Managing client expectations is essential for your team to be able to deliver on the promises you make and the project outcomes you’re contracted to create. While establishing a set of guidelines that you follow with every client will help you keep things running smoothly, there’s also sometimes the need to bend the rules and go above and beyond where it makes sense for both the project and the relationship.
Some clients have big goals and ideas that will help them take their business to the next level. These types of clients are likely to have a vision that’s bigger than your business nathan garries can currently fulfill and will often ask you to perform services or provide products outside of what your company can offer. This can be frustrating and lead to a breakdown in the client-service relationship.
One way to work with these types of clients is to make it clear that what they’re asking for goes beyond your business’s capabilities, but that you are happy to help them find solutions for their problem. Another option is to prioritize their needs and communicate regularly with them about the status of their deliverables and your project. You can send weekly reports or use a client management tool to highlight the tasks they need to complete by a specific date, putting the focus on how these tasks impact their bottom line and the longer-term project success.
Some clients are more sensitive to budget limitations and may have trouble with hearing that what they want isn’t feasible within their current project scope. Often, these clients have other projects that need to be completed in the near future and they are worried about missing deadlines for their own businesses. Working with these clients requires a delicate balance of addressing their concerns while pointing out that the proposed changes to their project timeline will have an impact on other aspects of the overall business plan and product or service delivery schedule.
You can also work with these types of clients by being proactive and planning a meeting agenda ahead of time that they can review before the conference call. This can ensure that the client is aware of the agenda and what topics will be discussed in advance, which can help them stay engaged and on track during the discussion.
Other clients are more prone to making decisions by committee and may have difficulty in agreeing on a specific course of action or approach. While a client who works this way can be a great business partner, the list of responses and decisions that you’re waiting on can cause delays in your process. If you’re able to identify that this is the case, you can work with the client by arranging for a face-to-face client session or meeting so you can discuss each issue with them and come to a consensus. This will also help keep everyone focused on a positive outcome that will have the most benefit for both parties in the long run.