Are You Listening to Your Clients? Great! What About Your Employees?

Hopefully, you’re regularly talking to your clients—asking how things are going, what’s working, what’s not, and how your team is impacting their business. That kind of insight is gold. It helps you course-correct, tailor your services, and deepen client loyalty. But here’s the question most leaders forget to ask: Are you listening to your employees with the same intent and intensity?

Because it all starts with them.

Your employees are the ones delivering the experience, solving the problems, and building the relationships that keep clients coming back. Their engagement and effectiveness are directly tied to how your clients feel about your business—and how your business performs.

Early in my career, I worked in client satisfaction measurement. I understood the clear link between happy clients and client loyalty. But it wasn’t until 18 years in, sitting in an Omnicom University course taught by Harvard Business School professors, that everything fully clicked. One of the professors was Jim Heskett, co-author of the landmark book The Service Profit Chain. In it, he draws a straight line from happy, engaged employees to satisfied customers to improved company performance and profit. And it’s not just a feel-good theory—it’s a proven business model.

Here’s the core idea: Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of your clients. And when your clients are taken care of, your business thrives.

That starts with more than just checking in—it’s about making sure your employees have what they need to succeed. Tools, training, access to leadership, a voice in decisions, and a clear path for growth. It also means hiring the right people—those with the heart and mindset for client service—and then continuing to care for and develop them.

Company culture is not perks and pizza. It’s the ecosystem that allows people to do their best work, feel seen and supported, and feel proud of the impact they’re making. When that’s in place, service excellence becomes a natural outcome, not a daily struggle.

So yes—keep listening to your clients. But don’t forget to tune into the voices of the people who serve them every day. Because they’re the ones who can either elevate or erode the client experience. And in the end, that experience is what determines your growth, your reputation, and your bottom line.

Take care of your people. They’ll take care of your clients. And that will take care of your business. Every time.