The past years I have mainly worked from the comfort of home and my interactions with clients in person have been replaced with videoconferences from as close as San Juan, Puerto Rico and as far as England.
I have created a habit of working in clothes that might be appropriate for exercising but not for a business meeting. When I have a videoconference I will wear business appropriate attire including pants.
A few nights ago I was going out for the evening and I realized that I only have a few nice shirts which don’t fit (because I lost more weight), my business suits (I rarely use), and a bunch of stuff that I could not wear to that venue. Even looking at my shoes helped me understand that I had traded style and nice clothing for comfort and convenience.
Although I do visit Banana Republic every once in a while, most of my new clothes are from Marshalls. I am practical when it comes to getting the best deal on my clothes and if they are on clearance even better. I make sure that what I am buying is comfortable and fits into my daily life especially since we moved closer to the beach and my new activities involve water sports.
Are your clients going for comfort, practicality or convenience?
The same way I am always looking for comfort, practicality, and convenience, I realize some of my clients are looking for the same things. On occasions I am giving them what I think they need but for them it does not work.
I have to layout the benefits and analyze if my offering is practical and comfortable for them to work with.
Finding a balance with all three can be challenging.
When we build websites, we look at many factors like budget, time constraints, brand, and client image. These elements can impact me when delivering a project and impact the client further when he is trying to implement it and expecting results.
If the clients follow our recommendations and we have assessed the client’s needs correctly, we end up increasing the probability of having a successful project. Success for me is having a happy client that got the results we agreed to help him achieve.
So going back to my clothes example. Since I have decided to get items at a discount my wardrobe might not be attractive but it meets my current needs. The same way some clients want to have the expensive shoes but all they have is for the ones on clearance others might have a budget that will keep them barefoot for a while.
Clients on occasions want to be too comfortable while expecting results without putting the effort to share their story. We can teach clients how to create better quality content but if they don’t share their story they might be in the comfort zone where they will miss out on the best-expected results.
Finding a practical way and making it convenient for clients to find you online by engaging, creating content, and caring about your customers is the only way you will tie the many factors that make healthy online efforts successful.
Is your company wearing the wrong shoes, are you barefoot, or are you getting traction with the right elegant footwear?
