Blog | July 15, 2024

Double, Double, Toil And Trouble, Are You Ignoring Signs Of Trouble?

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By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

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In act IV, scene I of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the three witchy sisters are found conjuring before a cauldron of bubbling unspeakables. They summon apparitions to appear before Macbeth, the distressed King of Scotland. One ghostly being announces that “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.” This seems to put Macbeth at ease as he reasons that a forest could never attack his castle.

Spoiler alert if you’ve never read or seen Macbeth.  

In the end it is not the forest that destroys Macbeth, but soldiers who breach the castle’s security while camouflaged in tree branches.  

What camouflaged risks could you and your business be facing?

The halfway point of the calendar year is a great time to check in with your clients and determine if they are harboring intentions to end their business relationship with you.

This is not accomplished with automated surveys and email responses. This is a personal conversation between you and the client organization. You should speak with everyone who you believe receives value from your services, or you think should.  

This can be a face-to-face or zoom meeting, or simply a phone call. You can meet with the entire group at one time, or each person individually.  

It is important to put some thinking time into the questions you want to ask. Go back to the notes you took when you spoke to them at the beginning of your relationship. What outcomes did they have by working with you? This is a great time to revisit those objectives and progress toward them.

What are their thoughts, and do they align with yours? Listen closely to their words and identify the gaps.

These gaps are signs of trouble stewing in your customer cauldron!

I hope you have a great week!