Partnership Challenges: What clients (and internal customers) expect of us related to their business and their relationship with the organization (but not the delivery of the organization's products and services).

• Serve customers, not control them.
  • In response to customers' requests, proactively propose a range of viable alternatives (as in Chevrolet, Cadillac, or Rolls-Royce) that represent meaningful choices in cost and functionality (not necessarily alternative designs that produce roughly the same functionality at the same cost).

  • Help customers make wise purchase decisions, i.e., choose from among the alternatives we offered based on their values/preferences, not ours; i.e., we don't make recommendations which inevitably must be based on either our values or our understanding of their values.

  • Accept customers' decisions without ever undermining them or becoming a hurdle or adversary.

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• Be pleasant to do business with.
  • Listen carefully and respectfully to all customer communications, making every effort to understand.

  • Acknowledge customer communications quickly, and propose a response to requests in a timeframe that matches customers' sense of urgency.

  • Individually accept accountability on behalf of the organization for clients' concerns (no "finger-pointing"), and ensure that the appropriate group accepts accountability for their resolution.

  • Address all customers' concerns about the organization, whether real or perceived, by generating options when possible, by implementing appropriate remedies, and by following up with customers to ensure their highest level of satisfaction possible.

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• Negotiate a clear agreement ("contract") that clearly defines both the provider's and customer's respective rights and responsibilities.

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• Help customers gain business benefits from its products.

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• [Internal staff only] Contribute to shareholder value (the corporation's effectiveness and reputation) through its leadership (beyond delivering its products and services).

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