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The natural instinct is to get defensive or go quiet. Neither works. What works is showing up faster than expected, owning the issue without excuses, and fixing it in a way that surprises them. Here’s what I’ve learned: Just because something goes wrong doesn’t mean a client will leave you. The client leaves because of how you handled the situation when something went wrong. A first problem handled well can actually deepen trust more than if the problem had never happened at all. They think, “If this is how they treat me when things go sideways, I’m in good hands.”
A competitor’s ad catches their eye. A friend mentions someone new. By the time you notice, they’re already gone, or halfway out the door. Here’s what makes this so dangerous: 68% of customers who leave a business do so because of perceived indifference. Not price. Not a competitor’s offer. Not even a bad experience. They simply felt ignored. They felt like you no longer cared. That’s the number one reason people walk away, and it’s entirely within your control. The quiet middle is where most client relationships die, and it’s also where consistent presence pays the biggest dividends. This is why a monthly newsletter works so well. It’s not a sales pitch. It’s a presence. It shows up in their mailbox with something that benefits your reader, something human, something that says, “We’re still here. We’re still thinking about you.” And here’s the key: The best newsletters give far more than they ask. Gary Vaynerchuk calls it “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” You earn the right to ask for something by providing value first. Not once. Multiple times. The old rule of thumb is 80% value, 20% promotion. Today, you need to deliver value 90% of the time and make direct asks only 10% of the time. If you show up every time with a sales pitch, people tune out. But if you consistently show up with something useful, a story, an insight, a tip they can actually use, you build what psychologists call reciprocity. They feel like they owe you something. Not because you demanded it, but because you earned it. You can’t personally call every client every month. You can’t show up at their door. Which is why the newsletter gives you leverage.
This moment is so powerful that I know of companies that manufacture minor problems so they can solve them beautifully. They intentionally create a minor hiccup — a “mistake” in an order, a small delay — then swoop in with an over-the-top resolution. The customer walks away thinking they’re dealing with a company that truly cares. It’s engineered trust. And it works. When I searched for more specific data on value-first content and customer trust/engagement, I found excellent data. Here’s what I discovered. The Quiet Middle This is the silent killer of client relationships. Nothing is actively wrong. There’s no crisis, no urgent need, no reason for them to reach out. And because you’re busy chasing new business or putting out fires elsewhere, you go quiet, too. Weeks pass. Then months. And slowly, almost invisibly, the relationship cools. They forget what it felt like to work with you.
When trust is high, when they’re most open to hearing about what else you can help with, and most likely to tell a friend.
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