Clients: Perhaps they’re customers. Perhaps they’re patients. Perhaps they’re clients. No matter what you call them, they are the reason you receive a paycheck. How are you nurturing the people who give you (or your employer) the money to support you? Are you cultivating a warm, welcoming environment for your clients?
Since I’ve only got one tutoring client at the moment, I mostly interact with customers at my job. I’m quite certain I cultivate great working relationships with my client and customers.
My tutoring client used to travel about two hours one way to utilize my sliding scale fees. When he moved to attend grad school, I offered to continue tutoring using Internet applications. I grandfathered him in at the reduced rates and gave him reduced rates for proofreading and consulting. It’s been a very rewarding experience, and I’m glad I can still offer him great tutoring services despite the distance.
When it comes to customers, I have a very important rule — how would I like to be treated? This rule defines my demeanor at work. I smile at everyone and chat with them to the point that I’ve been accused of flirting with customers. This is a half truth — some definitions of flirting include being friendly with customers so as to entice them to spend their money. If you assume that definition, then I’m absolutely a flirtatious little vixen. If you think of it as a sexual thing, I’m absolutely not trying to send the wrong signals — sorry, not interested, my dears! 😉
All in all, I feel I cultivate a warm, welcoming atmosphere for clients and customers. I love seeing others smile back at me, hearing compliments about my smile and cheerful attitude, and engaging in conversations that build rapport with those who make my income possible.
