I mentioned last week that you should be pouring most of your brain power into activities that will have the biggest impact on your business.

And one of the very highest impact activities is to make sure you really understand your ideal clients.

Not surface level. Not “I did a survey a few years ago” level. But the kind of deep understanding that comes from regularly stepping back from the day to day work and asking them about their challenges and goals and longer-term ambitions.

Something it's very easy to forget when you're working with them on an urgent project. And even easier to skip if you've moved on and are now working with different clients.

But those regular check-ins keep you grounded in what really matters. And they build strong relationships too.

So even for those of us who'd prefer to sit down with a good book when we get a few minutes spare, reaching out and setting up a call with a client to chat about bigger issues is going to be a much better use of our time.

And it turns out that talking to clients about stuff they care about is a lot easier than you might think.