Slicing Apples

It’s autumn in Canada which means that there are many lovely fruits and vegetables coming available in markets, gardens and from friends.? Last week, one of our friends asked us if we wanted some apples from his garden and if so, we should come over with some bags and bins later that day.? So, assuming that these apples were the size of MacIntosh or Red Delicious apples, we grabbed some bags and off we went.

When we arrived, our friend led us into his back garden and directed us to a tree that was heavily laden with apples that were a bit bigger than crab apples.? He already had a sizeable bin of the apples but he asked us to help ourselves from the tree.? Being the industrious types, My husband asked for a ladder and the two of us went to work, successfully harvesting several bags of apples.? Our friend then asked us to celebrate with him for our hard work with a couple of beers and some chips and some lovely, friendly conversation.

When we got home, I had to decide what to do with these honeys – we did a bit of thinking and we settled on the following: we shared a bowlful at our fellowship luncheon at our church; I made two apple galettes (one for us and one for our friend and his wife); I sliced and packaged several bags of apples to be frozen for another time; and I made a Dutch Apple Cake yesterday evening.

Besides finding all this activity very cathartic and relaxing, I also thought about how the exercise enabled me to draw some analogies with the way that we work with our clients and how we deliver exceptional client experiences.? And this is what came about:

• We enter each client encounter with assumptions and expectations – it’s up to us as consultants to work with our clients to obtain clarity regarding wants, needs, and goals and to manage our own expectations of where we want this relationship to go.? Just like my hope to get larger apples along with our friend’s goal of getting apples picked and consumed by someone who wants them.
• We need to ask for what we need in order for our clients and ourselves to be successful – Whether its more time with our client, more information, or access to the tools our clients use, we know that if we don’t ask, we can’t be helpful.? Like the ladder that we asked for, if we didn’t have it, we couldn’t get the apples down from the branches.
• Solutions and recommendations can vary depending on who the stakeholders are – As consultants, its our responsibility to bring options to our clients based on everything we know and what our client is asking for.? It is up to us to bring together all of the offerings that we know that can address client needs along with innovation to make things stand out.? Apples are easy – there’s usually at least something that I can do with them or that I can prepare that can meet the expectations of the consumers in my household!? As it turns out, our friend spoke about making apple pies and I gave him a different one of those – a galette.
• Enjoy the journey and live the experience – Every opportunity that we have to work with clients is an opportunity travel a different journey of engagement – learning to enjoy every meet-up, every conversation and every cup of coffee together on a personal and human level creates opportunities to help our clients by knowing them better.? Living the experience is the learning and the pride of delivering work that meets or exceeds client expectations that we look forward to as consultants.? When we went to pick apples, it was a lovely warm and sunny afternoon and the time spent socializing with our friend was rewarding.

Here's hoping that you have your own opportunities to pick and slice some apples soon!? Please come here and share your apple slices with the rest of us!