Health and Safety Regulations
How to Build and Improve Your Client Relationship
One thing is true for all consultants; if we have any work, we have clients! One of the most important parts of our work is maintaining and enhancing our relationships with our clients. Maintaining and growing these relationships makes the time spent on a project more enjoyable, satisfying and effective. Improved relationships also improves the chance that we will get referrals and future business. The following are ten things you can do to improve these important business relationships, and some suggestions on how to get started.1. Have a clear contract with your client.This is the number one guideline for a successful client engagement. Without a clear contract neither you nor your client can be clear on roles and responsibilities, deadlines and deliverables, methodologies and measures. Beyond the importance of the contract to the project itself, a clear contract also is a great aid to a good working relationship. The goal of a contract is clarity, not legalese - as such; it is a great aid to improved client relationships. Your mutually agreed to contract should include the following as a minimum: What the roles and responsibilities are for you - and members of the client organization What methods you plan to use during the project The project timeline A description of success Get to know your client better.All relationships are better when the individuals in the relationship take the time to get to know one another. Learn the client 's interests. You will likely spend many hours with and around the client during the project. Knowing that they like gourmet French food or exotic candies or Oakland Raiders football is information you should know. This is more important to some clients than others, but all of us like to have conversations with others about our interests. Make it a point to learn something new about each client in every meeting you have. Once you learn something new, keep track
One thing is true for all consultants; if we have any work, we have clients! One of the most important parts of our work is maintaining and enhancing our relationships with our clients. Maintaining and growing these relationships makes the time spent on a project more enjoyable, satisfying and effective. Improved relationships also improves the chance that we will get referrals and future business. The following are ten things you can do to improve these important business relationships, and some suggestions on how to get started.1. Have a clear contract with your client.This is the number one guideline for a successful client engagement. Without a clear contract neither you nor your client can be clear on roles and responsibilities, deadlines and deliverables, methodologies and measures. Beyond the importance of the contract to the project itself, a clear contract also is a great aid to a good working relationship. The goal of a contract is clarity, not legalese - as such; it is a great aid to improved client relationships. Your mutually agreed to contract should include the following as a minimum: What the roles and responsibilities are for you - and members of the client organization What methods you plan to use during the project The project timeline A description of success Get to know your client better.All relationships are better when the individuals in the relationship take the time to get to know one another. Learn the client 's interests. You will likely spend many hours with and around the client during the project. Knowing that they like gourmet French food or exotic candies or Oakland Raiders football is information you should know. This is more important to some clients than others, but all of us like to have conversations with others about our interests. Make it a point to learn something new about each client in every meeting you have. Once you learn something new, keep track