Don't Remember, Write it Down

Don’t get cute when attending to client details.

In our neverending desire to appear to be “on the ball,” we too often hear what our clients tell us and try to commit it to memory. But if you’re managing dozens of client accounts with all of their various and multi-step todos and details, you’re destined to fail.

Write these things down. Keep a series of 3×5 note cards, pull out your planner or PDA, find something PERMANENT to jot your notes on, but don’t suggest to your client that you can remember it all. What happens if there are multiple issues to straighten out? What happens if another client calls the moment you walk out? What happens if some other distraction comes your way shortly after visiting?

You can drop the ball on something really important and lose clients. Those moments will be obvious to you. But it’s often the little things that alienate clients, drain their patience, erode our credibility with them, and ultimately lose the business. These we never fully appreciate and ignorantly chalk up to the competitor coming in and undercutting our price.

If you sell a commodity, or what’s perceived as a commodity. Be detail-minded when it matters. Show your clients you’re taking their requests and comments seriously by writing them down.