Relationships and availability
Obviously you are in the business of relationships. That's why you have a CRM — to Manage your Constituent Relationships.
But your operation relies on other important relationships too:
With your staff.
With your board.
With your vendors.
How you make yourself available to them — and they to you — has a big impact on the quality of those relationships.
I recently started a pilot program in my coaching practice, and I was surprised by what it did to the relationship I have with my clients.
The gist of it is this: unlimited advisory support.
No hourly billing. No limits on how often you can contact me. Just a straight monthly subscription, and as long as you're subscribed, I'll help you with strategic guidance, coaching, and training, on anything related to CiviCRM, as much as you like.
Once I started, I immediately saw a wonderful change in my relationships with participating clients:
They ask questions. They never have to hesitate to reach out with a question. So they ask more questions, and better questions, and their learning process is rapidly accelerated.
Our interests are easily aligned. I'm interested in helping organizations become the masters of their own data systems. Program participants want that for themselves, too.
Our goals are aligned. Because the clock is never running on our conversations, we have time to drill down on the outcomes they care about most, and discuss freely the pros and cons of one approach or another. My goal is to help them achieve their goals. I want to hear that the work they're doing, with my help, is hitting one home run after another. Of course, they want that too.
Frankly, I was surprised by the difference. I've had happy clients for years, to the extent that I don't even bother to advertise my services, since happy customers are glad to hire me again, and to refer their colleagues.
But in hindsight, it's no surprise at all. I aim to help people I like get what they want. And I do like the people I work with. Why wouldn't it be better when I make it easier for us to work together?
Next Monday I'll be opening this unlimited advisory program to all of my clients. Some will want it, and some won't. Everybody's different. But since I only have a few spots available, that should work out just fine.
Here's the thing:
Relationships count. None of us does great things all on our own.
What steps might you take to level-up the way you relate to the people you rely on?
All the best,
A.