Like every professional, you want your clients to love you and never leave you. You see it as a tribute to your professionalism, expertise and service, and rightly so.

When clients do leave you, it doesn’t sit well or feel good, regardless of the reason they left. While it’s tempting to blame them for not appreciating what you do and how you have helped them in the past, it doesn’t really help. So, what do you need to do to make your clients love and stay with you?

When clients engage you, they want it all, of course. And you strive to give your all. But it seems that each client wants something you provide that is MOST important and is considered non-negotiable.  If you know what they absolutely must have and you deliver it to their liking, you will have them for life.

Here are some examples.

Some clients want more than anything for you to be consistent in your service delivery. They count on you to meet every deadline ahead of time; your work is accurate, on time and priced fairly. You communicate with them to their requirements. There is hardly ever a misstep and you meet their primary expectation—every time.

Another is that you are easy to work with. You are agreeable, conciliatory and find ways of meeting their demands and requirements. They appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile and that attribute is what’s most important to them. Your friendliness wins them over.

A third is that you to understand your client’s situation to the point that you find some not-so-obvious solutions to their problems or maneuver opportunities they didn’t imagine. What they want most from you is your ability to be innovative.

Don’t be fooled: you have to deliver on all of these. But you absolutely CANNOT stumble on the one that is most important to them. They will tolerate, to some degree, missteps on the others, but if you trip over the one most important, it’s likely to be fatal.

That’s it. Know what each client wants MOST and deliver it. You’ll have clients for life.