Be a Good Client, Not Just a Good Vendor

We’re constantly being told how important it is to provide excellent customer service.

Be responsive. Do great work. Meet deadlines. Make your customers happy. Underpromise and overdeliver.

All good advice.

But I’ve noticed something interesting over the years: people who are wonderful at managing their customer relationships can be spectacularly bad at being customers themselves.

They don’t respond to questions. They constantly change direction. They pay late. They expect immediate attention but take days to provide the information needed to move forward.

Some seem to believe that once they’re paying someone, the usual rules of professional courtesy no longer apply.

I think that’s an enormous mistake.

Business is a circular ecosystem

When you’ve been in business long enough, you discover that professional relationships rarely stay in neat categories.

Someone who hires you today might work for you tomorrow. A supplier might recommend you to a client. A former colleague might start a business. A contractor might become a collaborator.

I’ve spent decades working across industries, disciplines, and organizations, and one of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that you never really know where a relationship will lead.

That doesn’t mean you should treat people well because they might someday be useful to you.

You should treat them well because it’s the right way to operate.

The fact that it also happens to be good business is a bonus.

Good clients make good work possible

Think about the best clients you’ve ever had.

They probably weren’t necessarily the ones who paid the most.

They were the ones who understood what they needed, communicated clearly, respected your expertise, made decisions, paid promptly, and trusted you to do the work.

They didn’t disappear for three weeks and then announce that something was urgently overdue.

They didn’t expect you to read their minds.

They understood that a successful engagement requires participation on both sides.

Now reverse the roles.

Are you that kind of client?

You have responsibilities when you’re paying, too

Being a good client doesn’t mean accepting substandard work or avoiding difficult conversations.

It means giving people a fair opportunity to succeed.

Provide the information they need. Be clear about deliverables and expectations. Answer questions. Make decisions. Give constructive feedback before small problems become expensive ones.

And please, pay people when you said you would.

If you value your own time, you should understand that other people value theirs.

Always be connecting. And giving.

Another principle I believe in is giver’s gain: the idea that being generous with your knowledge, connections, and opportunities creates value beyond any immediate transaction.

If someone I work with is excellent, I’m happy to recommend them. If I meet someone who could benefit from knowing one of my contacts, I’ll make an introduction.

Not because I’m keeping score. I’m not.

I just happen to believe that connecting good people and helping them succeed makes the entire ecosystem stronger.

And I’ve seen that generosity come back around in ways I never could have predicted.

You don’t need to become some grand networking impresario. Sometimes it takes thirty seconds to send a useful introduction.

Your reputation travels in every direction

We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about how customers perceive us.

But your reputation is also being formed by the accountant you hire, the designer you work with, the assistant who manages your calendar, and the freelancer who helped you get a project over the finish line.

Those people talk to other people. They have businesses, clients, colleagues, and networks of their own.

And they remember what it was like to work with you.

“Your reputation isn’t just how you treat people who pay you. It’s also how you treat people you pay.”

Be someone people want to work with—regardless of which side of the invoice you’re on.