Can clients become friends?

It’s an age old saying, you don’t mix business and pleasure. But what happens when you become friends with your clients?  

Let’s face it, we’ve all had those corporate jobs where every email had to sound like you were writing from the desk of Queen Elizabeth II herself. It was unprofessional to throw in a smiley face or a lol. I never wanted to be that business. I didn’t want a platform that sounded stoic and distanced. I wanted a business that was warm and friendly and inviting. I wanted to have that platform that people were drawn to! 

And with that, came a whole lot of smiley faces, lols, and gifs and ‘How was your weekend, what’d you get up to?’ conversations. But I truly believe that great collaborative work stems from great communication and a healthy respect for each other. And most of the time, great communication happens between friends. 

So, I treat my clients as I do my friends. I take an interest in their lives, I ask about their kids, their weekends and their struggles. Our zoom calls always start with a good ol’ yarn and end up going over time. So why is it so important that clients are more than just clients? 

Trust 

Branding or rebranding your business can be an intense experience for a client. They are literally handing over the identity of their business for someone else to understand, be passionate about and convey, and it takes a lot of trust. 

Having a great relationship from the start, means that as a client you are comfortable and trusting of me to create something beautiful for your business. 

You know who I am, I know who you are, and it just makes for a super easy process from here on out. 

Feedback 

As a business owner providing a service, it’s always important to continually receive feedback on a client’s experience. Having that friendship and trust from the beginning, allows the client to feel incredibly safe and respected, so they know that they can be absolutely honest with me throughout the whole process, especially if something hasn’t hit the mark. 

Process 

Let’s be honest, the process is just easier! It’s easy when you feel connected to the person and you both have a mutual understanding for the other and their life and their commitments. It’s just all about open communication. Knowing who you’re working with makes everything run smoother, and you know that at any point, you can always ask a question, challenge an idea or simply stop and take it all in. 

One thing I can say with absolute certainty is that you will never receive a cold, professional sounding piece of comms coming from Third Ginger. It’ll be fun, friendly, punctuated with too many exclamation marks and lots of emojis – always. 

So, here’s to dream clients who become friends! Cheers!