We're self-preservationists at heart. This works well if shipwrecked or lost in the jungle. In general, though, it's a dangerous mindset.
Where this really shows up is when we are trying use clients to get us to where we want to go, which is unethical. But it also shows up when we're honestly trying to help. Either way you need to stop and realize what's number one. As in, your client. No talking points, no radio spots, just authentic love.
If you've built your career/business model around "you first," then it will be painful to change. You may have already tuned me off if that last sentence applies.
The following outlines some ideas to consider as you seek to get it right with existing clients, and prospective one's too:
- Just like God, a client's time-frame may not be the same as yours. And if you're in the "service" business (we all are), then you don't get to make this call. You can be polite in persistence, but ultimately you're a servant.
- Stop marketing that you care, when your actions communicate something different. Washington, D.C. may have made us think that everyone has a price, but most clients desire authenticity.
- Be willing to risk loss. Those who have lost, even though they did there best, change the world and are wildly successful.
- Stand your ground in the face of critics and conformists. If memory serves, the word is courage.
- Your work is truly a motion picture. Make it the kind that people want to see over and over again.