Nourish Your Clients
My wife and I arrived in Phoenix, our new winter quarters, about ten days ago. The desert valley is not the Four Corners, if I may state the obvious. Plants are apt to poke you or stab you, but they have a beauty of their own. In fact, I find myself in awe of life in the Sonora desert because the environment is unforgiving yet still plants can bloom and flourish. With barely a trace of water, a hammering and unrelieved heat during the summer, and soil that is often thin and brittle, a thousand varieties of green plants have carved out a niche of providence, a sufficiency not only for themselves but for insects, reptiles and birds as well.
So you wouldn't think that you'd be able to kill the things when you plant them in your yard. You'd be wrong. My wife, an avid gardener (or as my younger daughter called her, "a plant hoarder") has been experimenting with various desert plants, and though most have flourished, a few, indeed, have died. It turns out that even the hardiest of life forms in the plant world require a balance of water (desert plants can have too much), sunlight (some like afternoon light, some like morning light, some like shade) and protection (white flies are inimical).
So my wife, as people like to say these days, is on a learning curve. And knowing her as I do, she will soon tinker, adjust, fiddle with and nurture her plants until they do not merely endure but prevail.
So must you, in a similar fashion, nourish your clients. Some need a little sun, while others need full sun and lots of water. However, your customers won't walk up to you and say what they need in so many words. People talk in coded words and phrases, if they say anything at all. Often, people are less communicative than plants. So you must be observant, diligent, and of a tinkering frame of mind as you learn what each client needs to flourish. If you see a client wilting, don't ignore them. Also, don't assume you know what their issue is without asking.
Remember, your clients are in a daily battle to achieve their own goals and their own dreams, and their world can be harsh and desert-like. Observe your clients closely in all their transactions with you. If you can help them achieve what is most important to them, your organization will never fail.
Guest blogger Dennis Mathis is a long-time resident of the Four Corners who nurtures an interest in writing, marketing, technology, reading and business. About a year ago, he retired from a public relations job and is now formally self-managed. It is a harder job than he imagined it would be. He and his wife, Nancy, live in a log cabin near Lemon Lake decorated with birdhouses, and when the water is calm, they kayak along Lemon's graceful shoreline.
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