Business relationships, whether or not the word 'business' is in front it is still a relationship that you have entered into with your customers/clients. So often though how we communicate and interact with them is less than forthright, we distance ourselves in the name of professionalism.

"Companies are talking 'professionalese' to keep customers and colleagues at a distance, when what people crave is openness and honesty, argues Daniel H Pink.

Pink went on to say in his Sunday Telegraph column

We speak human at home and “professionalese” at work. And that might be hurting our businesses more than we realize."

The premise of his article can be applied to the entrepreneur as well as corporations.

Ironically one of the reasons many entrepreneurs left the corporate world was so they could conduct business on a more human, one on one level. Yet as their businesses grow they often handle clients in ways that mirror the very companies that they left.

When I develop a clients' marketing plan I always build in a customer service and appreciation component; all the clever advertising in the world means nothing if your company doesn't have a strong customer relations reputation.

Summer is actually a good time to conduct an in depth review of your customer service from every perspective -
Initial contact with your company
Quality of ongoing service
Follow-up after service/product have been provided
How you handle company errors & unexpected problems (As illustrated in Pink's article)

It is in the observation of your day to day business routine and detailed analysis that you will find any problems. And while you may not want to take up Pink's challenge of speaking to clients as though they were family; your business's communication from official statements, emails to sales calls could probably do with some humanizing.