Understanding the client's needs

I was watching a movie on Julius Reuter, the news agency pioneer. He was the first one to use telegraph for transmitting news. He established the Reuters News service and approached the leading newspapers of the day in London to buy the news from him. A couple of the papers agreed to carry his news when he offered it free for a month on a trial basis. The Times scoffed at the idea. They said that it difficult to put the credibility of the newspaper into someone else's hands.
It so happened that towards the end of the Crimean War, the King of France was to make the announcement of a cease-fire. Reuter met the King and conviced him to give a copy of his speech in advance. He got it translated from French to English and while the speech was being delivered by the King, Reuter was having it transmitted over the wires to London. Moment the King finished delivering his speech, Reuter was handing over the copy to all his subscribers in London.His news agency was the first one to break the news of a ceasefire.
Now what Reuter did is a lesson in building relationships for all businesses. He gave a copy of the speech to The Times,whose editor had insulted him, also. He dismissed this action of his saying that it would have made a great paper like The Times look small if they did not carry the news. The concern for The Times' reputation greatly endeared him to the Editor and they went on to become great friends.
Lesson for all businesses is that we have to understand not only the tangible but the intangible needs too of our clients.