Solving current and future problems for clients means success for businesses

“The sad reality for those who are waiting for that is I don't believe it's going back,” said Lee Frederikson, managing partner at Hinge, a firm for professional services. “It is evolving into the next iteration of how we do business.”  

Frederickson said in the most recent episode of The State of Business podcast that this doesn’t mean everything about business has changed, but it does mean new challenges. There is a new crop of competitors and technological adaptations that are pushing businesses to evolve.  

“There's a lot of learning and a lot of changing that's required just to maintain where you are,” he said.  

Change isn’t easy for anyone, Frederikson said, but many businesses that have made radical changes during the pandemic have found success. He acknowledged there is a level of restraint involved when considering how much change to implement without alienating the client base or staff.  

The answer to this is fairly simple: talk to your clients, Frederikson said. Instead of guessing what a client wants, you might find some interesting feedback that you didn’t expect.  

“Research says that, actually, the satisfaction people have with their service provider and willingness to recommend them is at an all-time high,” he said. “And the thing keeping them happy is that providers continue to remain relevant to the key issues the clients are having.” 

Clients are looking for more flexibility from their providers, Frederikson said, and more sophisticated technology. The businesses that continue to evolve and adapt to new client pain points will be the ones that thrive.  

“Right now, there's a lot of change, and disruption is going to be a fact of life,” he said. “And this is the new normal for the next four or five years.”  

Listen to the podcast now. 

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