I can relate to that. Why handicap your business because of poor client relations?
Client Relations must be built on mutual trust and respect. Otherwise, Watch Out!
When clients have a new business requirement, they may only have a vague idea of what they want. It is your job to guide and help them clarify their business requirements.
Consider this scenario: when a new or existing client requests a new product or service or for an extension of an existing one, one of the worst mistakes is to assume that the client knows exactly what they want. Of course, they will believe that they do, and there is always the possibility that they might be correct. However, it is always wise to assume that the client only has a vague idea of the requirements.
What the client really wants…
This may sound confusing, so let us elaborate further. The client has a new business requirement; perhaps some form of business pain must be addressed. They have thought about the issue and developed what they see as the perfect solution in-house. As a consultant tasked with analysing the client’s requirements, it is your job to separate the actual needs from the ones the client perceives.
The client asks you, a specialist, to implement a solution for their perceived requirements. However, if they had managed to analyse and define both the needs and the solution properly, then why would they be coming to you in the first place? Of course, the client might be correct with the analysis and the proposed solution. More often than not, however, the proposed solution will be incomplete and may only address the symptoms, not the deeper underlying causes.
Why not just take the money and run?
You may ask why this should be your concern. You can do the work requested, take the money, and say thank you very much. Done? Not quite. The first thing that will happen is that the client will spot flaws in the solution. The actual problems may only be partially resolved, and of course, they will demand rework but not at their expense. There may be several rounds of negotiations for the rework, resulting in several adverse effects on the business-client relationship.
Firstly, the client will feel disappointed that the agreed-upon work only partially resolved their problem. It doesn’t matter, even if it was mostly resolved; that feeling will persist even if relatively minor points are not functioning as expected. Their trust in you will have been irreversibly eroded, and there will be nothing you can do to fix that. Ever!
The client may then blame you for not correctly analysing their proposed solution before agreeing to the contract. In this, they would be perfectly correct. However, clients are often too close to the problem to have a good overview; they are blinkered by their familiarity with the subject or subjects involved. This is why a good consultant will be aware and plan for a detailed and independent analysis no matter how good the proposal is from the client.
A loss of trust.
However, the problem is resolved; the damage has already been done. We are built this way; we never forget when we feel we have been wronged, even slightly. The feeling will always remain in the back of our minds. Again, a lack of understanding of how important and delicate client relations, thus human relations, can and will have a detrimental effect. A problem that could so easily have been avoided altogether.
Sometimes a client will approach your business with a request that may seem perfectly reasonable to them but, to the experienced eye, is impossible to realise. If your business-client relationship is not at its best, then getting this across to the client may prove impossible too. Unfortunately, not all clients are realistic with their expectations; this is especially noticeable within the IT industry, but it may be equally applicable in almost every industry.
Let us diverge for a moment. Maintaining a good relationship with your clients is always the priority. By this, I mean that the relationship has been built around mutual trust, respect, and confidence. Therefore, the state of the relationship between your business and your clients will directly impact how any negotiations may be affected.
Seems obvious, right? Then ask yourself, how often have you or your colleagues been guilty of disrespecting a client in the safety of your own offices when you are sure the client can’t hear you? I’ll put my hand up and admit I’m guilty of this. But it’s just harmless venting of steam. Well, I’m not so sure. Notice how the only clients involved in this private one-sided comedy act (mainly it consists of making fun of the clients; that is putting it mildly) are those you hold in lesser regard than others.
This is a sure way to see which clients you are having problems with. The client relationship has either broken down or is in the process of doing so. These situations should be a wake-up call to you and your colleagues, as all future business with these clients will be fraught with difficulties. You need to address these issues as quickly as possible. Remember, you don’t have to like each other to respect and trust each other. Business is business, and you will never be friends. Just keep it friendly.
Let’s return to the problem with a client requesting the impossible again.
A good client relationship makes your life easier.
Firstly, consider such a request from a client where your business-client relationship is excellent. They know they can trust you even with difficult and sometimes hard-to-swallow advice. This relationship has become the central part of all contact between you.
So, they have a problem and ask you to help them implement a solution that seems perfectly logical to them. As usual, pending the analysis results, nothing much is agreed upon during the first meeting. Very quickly, it becomes evident that the proposal is fatally flawed due to misunderstanding or other reasons. Perhaps the client has invested significant time and money to develop the proposal, and now you have to go back to them and break the bad news.
As the relationship between you and your client is good, presenting the analysis findings will be much easier. Of course, the bad news is never welcome, but you can deal with it when it comes from somebody you trust and respect. This is a straightforward scenario with no details, of course. The proposal may be shelved, and your business is invited to develop alternatives instead. The point is that there are very few negatives for you and your business, and the relationship you have built with the client remains either the same or improved.
Contrast this scenario with a similar situation for a client where the relationship has broken down or is in the process of doing so. They will not be at all receptive to the results of the analysis. Things can get ugly quickly as they do not trust or respect that you know what you are talking about. Their attitude is that they are paying customers, and as one of their service providers, you should be able to do whatever they want as long as they pay. Sound familiar?
How many businesses would you think have been bullied by clients in this way? Perhaps your companies have dealt with this unpleasant, stress-inducing, and awful situation. Of course, this scenario is artificial, but the point illustrates the importance of maintaining good client relations. They will make your life easier and stress-free. Your productivity and efficiency can only improve, and your business will benefit.
Final thoughts.
These simple but essential lessons on the positive and negative impact of human interaction between businesses and their clients will have a measurable effect on any business’s long-term success or failure. But remember, these relationships are a two-way street, and these lessons are equally important to the clients.