Techy? Sometimes. Funny? Often. Relevant? Always.

Recently, a friend with whom I had not spoken in some time happened upon me while I was shopping. We caught up a bit and I mentioned something happening in my family. A sad expression came across his face and then he informed me that he had just filed for divorce.

It made me all the more thankful for the relationship I have with my beautiful redhead. Oh, we don’t have a perfect relationship, but we have one that works and gets better with age. Part of what makes it work is we have determined that divorce is not an option.

I know, I know, that sounds trite. I’m reminded of the old joke, “I don’t believe in divorce. Murder? Yes. Divorce? No.” Still, it is true. I have committed not to ever seek separation. So has my wife. There is some great freedom there — no need to hide things and you can feel free to express what you need or desire. Whatever friction is there, it must be resolved because there is no other option.

What has this got to do with The Worthwhile Company? Well, we take a similar approach with the way we work with our partners in business — our clients. We are committed to our clients to not only seek what is good for us. We are committed to seek what is good for our clients even if it means we might lose that client.

It all starts with our Web Strategists. It is our goal to commit to a client that the person who brought them to the dance will show them the steps and take them safely home. For this reason, the person out there seeking to bring in new relationships will also be the one who guides the client through the creation process and beyond.

This is an investment on our part because it means that our “sales force” is not devoted solely to selling. That is why we created the Web Strategist position. They don’t love you and leave you and run off with the commission. They realize their ultimate success at Worthwhile goes beyond bringing in new clients. It comes from maintaining happy relationships.

You can only control one side of a relationship — yours. Like every good marriage, our client relationships require a level of trust. That trust comes from honesty and sincerely seeking the best for our partners.

A mentor of mine told me a story from the “last recession” when he was VP of Sales at a large, juvenile equipment maker. At that time most of the equipment was made overseas because of the high cost of assembly here in the US. All the competitors were in the same boat. However, this company noticed a disturbing trend for their industry.

Because of the work being brought to that country, the cost of living in that location began to rise and so did the quality of life. It was actually growing at such a fast clip that the company realized it could not offer guaranteed pricing to its retail customers over the customary period. Breaking the news did not set well with those customers because the competition wasn’t giving the same dire news.

This company stuck to its estimates and saw their orders shrink. However, as the cost of production continued to rise the competitors had to begin raising their prices to the retail stores. It wasn’t long before those customers were coming back to my mentor’s business and rebuilding the relationship. Why? Because they trusted them to tell them even the bad news. The pain that came from honesty became the turning point for that company which ultimately rose to be the leader in its market.

Those are the kinds of stories we are looking for as we build our history. We never want to have a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude toward the people who have trusted us to bring true worth to their Internet experience. We also don’t wish to string along a client offering fluff. We will advise against a course of action that might bring us profit in the short term, but bring long term damage to our partners.

I’m happy to say that the vast majority of our “marriages” have been a success. Might our methods for maintaining these relationships change? Certainly, if it is best for the customer. However, the commitment never will.