One complaint I hear from professional service providers is that they are frustrated that their clients don’t value what they do or include them in planning meetings. The best excuse providers can muster is that their clients don’t want to pay for their input.

In actuality, your clients don’t call you because you have not demonstrated that you would make any contributions. Of course, that’s not true, but it’s what they believe. Why?

The primary reason your clients don’t include you in the big meetings is because you’ve positioned yourself as a business vendor, not a business partner. Here’s the difference.

A vendor waits for their clients to call when they need something. If vendors are proactive, they may check in periodically. But when their clients are ready, they place an order and the vendor gives a price and delivery date. It’s nothing more than a transaction.

If that’s the way you provide your services, then it’s no wonder your clients don’t consider you more than a vendor. In fact, if you struggle with meeting the delivery date or the fees change (upward), you’re worse than their other vendors. At least their office supplier delivers what their clients want, on time and at the agreed upon price.

If you are a partner to your clients, you operate differently from a vendor. For instance, you think beyond what they think they need from you.

You identify problems the client didn’t know they had

• You demonstrate the immediacy or importance of a known problem
• You explain why a perceived problem isn’t what it appears
• You put the problem in a context that changes how the problem is solved

Partners are more than order takers and deliver more than just the service requested of them.

This week, select a client where you are (or feel like) a vendor. Then get with your service team and review the client’s situation, paying attention to the results they gain from your services, their aspirations for the business and the challenges they face. Dig deep, as you are engaging in a level of thinking that may not be routine. Then have the partner discussion with your client.

Over time, your clients will view you differently. So be prepared to receive the invitations to the big meetings at the big table.