Guidance for Technical Staff
Whether your firm has a formal Client Care Program or not, one way to enhance your client relationships and further your career is by thinking of yourself as a Client Care Manager. Client Care Managers oversee what’s happening with clients. They ask themselves - and their colleagues - “What are we doing to enhance our relationship with this client on this job so that we can become invaluable to their projects?”
Here are five client relations situations for you to ponder or brainstorm with your teammates.
- A project’s assigned Principal-in-Charge is out of the office. A distraught client calls and the phone call is forwarded to you. How do you handle the situation?
- You are at a meeting with a client. You are given an opportunity to open the conversation on a more personal level. What are some of the questions that you could ask the client to learn more about him/her/them?
- You are working on a tight deadline for a project. Due to unforeseen circumstances, you are sure the project is not going to make a particular deadline that is five days away. How should you handle the change in schedule?
- You have been asked to participate in a project kick-off meeting. This meeting will be held with individuals from your office as well as two individuals from the client’s office. What are a few questions you could ask the client during this meeting that would help you establish some client relations tasks to be carried out throughout the project?
- Three weeks ago, you called a former client to touch base. He mentioned that there were a few other projects pending in another department within his agency. How could you most appropriately proceed with following up on these leads?
Client relationship management, or client care, does not happen on a high level alone. Every encounter with the client is part of it, and everybody in the firm should be involved. Creating an enjoyable and memorable client experience is the sum of many individual moments.
