1. Deliver high-quality work

I can't tell you exactly what high-quality work means for you and your clients. But I do know that you can deliver what you think is high quality and still not meet your client's expectations. So we're talking about quality and value as perceived by the client.

In advising my own clients, I've been exposed to the work of many other service providers. I've seen great products and services that clients felt were just average. I've also seen what I believed was poor-quality work that the client thought was terrific. So there's more to client perceptions than objective quality.

To ensure your quality is recognized, I suggest you do three things:

1. Explicitly discuss your client's expectations. Define, agree, and track the measures of success for your delivery, whether it's a product or a service.
2. Ensure your client sees the value you are adding. Don't be shy about tracking benefits and impact, and sharing this information on a regular basis. If you're hesitant to highlight your joint accomplishments, always remember that if things go south, your client won't hesitate to confront you about your shortcomings!
3. Communicate often. I had a financial advisor once who was poor at keeping in touch. After a while, I just couldn't see the value he was adding. The relationship became a bit like a black box—I didn't know what he was doing to earn his fees. Don't let that happen to you. Transparency and communication enhance a client's perception of value.

The road to developing a personal promoter starts with quality work that meets your clients’ expectations. But it doesn't end there.

2. Build a personal relationship

Does building a personal relationship with a client mean you become friends? Not exactly. Occasionally, you will become friends with a client. But that's not what I'm talking about here. I mean getting to know your client as a person—for example:

• Spending face-time together and talking about things other than business.
• Getting to know each other as people, not just professionals on different sides of a transaction.
• Learning about your client's personal agenda—personal priorities, needs, and goals.
• Discovering things you may have in common, such as personal interests, hobbies, life experiences, and so on.

There are many obvious reasons why it's critical to get to know your client as a person. But here's one you may not have focused on: It is only when we feel a personal connection to someone that we really root for them. As I said earlier, it's a key factor in the difference between the loyalty you feel to a tradesman who does a small repair in your house and your personal physician.

Here are some road-tested strategies to help you build a personal relationship with your key clients:

1. Follow your client's lead. Move slowly and take small steps. Some clients like to spend time getting acquainted on a personal level before doing business. Others like to get right down to the business at hand and skip the small talk. If someone is very private, gradually build familiarity.
2. Be intensely curious. Take a keen interest in other people and their lives. Ask questions about their interests, experiences, families, aspirations, vacations, opinions, and so on.
3. Cultivate your own interests. Make time for hobbies and other interests outside of work. Read widely. As the CEO of one of my clients said to me, “How can you be interesting to others if you have no interests?”
4. Practice appropriate self-disclosure. You have to be willing to talk about yourself and reveal things about your own life if you expect clients to open up to you (just don't talk too much or get too personal, too soon!).
5. Look for similarities and commonalities, and use them to connect. Engage with clients around common interests and experiences, mutual acquaintances, life's concerns and challenges, family, and so on. Search for what you have in common, not how you are different.
6. Invest in face-time to build familiarity. Particularly at the beginning of a relationship, it's important to build up a reservoir of face-to-face interactions. Familiarity leads to likeability and trust.
7. Be human and accessible. Show confidence tempered by humility (“I'm confident this is the right step for you. It's worked well with other clients. But only you can decide if it's right … ”). If appropriate, admit that you may have been wrong about something or someone.
8. Ask for advice. People like to help others and they feel good about doing so. Advice could be both professional—e.g., asking a client's input on an article you have drafted—and even personal, if you already know each other pretty well.
9. Look for “breakthrough” moments. What will be a real test of fire, a crucible, for your client? An upcoming board meeting? An executive offsite? A major speech? A corporate reorganization? Be there for the big moment. Invest to support your client. A conflict or a crisis, if handled properly, can lift the relationship to the next level.
10. Use humor. Humor is a universal way of connecting to others and diffusing tensions. Make fun of the crazy situations you find yourselves in. Make fun of your own foibles, and of human nature in general.
11. Change the “relationship environment.” Get out of the office, even if it's to a coffee shop down the street. A different physical environment will change the quality and tenor of your interactions. People open up more when they get out of the office, and they talk about things other than business.

3. Add personal value

Your contract with a client nearly always specifies the institutional value that you will deliver. To create a true personal promoter, however, you have to also add personal value. Here are seven ways you can do this. I've framed them as questions.

Think about an important, individual client you work with. How often have you done the following things?

1. Crisis. Have you gone above and beyond to help them during a crisis or especially challenging time? For example: made yourself available at odd hours, invested extra time to give advice and support, or worked with them to formulate short-term action plans.
2. Career. Have you helped them become better executives and leaders? For example: given them ideas and suggested opportunities to enrich their careers or provided coaching on achieving their performance goals and demonstrating their leadership capabilities.
3. Learning. Have you contributed to their learning and helped sharpen their knowledge and skills? For example: given them curated articles and books that align with key interests or provided significant learning experiences through firm events, activities, or conferences.
4. Team Management. Have you advised your client on how to develop, lead, and get the most out of his or her team? For example: shared observations about the team's development needs, described the gap between where they are today and where they need to be, and made recommendations for improvement.
5. Network. Have you added “network value” by connecting them to valuable, relevant contacts (yours or your firm's)? For example: introduced them to a peer at another company who is facing similar challenges or who was also recently promoted to the same role.
6. Family. Has there been an opportunity to help them with family-related challenges and interests? For example: given advice to a child on careers or college admission, helped a newly relocated family find appropriate community resources, or advised a family member or friend on getting summer or full-time employment.
7. Community and Non-profit. Have you taken an interest in and helped facilitate their community and non-profit interests? For example: donated to their favorite non-profit cause, introduced them to someone who could help them get involved in the leadership or board of a non-profit organization, or connected them to community leaders and causes.

4. Amplify your relationship

A final strategy to get clients to vouch for you is to ask. There's evidence that when people give you a public endorsement, their positive opinion about you is strengthened. When clients give a public testimony, in short, they are more likely to subsequently defend their enthusiasm for you and your work. For a similar reason, when we share a goal or commitment out loud in front of others, it's more likely we will accomplish it. It increases our commitment to execution.

You should routinely ask your best clients for referrals. One of the companies I advise recently surveyed their own clients and asked the question: “Would you be willing to give us a referral to a friend or colleague?” About 50% said yes. How many of those do you think my client had ever asked for a referral? Not very many. If a client is satisfied with your work and feels a strong personal connection to you, they generally will be happy to give you a referral or a testimonial. But often, you have to ask. If you and your company are successful, it may not even occur to your clients that you actually want or need more business!

Referrals can be more successful when you make a specific request. It's fine to ask the general question, “Do you know anyone in your network who could benefit from the kinds of solutions and services we offer?” I think it is more effective, however, to identify someone in your client's orbit whom you would like to meet. Do some research about people your client knows. Then say, “I understand you know Elizabeth Garcia at Consolidated Industries. We've done a lot of great work in their industry, and they are exactly the kind of client who really benefits from our solutions. Would you be amenable to making an introduction for me?”

Another way to amplify your relationships and create “rooting” opportunities is to form client events and communities. For 10 years I ran, together with the former CEO of my old firm, a forum for senior executives on developing and growing client relationships. At times we had up to 15 top executives in the group. It was called the Client Leadership Forum, and it met twice a year. There was, above all, high inherent value for the participating executives, who actively shared best practices and common challenges. But in addition, they often enthused to each other about their experiences working with me and my colleague, James Kelly. The forum dramatically reinforced their already-positive views. Even a small breakfast or dinner event can achieve this effect.