At the root of a successful project lies a happy and satisfied client. It is far more complicated than that statement implies. To have such a client you need to have provided them either what they need or what they have directly asked for. Assuming you have a valuable product/service the only other thing that can stand between you and a successful project are client expectations. If you haven’t managed those expectations, you might as well have shot yourself in the foot while running a race.
Is it important?
I’d be willing to bet the farm on it, if I had one. It is so important in fact that if done improperly, you could have a disgruntled client. We’ve all heard the saying that a dissatisfied client will tell at least ten of their friends. How would your boss feel, if that were your fault.
It is important to make sure the client knows what they’ve bought. It should be continually reinforced throughout the process. In the case of our website design and development projects, when finalizing a content architecture for a client, I am continually making sure it is as accurate as possible before receiving final approval. While changes are possible at any stage in the process, at some point it will require additional time, money and effort to accomplish some changes. After all you wouldn’t wait till your house was built before you told the contractor that instead of that closet, you’d like a bathroom. So treat client expectations as if the final payment rested on everyone being on the same page throughout the process.
Are you going to be perfect?
No! Don’t expect to be either. Let’s face it, you will not be able to (nor should you try) to please absolutely everyone. At some point, and unfortunately it happens, you will have followed the same steps you’ve done a hundred times and someone will not be satisfied. You will not have provided service-x like you said you would or you didn’t produce product-y the way they had it in their mind. Despite your best efforts, some people’s expectations can’t be met thoroughly. Don’t take it personally, learn what you can from the experience and move on. I’ve had instances where Sales sold a project without issue, I personally managed the project from concept to creation also without issue, then someone who wasn’t involved in the process from the beginning stepped in and threw a monkey wrench into everything. (Yes, they wanted the closet to be a bathroom & didn’t see why they had to pay for the renovation.)
Are there any step by step guidelines?
There are no step-by-step guidelines to follow to achieve this success. While you can operate with some very general guidelines, each client needs to be managed individually for optimum success. As soon as you try to rigidly follow some outline, you’ve removed your greatest asset – YOU!
Great! Now what?
Now you have a good track record with only minor speed bumps along the way, so now what? It’s time to change! Open yourself up to client feedback and re-evaluate what you are doing and see what you can do better. Even policies and procedures that produce successfully managed clients can be improved upon. Don’t be afraid to survey your clientele and ask what you could have done better. This type of feedback is worth more than gold to your organization. You should always be re-evaluating and making adjustments along the way. In the end this will benefit you and future clients.
If you have any questions or want to share your issues or insights, feel free to comment below.
Good Luck! I know you can do it!
