Build client trust by saving time

Early in my career, I learned this the hard way: How you treat people’s time is how you treat them. You can say all the right things about respect, empathy, and collaboration. But if you show up late, ramble in meetings, or pull people in without a clear reason, the message lands very differently. Over time, people form a quiet judgment: “This person costs me time.” And that’s where trust starts to erode. A few practices that have made a real difference for me: • Start meetings with the decision or outcome you’re after. Context can follow. • Do the thinking before you ask for time. Preparation is respect. • Be clear in writing. A concise message beats a long one no one finishes. • Follow through when you say you will. Being chased breaks trust fast.    Trust isn’t built only in big moments. It’s built in how little friction you create along the way. Want to be someone others want to work with? Start by valuing their time as much as your own. ---- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for Leadership and Career posts.

A client walked into our office this week and said something that stayed with me. "Naveen, I've been trying to get an appointment with my family CA for the last 3 months. I haven't received a single response. I need to make important business decisions. I can't wait for 3 months." There was genuine frustration in his voice. The interesting part? He wasn't complaining about fees. He wasn't complaining about technical competence. He wasn't complaining about quality of work. He was complaining about availability. And that reminded me of a simple truth about professional services: Clients don't just hire expertise. They hire accessibility. Most clients cannot judge whether your tax opinion is technically superior. They cannot evaluate whether your audit approach is better than another firm's. But they can definitely tell whether you are there for them when they need you. Trust is built in small moments: • Picking up a call • Returning a missed call • Responding to a message • Making time when a client is anxious • Being available when an important decision needs to be made Over the years, I have seen many professionals start their careers with exceptional client service. Then growth happens. Bigger clients come in. Responsibilities increase. Schedules become packed. And somewhere along the way, responsiveness starts declining. That is where relationships begin to weaken. A client paying ₹1,000 and a client paying ₹10 lakh may contribute differently to revenue. But both deserve respect. Both deserve communication. And both deserve clarity. If a client is no longer the right fit for your practice, the professional thing to do is refer them to someone who can serve them better. Ignoring them is not. The longer I spend in this profession, the more I believe this: In a world where technical competence is expected, TRUST becomes the differentiator. And trust is built when clients know they can count on you. When that happens: ✔ You stop competing only on fees ✔ Clients involve you in key decisions ✔ You are no longer fighting the 3- quotations and the lowest bid ✔ Referrals happen naturally ✔ Relationships become long-term partnerships ✔ You become an advisor, not just a service provider For me, this is how a professional firm should be built. Not just around expertise. But around trust, accessibility, and genuine care for clients. Because sometimes the most valuable service we provide is simply being there when a client needs us. Madan Hemaraju Ashwini Magod Nitesh MN Namitha M N #CharteredAccountant #ProfessionalServices #ClientExperience #Leadership #Trust #BusinessAdvisory #Entrepreneurship #PracticeManagement #ClientRelationships #MSNA #BuildingMSNA #CA #CFO #Founder #Financemanager #Accounts #Internalaudit

I violated data best practices to deliver a $40K ROI. (The client renewed. Here's why.) For 4 years, I've preached data best practices: Build proper data models. Minimize tech debt. Do it right the first time. Then reality hits. A mid-sized healthcare company hires us. They need a manual report automated. Fast. Your offer as a consultant is speed-centric. Their "source of truth" is 400 stored procedures written by a DBA who left 2 years ago. Zero documentation. Spaghetti SQL everywhere. 30+ Power BI reports querying directly off the transactional database. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼: Build a clean data warehouse from scratch. Proper dimensional modeling. Governed metrics. Best practices. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱: Replicated their messy legacy logic in the cloud. Matched their numbers exactly—even the parts I knew were questionable. Automated the manual report in 6 weeks. Delivered the $40K ROI we guaranteed. 𝗪𝗵𝘆? Because many executives don't care about best practices. They care about results. Now. You don't get 3-6 months to "do it right." You get 6 weeks to prove you're worth keeping. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅: If you show up and tell them their legacy logic is wrong, they won't trust you. If you replicate it perfectly first, they do. Once trust is built? Then you can challenge the legacy logic. Then you can propose the proper data model. Then you can start fixing the mess. But not before. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 Automate one critical report. Match legacy numbers. Show ROI fast. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀 "This works, but it creates tech debt. Here's the plan to fix it long-term." 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 Once trust is established, allocate hours to build the proper foundation. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 Don't stop showing ROI while you refactor. Balance both. 𝗧𝗟;𝗗𝗥: Best practices are the North Star. But speed to value is survival. Deliver quick wins. Build trust. Then improve the foundation. Perfection kills consulting businesses. Progress builds them. Agree or Disagree? P.S. - Full breakdown of how to balance speed vs. best practices in this week's newsletter. Link in comments. 👇 ♻️ Share this if you've ever had to choose between doing it "right" and doing it "fast." Follow me for real talk on what data consulting actually looks like in the wild.

I interviewed 150+ B2B buyers in the last 6 months. Here’s the most surprising thing I learned: AE's asking for a 30 minute demo call kills pipeline For a buyer, 30 minutes is a HUGE ask. And if you are using a scheduling link and making them wait 2 weeks for that call, you're dead on arrival.    There are over 1,000,000 sales reps in the United States. These 30 minute demo calls add up to millions of decision maker hours every month. You need to use your buyers time (and attention) more responsibly Buyers want instant answers. They do not think 30 min is fair ask just to get clarity on a few questions The problem isn’t the demo but how and when you do it. Here’s what's actually working for sellers today: 1. ChatGPT: Get the answers to your qualifying questions on ChatGPT and spare the buyer with obvious questions 2. Trust : Use the time to build trust and “really” understand the buyer needs. Ask “What value can I provide you with today to earn the right to another call?” 3. Actively Listen: Let the buyer speak. Listen between the lines. Record the call and listen to it again. 4. Reduce time: Reduce the time for discovery calls to 15 min but try to do it within 24-48 hours 5. Solve problems : 30 minutes isn’t enough to build trust. Trust develops over repeat interactions through consistent problem-solving. Get the process started. 6. Many 15 min calls: Try to do multiple 15 min calls with emails or slack. Use the cadence that works best for the buyer to get immediate value. 7. Provide Micro Value: In every call try to deliver something of value - content, free demo, insights, recommendations or introductions. Ask how you can be useful. When buyers reach out they are often looking for expertise and not a demo Sooner they get the answers, the faster they can move through the buyer’s journey Don’t try to slow them down with relentless qualifying questions or irrelevant demos. The future of sales will not be driven by 30 min demo calls It will be won by sellers that respond fast, solve real buyer problems and earn trust in every interaction.  At Zeer AI, we are building research tools that make this future possible. Until then review your content for the 30 min demo calls and keep earning the right to your buyers time.

CSMs are borrowing techniques from psychotherapy to save renewals. And it's working. The OARS framework comes from therapeutic counseling, but it's perfect for discovery calls. It builds trust faster than any sales technique because it makes prospects feel heard instead of sold to. Here's how it breaks down: - Open Questions. Stop asking "Do you like our product?" Start asking "What's the #1 thing being discussed in your boardroom right now?" Open questions force prospects to think and share real information. Closed questions get you yes/no answers that lead nowhere. - Affirmations. When customers hit milestones, acknowledge it. "You increased automation by 30% ahead of schedule" builds momentum better than moving straight to the next agenda item. - Reflections. This is the secret weapon. Repeat back what they said in your own words: Prospect: "We're drowning in support tickets and need better analysis." You: "So it sounds like you want to extract more insights from your current support system, and you're looking for solutions to do that. Did I get that right?" Reflections prove you're listening and give them a chance to clarify. Even when you're wrong, they'll correct you - which gives you better information. - Summary. End calls by pulling together everything they said, then ask: "What's the next step you think we should take?" When THEY suggest the next step instead of you telling them what to do, they're more likely to follow through. The framework works because it changes us the traditional sales approach that your clients might be used to. Instead of pitching and pushing, you're reflecting and guiding. Most reps ask a question, then immediately ask three more questions because they panic in silence. That turns discovery into an interrogation. OARS teaches you to ask one question, shut up, and let them talk. Then reflect what you heard before moving forward. Chad shared how he used this to save a six-figure renewal during a Sales Assembly session on Customer Discovery last week. The customer had been ghosting emails for weeks. Instead of pitching harder, he asked: "Is there something I should have asked you that maybe I didn't?" The response was a novel about losing faith in the product roadmap and feeling left behind by competitors. That one reflective question uncovered the real issue and saved the deal. Therapists know that people need to feel understood before they'll change their behavior. Customers need to feel understood before they'll renew their contracts.

One of my 5 Building Blocks of Customer Lifetime Value is Automation. Six months ago, I shared how I began testing a simple AI prompt in my role as a fractional CS leader at a professional services firm. The goal: use automation to draft Success Plans and save time. The initial result: 2 hours back per new client in onboarding, and immediate client feedback like “you really heard me” and “you definitely got this right!” But that was just the beginning. After testing and iterating the prompt, I evolved it into a custom GPT so the entire internal team can use it directly. No more searching to copy/paste prompts! It includes: ✔️ Conversation starters guide exactly what to upload about the client. ✔️ Knowledge files lock in tone, style, expertise, service use cases, and output formats. ✔️ Outputs include Success Plans, onboarding materials, and client research, all ready in minutes. Result: faster onboarding, consistent quality, and clients who feel understood from day one. With onboarding humming, the next question was obvious: how do we bring the same rigor to active engagements so teams can communicate value, spot risk sooner, and retain clients longer? I built a second custom GPT to proactively assess client health and value, and surface potential risks across current engagements. It pulls from monthly provider reports, billing data, client feedback, and the original Success Plan. Each Client Health Summary includes the following, plus some measurement against proprietary service delivery frameworks: ✔️ Impact & value delivered ✔️ Risks in the engagement ✔️ Internal discussion points ✔️ Client-facing conversation starters to evolve the partnership Pilot & refinement: We initially tested this GPT across 15 client engagements, gathered service provider feedback, and iterated. Yup, we taught the GPT what it got right/wrong! That loop made outputs more accurate and more useful in practice. Real-world gains: Our one full-time Client Success Manager is able to make her time go further. This GPT quickly preps her for service provider + client discussions across a large book of business in minutes, focused on value/ROI. By serving as an objective prep tool, the summaries help leaders and service providers brief peers quickly, challenge assumptions (AI helps us avoid “happy ears”), and enter client discussions with sharper, more balanced perspectives. The Bigger Lesson Automation isn’t static. We started with a prompt, then built reusable custom GPTs embedded across the client journey. None of it is perfect. But it’s allowed my client to run much faster! In our ideal future state, agents will automatically trigger these GPTs from our CRM for both onboarding and to run a quarterly client health review cadence. That will make the process even more automated, predictable, and consistent. I’ve learned a lot in six months. What have you discovered with AI that you can use in the customer journey?

“What’s important to your customers has to show up in the numbers that are important to your business.” - Me Not sure how? I got you today. Keep reading for three practical ways to do it. 1. Time to Value: If your customers care about speed, then your business metrics should too. Stop measuring “average handle time” in a vacuum and start tracking “time to value” from the customer’s first touch to when they feel the outcome. If customers get value faster, you’ll see it show up in renewals and wallet share. Your Chief Revenue Officer will be so happy he’s flying you and your spouse to Nantucket to stay at their summer house in Sconset. Question to answer: if you cut your customers’ “time to value” in half, what would it do to your revenue line? 2. Cost to Serve: What’s important to customers isn’t just a great customer service interaction. It’s seamless service. Every time your customers hit unnecessary friction, you’re forcing more calls, chats, and escalations. That means higher cost to serve for you. Track “first contact resolution” or “friction-free journeys.” When customers solve issues on the first try, whether digital or via an agent, trust goes up and operating costs come down. Your COO will be so happy that they’re advocating for you to receive more RSUs this year. Question to answer: how much wasted spend is hidden in repeat contacts your team is fielding today? 3. Risk Reduction: Customers want trust and reliability. That’s not soft stuff. It’s hard risk. A single failure in onboarding, data accuracy, or billing erodes confidence and creates churn risk. Tie customer trust to metrics like churn reduction or compliance adherence. When customers feel secure, risk of lost revenue or regulatory risk gets so low your Chief Risk Officer is sending you cookies over the winter holidays. Be honest: are your trust metrics showing up in your quarterly business review deck, or are they buried in a VOC report no one reads? #clientexperience #leadership #growth #efficiency #coo #cro #voc

Don't waste time answering the same client questions over and over. (This is how to save your time.) Most client queries aren't urgent. But they do steal your time. Here’s how you can use content to answer those questions. It will save you time and still provide great client service: 1. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲: Identify the top 10 questions clients ask. Create short, clear FAQs or guides for each. Make these resources easy to find on your website. 2. 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: Provide ready-to-use tools like checklists. Tailor templates to your clients industries. Share as a download so clients can keep them. 3. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤: Set up email replies with links to your FAQs. Use client meetings to share guides proactively. Include links to guides when sending follow-up emails. 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬: Share your FAQs and guides on LinkedIn. Clients answer their own questions. You become known as the expert. Being efficient doesn’t mean sacrificing service. Creating evergreen content = Clients get the answers they need + It frees up your time to use your expertise where it’s needed most. Do you use content to answer client queries? ______________ Hey, I’m Claire! I talk about how professional service advisers can use LinkedIn and content marketing to promote themselves and get clients. Follow me if that sounds useful!

We onboarded 7 Amazon accounts in June & July. 6 are now long term clients.. Here are some top lessons that I've learned over the last 5 years about nailing client retention: 1. Get going with THE work ASAP ⏲️ - First two months is when the client trust is 0 - Slow/shaky performance in this period can hurt - DON'T delay real work for only 'digging out insights' - Start with the most immediate biggest opportunities of improvement - The client needs to see a lot of little positive hints in first two months ↳ Remember, you're buying yourself time & trust to do the bigger time-taking improvement. 2. Draw CLEAR projections early on 📄 - When clients don't know what to expect, they expect too much - They can't know which week/month will be slow if you don't tell them - Underpromise only enough so that the client is still satisfied with it - Set up tougher projections internally and try to overdeliver all the time - Monthly or 10-day breakdowns work the best (add notes) ↳ For example, if the client is told TACOS will go up in July and reset in August, he won't panic when it goes up in July. 3. Be proactive NOT reactive with communication ☢️ - When clients see a decline, they don't investigate external factors - They assume it's because of you - Or they panic that they were not informed - Clients can't be patient with challenges they're kept unaware of - Proactively informing clients > Reactively responding to panic texts ↳ Nothing builds trust stronger than knowing this team is on top of my account. 4. Know the small details better than the client 🔢 - Clients expect you to give their account the attention they can't give - I have seen our clients fire agencies over this EXACTLY - 1 person in the team has to know the account's stats really really well - If the client sees repeatedly he knows more, you're getting replaced 💩 ↳ Question, why would at least 1 person in the team not know the macro & micro details really, really well anyway? 5. Meet the client once every week or two weeks 💻 - You want to know how the client is feeling about recent progress - Address any objections or confusions built out of overthinking - Get them on the same page about any challenging strategies to execute ↳ Clients are much quicker to notice declines vs improvements. Weekly meetings allow you to show what you've been doing for them. A lot of the other stuff is a waste of time. Just aim to make them more money and nail these 5 lessons. That will get you 90% of the results.

Imagine having a Chief of Staff in your pocket. That’s basically what Microsoft’s CEO revealed last week with his 5 daily AI prompts. Check out Satya’s 5 daily prompts, with my take on why they matter: 1. Walk into meetings prepared: “Based on my prior interactions with [person], give me 5 things likely top of mind for our next meeting.” 💡 Imagine walking into every client call already knowing their top concerns. It shortens the path to value and shows customers you’re listening. 2. Project updates you can trust: “Draft a project update based on emails, chats, and all meetings in [series]: KPIs vs. targets, wins/losses, risks, competitive moves, plus likely tough questions and answers.” 💡 No more sugar-coated updates. You see the real risks early, so you can address problems before the customer feels the pain. 3. Reality check on deadlines: “Are we on track for the [Product] launch in November? Check eng progress, pilot program results, risks. Give me a probability.” 💡 Customers lose trust when deadlines slip. A clear probability gives you a chance to reset expectations proactively, instead of scrambling after the fact. 4. Where is your time really going: “Review my calendar and email from the last month and create 5 to 7 buckets for projects I spend most time on, with % of time spent and short descriptions.” 💡 It shows you where your time really goes and highlights tasks that could be automated. Freeing up hours here means more time spent on things that matter most. 5. Never get blindsided again: “Review [select email] + prep me for the next meeting in [series], based on past manager and team discussions.” 💡 Customers hate repeating themselves. This makes every meeting feel like you’ve been tracking their journey closely, building confidence instead of frustration. These prompts aren’t just clever productivity tricks. They’re a practical way AI can remove friction, surface risks early, and help you protect customer trust. Which of these 5 prompts would save you the most time in your day? Day 5/100