Have you ever been at a store and asked for help? It can be a frustrating experience and one of the worst answers a clerk can give you is “not my department”.
At JAd’E, there are times when we do say, not my department. That is quickly followed with a suggestion of another source for that particular service or skill. For example, we are not graphic designers (I can barely draw stick people) so when a client needs design work done we have a group of talented, skilled designers upon whom we can call.
The professional services relationship is one built on trust and mutual respect. Read a few websites for professional services firms and see how many want to be your “trusted advisor”. One way for service providers to build trust is to admit that they do not have deep knowledge in a particular area but have resources available to address the issue and know when to call in the experts. Conversely, attempting to do work for which you are not best qualified is not only disingenuous; it has great potential to mar the client relationship when results are sub-optimal.Attempting work for which you are not qualified is disingenuous & has great potential to mar the client relationship.. Click To Tweet
The difference between being a referral agent and a trusted advisor is that the agent makes the connection and leaves while the advisor works to ensure the referred relationship: is the right “fit”; aligned with business objectives; is competitively priced; and monitors the relationship and progress to ensure that objectives are met. In essence, the advisor considers the quality of the results delivered by the ancillary service provider to be a part of his/her commitment to the client.
Knowing when to say “not my department” is important. To coin a phrase from the lottery folks, at JAd’E, we “know our limits and practice within them” relying on our extensive network of deep experts in every field of communications to deliver the results our clients need.