I am often asked and even criticized for being over friendly with clients. Which service provider explains components of a potential invoice and easy ways of doing parts of it themselves with little effort?
A case in point being corporate programme proposals having potential location contacts and a suggestion that a direct negotiation might work out cheaper.
Or adventure sport clients who are basically enthusiastic youth on the look out for tips getting as many tips as they want, contacts and advice to organize their trips themselves and so on?
The way I see it, my purpose is in my skill in the services I provide. I am doing no miracles, but I do what I do exceedingly well. It does me no harm and gains a lot of good will if my client saves some money on the buffers on hotel charges, or if a group of people manage their own tour.
There are clients who don’t want the hassle and will still pay me to do it, and there are people who go away with information so reliable and unique that the next time they go out, they budget to be able to pay me.
Within a few years of the creation of this site, I have over a thousand people subscribing to a newsletter that goes out maybe 4 times a year and stays shut if there is nothing extraordinary to say.
I see this as a strength which, like the open source softwares, is transparent. I have clients suggesting that I start offering some kind of tour, or recommending me to others. Like the open source softwares, it may be silly to offer this kind of information for free, but it brings me great goodwill and I get to be appreciated and hired for the things only I can do.
Seems unprofessional? I see it as warmth and true commitment to my clients needs.
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