Taking Care of Your Clients

How good are you at taking care of your clients? What do people think when they contact your company on the phone? Follow along with this checklist and be honest with yourself – and learn how you can better care for your customers daily.

A business owner focused on quality customer service should:

• Return calls from clients.


• Fight hard for a client’s rights and always do what’s best for them.


• Listen more and talk less during conversations with clients.


• Always be on time for meetings with clients.


• Write their top 50 clients a handwritten thank you note.


• Have their clients tell third parties they love the business and feel appreciated.


• Let the entire staff know the business’s top clients.


• Be able to call their own business and be personally impressed by the customer service first impression offered.


• Be sure the people who answer the business’ phones know the products and services of the entire company, inside and out.

How many of these points match your business? Do your clients really feel like you value them and always do what’s best for them? Do your clients have legitimate reasons to be looking for someone else to work with? What do you think your clients say about you when you’re not around? How are the phone calls handled at your company?

Being successful in business may be a challenge at times, but there are a ton of little things you can do to set yourself apart from the competition. Look through the list again and see if there aren’t some steps you can take this week to improve your company.

Marty Grunder is president and CEO of Grunder Landscaping Co., an award-winning design/build and maintenance firm in the Midwest, and a leading green-industry consultant. Author of The 9 Super Simple Steps to Entrepreneurial Success, he has helped thousands of landscape professionals around the country grow their businesses and their careers. Learn more at martygrunder.com.