Clients for Life: Evolving from an Expert-for-Hire to an Extraordinary Adviser

As a consultant, this book helped me focus on behaviors aimed at building a long-term practice rather than simply going from success-to-success. I say this not to toot my own horn (yes, I've had failures too) but rather because most decent consultants actually do OK--clients are generally happy. We appear to succeed on a regular basis. The great consultants, however, are the ones who build vocal followings...and that's where the value of this work rests.

Sheth and Sobel bring to life the concept of client relationships in a way that consultants, and other professioanl service providers, can use immediately. The value of this book is that it takes the client's point of view when discussing professional relationships, rather than focusing on how to sell services. And, the book goes beyond theory to give the reader specific actions to guide their interactions with clients, and become true advisors to clients. The book stresses how to make the transition from a service provider to a client advisor. The book also points out the land mines in client relationships, and how you can avoid them. An experienced consultant may find many of the concepts in this book familiar, but you may question how well you're following the authors' great advice. Those who are newer to the business will find a well-researched template for building a practice of clients for life. Michael McLaughlin, coauthor with Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants.

Clients for Life sets out seven key attributes or skills needed to evolve from an "expert for hire" to a client advisor. It is based on extensive interviews, conducted by the authors, with corporate executives and top CEOs about their most valuable outside professionals. The authors nicely contrast the expert for hire and the client advisor. For example: Experts tell, advisors ask great questions and listen; experts are specialists, advisors are deep generalists who have both depth and breadth; experts have professional credibility, advisors go further and build personal trust; and so on. There is a chapter on each of these attributes and transitions. I've worked withclients for many years, and everything in Clients for Life rings true. I'd go further and say that this is one of those paradigm or mindset-shifting books. You cannot think about yourself in the same way after reading it. It raises a lot of questions about how we position ourselves with clients, and provides some good answers. Clients for Life is beautifully written. It ishonestly a must-read for anyone in fields like financial services, professional services, or who even manages large accounts in any industry.

I am responsible for managing large corporate accounts, and this book has dramatically changed my perspectives in terms of how I view my role with clients.In Clients for Life, the authors have succeeded brilliantly at a difficult task: defining the essence of long-term, value-added relationships and the characteristics of professionals who succeed in developing them. This is by far the best and most sophisticated book I have read on the subject of client relationships. It is genuinely insightful, beautifully written, and full of entertaining, relevant anecdotes about working with and advising clients. Sheth and Sobel organize the book around the key attributes of professionals who are able to become great advisors to their clients and develop lifetime relationships with them. They describe these qualities with depth and freshness, and their model rings true. Many people talk about "big picture thinking," for example, or "integrity," but the authors actually define these things in a meaningful way and clearly demonstrate how you can improve yourself. Each chapter profiles a famous historical advisor who was especially skilled at dealing with clients. Much of what I have read on client relationship management has tended to be either simplistic and focused on "techniques" or else overly academic. Clients for Life, in contrast, is a breezy read yet very rich and thoughtful in its approach-it'll make you think hard about your own personal and professional development. I highly recommend this book to anyone who manages clients (corporations or individuals, for that matter) or large customer relationships.

Don Mitchell's review is first-rate. I agree completely with his reasons for praising this book, and, I agree completely with his (and Drucker's) comments about so-called "lifelong relationships." If you are looking for some rock-solid advice to achieve "breakthrough" relationships with clients, Sheth and Sobel provide it. But as Mitchell and Drucker correctly point out, it is possible but highly unlikely that those relationships can be sustained indefinitely, especially now when change is the only constant and occurs at ever-increasing velocity. Give careful thought to the word "breakthrough" because it has so many relevancies to today's competitive marketplace. When in pursuit of a prospective client, first you have to break through clutter to become visible; then you have to break through other clutter to differentiate yourself from the competition; then overcome other clutter to begin the new relationship; finally, you have to break through still more clutter to sustain that relationship. (Think about juggling handgrenades in a minefield at 2 AM...during an electrical storm...while wearing a blindfold.) Sheth and Sobel offer a wealth of information as well as sound guidance. Much of what they share can also help with the formulation of customer recapture strategies. But take no one and nothing for granted. The "life" of a customer relationship should not be measured in terms of years; rather, in terms of how effectively you nourish that relationship while you have it.