A Focus on Your Client’s Causes

We all have our favorite causes, charities, volunteer activities. But, as a business owner, we need to always show attention to those causes and associated events our clients patronize.

This past weekend, I drove 90 minutes each way to my client’s client’s charity event. It was an important event, a new event, and being seen to support the organization and the event was not just about optics. It was about ensuring a client realizes their causes are supported by their consultants and vendors. If you value your clients, show them you truly value them as people, as philanthropists, and as advocates of charities or causes.

The next time you are asked by a client to contribute to a cause or attend an event, consider the consequences of saying both yes and no. We all cannot support every cause of every person we know. We also cannot attend every social event we are invited to, particularly in a post pandemic environment with viruses still circulating. So, make sure if the response is No, for whatever reason, your client knows why. And, if there is a way to contribute online, that might be the best way to show your support and be a contributor.

If your answer is No, do not say it in a quiet vacuum. Someone wondering why an important vendor, consultant, even friend, did not show up is never a good scenario. Be brave, be brief, and be heard. Most people will respect personal decisions around causes and social invitations. But, they clearly will understand better if you tell them directly and do not leave the real reasoning up to speculation.

So, point yourself in the right direction with supporting your clients, when you can. Doing business is so much more than just a transaction of goods/services and an exchange of money. Remember that when your next invite arrives.

Be well.