Does your business have Heart or give Heartburn?

Do you have a heart for your customer or clientele? I don’t mean that you care about them because they need your product or service, but that you really care about them in their successes and thru their hardships. There seems to be more people and companies in hardships these days. I see it with family, friends, clients and associates. I have heard horror stories and have had experiences myself with businesses that operate with no heart. No empathy. Businesses who don’t care enough to take the time to listen and work with individuals or companies struggling financially in this troublesome economy.

I remember as a child of a farmer, my parent’s struggles financially. Some months we were financially strapped more than other months. We lived in a small town and shopped at a small local grocery store. Those lean months we were able to run a tab for groceries and pay at the end of the month or make a payment mid month and the balance due at months end. Far, far, gone are those days. Believe me, I am not naive to the world we live in and how difficult it is to trust people. But, somehow along the way, business has become so impersonal and greedy that a lot of companies end up giving their customers or clients experiencing financial difficulties, heart burn instead of what they really need…some heart.

My company is not a fortune 500 company that can sustain for months without compensation for our services, but I have decided to run a business with heart. I have great clients. I know this because, I make it a point to build a strong relationship with them. A relationship not just centered on the service I provide them, but on sharing in their successes and empathizing with their hardships. That kind of business relationship builds trust, so when in need of service or are encountering financial difficulties, we can easily sit and discuss options that will get their project completed as well as payment for our service rendered. Everything is still done business-like. Options are discussed and contractual agreement are drawn up. I have found the most successful options have been payment plans or breaking projects up with smaller payments made upon completion of each stage.

So, practice empathy. Don’t give your customers or clients heartburn when they call you with their financial struggles in this down-turned economy. Your customers or clients are the HEART of your business, make sure they KNOW so.