Your key client's needs clash with your business strategy. How will you navigate this delicate balance?

Balancing a key client's needs with your business strategy is best done by first being open with the customer to understand their needs and problems. Listen to their needs; however, explain your business strategy and why it is important. Simultaneously try to find common areas, such as tailoring your offerings to more suit their needs but still stay on strategy. Consider offering a staged approach that will likely help them meet their immediate needs while incrementally leading them to the solution of your big vision. In working with the customer-keeping them involved in each step-you have the chance to develop not only an improved relationship but an outcome that best balances the interests of both.

Transparency always helps, be open about why certain requests don’t align with your strategy, but emphasise your commitment to finding a workable solution. Solutions = Strategic Alternatives, try to offer alternatives that meet client's needs without derailing your objectives. Present win-win solutions, showing how they also benefit the client long-term.

Cuando las necesidades de un cliente clave chocan con tu estrategia empresarial, es esencial encontrar un equilibrio. Primero, evalúa qué tan alineadas están esas necesidades con los objetivos a largo plazo de tu empresa. Si es viable, busca adaptar tus servicios sin comprometer tu visión estratégica. Mantén una comunicación abierta con el cliente, explicando los límites y ofreciendo soluciones alternativas. Este enfoque fortalece la relación y permite flexibilidad. A largo plazo, diversificar tu cartera de clientes reducirá riesgos similares. #TopVoiceMMorgan #BusinessStrategy #Leadership

I’ve definitely faced situations where a key client’s needs didn’t quite align with my business strategy. In those moments, I found that starting with a clear assessment of priorities was crucial. For example, when a client requested something outside my scope, I had to ask myself if it aligned with my long-term goals. After an open conversation, we were able to explore alternatives that worked for both of us, preserving the relationship without compromising my direction. It’s all about balancing their needs with your strategy through collaboration and clear communication.

We have been facing this at Nestafar for quite some time now and the way we resolved it is by finding a delicate balancing point. At first, the aim is to identify good clients so it is wise to spend some on marketing to gather a larger understanding of the target market and their needs. It is important to filter out the needs of some forever pushy clients. Once we were confident with the target audience, we had a deep conversation with some of our customers who were resonating the same feedback as the larger audience. After some brainstorming, we were able to find solutions which were win-win and helped both our vision and the client. We then tweaked our strategy for sales making it easy to convince clients with these insights.