Clients First: The Two Word Miracle

A Change Within

Remember that Clients First is not a department, division, or position. It’s not candy or balloons or cookies from home. It’s not frequent-flyer miles or customer-affinity programs. It’s not regularly scheduled contacts to ask for referrals. And it is not memorized patter designed to up-sell a customer’s dinner selection. Clients First is not a campaign precipitated on the company’s human resources so that they may be more relationship focused. No, it is not a trendy methodology of the day designed to uplift and inspire for as long as its luster can shine. Clients First is a change within you.

Clients First is a mind-set, a commitment, a fundamental change that does not go away in a year, a month, or a day. Clients First is real. It comes from the spirit and the heart of the individual. Clients First is a personal exchange between two people. It cannot be packaged or bottled. It cannot be conferred on the organization from the executive suite.

If you are looking for Clients First in a poster or a company memo or a broadcast e-mail, you can save yourself the time and effort. Clients First is not an outward thing; it is an inward change. If you want to make that change and benefit from the bounty offered by Clients First, then you must look inside yourself for the answers.

The answers will be personal. The change will be uniquely yours. You will change on your own terms. JoAnn and I can only share what happened to us, and from that personal experience we can offer ...