In the last few Tips, we have focused our attention on a couple of key and inter-related topics: delivering relationship review presentations to our customers and doing the right kind of research needed to make them effective.

As a reminder, here is one of our key premises:


The only value you bring to a customer is the value you get credit for. If you get no credit, you bring no value.


Although not our most popular premise, we (and most of our clients) certainly believe it to be true. The key learning is that we have to get in front of our customers on a periodic basis and review the relationship, highlighting the value we are creating together. However, the way we do it, and the tone we create, is critical.

When we reflect on the value created in the relationship, the entity of "we" is not our own company. Rather it is "us", or "our two companies working together". We don't thump our chests and say, "Look what we did for you". Instead we say, "Look what we've been able to accomplish by working together".

Of course, this statement is literally true. We can't do anything for our customers without their support, commitment, involvement, funding... Saying or acting like we could is not endearing, it's annoying. No one likes people who want to take entire credit for anything.

At the same time, we don't want to be so nice that we don't get credit for the value we help create. Finding the middle ground and the right tone is critical. Happily, most of our clients are really pleasant and realistic people who are more likely to create the right tone. By utilizing relationship review presentations, they are also more likely to get credit for their value.