Bringing a smiley face to a meeting is helpful but pulling out client agenda is key if I am to meet their needs, their expectations. The two are not the same, needs and expectations.

Sometimes an inventory of issues is helpful. Where the client places various items on that list tells me a lot. Does the client understand the relationship between the items? Which are drivers and which are support issues? Is there a chronology of these items that is important? Which ones should be attended to first, then second, and so forth?

When facing these issues, does the client show fear, excitement, a sense of possibility? How can this be used to further the client’s mastery of their situation? How much leadership or nudging must I do? Will any of those maneuvers help or harm our progress forward?

The mentor (a formal job title conferred by SCORE.org in its works with small businesses), must learn what the client is feeling and intending. Neither is easily acquired. Listening helps. Questioning helps open an array of issues. Do the answers truly inform me where the client is in relation to understanding the process most likely needed in the situation?

It sounds so easy – ‘talk to the client; find out how you can help them succeed in starting or improving their small business.’ Easy it is not.

Some clients come to the meeting ready to market their services. They often do not have any written details on what those services and products are, however. Knowing their services in detail and how their customers will use them, benefit from them, is the key component of the marketing message. Do they even know what these are?

Finances, where is their startup expense coming from? Do they have the capital necessary to start the business? Operating funds, too, where are these coming from? What expenses do these funds support? Is the complexity of expense details understood, known?

So many questions. So many avenues to explore to get the job done. Each client has his or her own strengths and weaknesses in organizing the business and its processes. Not all clients are equal in their talents. Some are good in some ways and weak in others. None are identical.

Working through all of this is what a mentor does to prepare and equip the client to find the means to manage all of their tasks. Watching them do just that is a rewarding experience.

It also teaches me that our country is doing just fine in the creativity arena!

August 10, 2022