Here's how you can effectively manage client relationships as a self-employed information architect.

IA has been one of my primary responsibilities as a contractor and as an employee of Fortune 500 companies. The process in both situations is the same. First, you have to do your own independent research on the client's competitors and analyze the client's brand, including design and content. Second, you need to gain access to analytics for the client's website or app and look at user flows and key metrics. Checking out the data for customer support inquiries and search is also very telling. Third, you have to listen deeply and ask questions. If possible, talk to some of the client's customers. Lastly, I use slide presentations to present my suggestions. This process has been very effective for me in working with hundreds of clients.

From my experience, I've found that strong client relationships hinge on clear communication and a deep understanding of client needs. I always start with in-depth discovery sessions to grasp their goals and challenges. This allows me to tailor my solutions to meet their specific needs, ensuring they see the tangible benefits of my work. Regular updates and transparent communication are essential in managing expectations and building trust. Additionally, I take the time to educate my clients about the importance of information architecture and its impact on their business strategy. This approach not only demonstrates my expertise but also positions me as a trusted partner in their success.

Clear communication is much more than what takes place in directed information flow like emails and presentations. The power of communications shines in the shared repository of understanding from both perspectives. All the minutes of meetings, requirement assessment and discoveries need to be documented and reviewed by both the parties so that there is no ambiguity anywhere. Another aspect which I found important is to remove references to verbal communications without clearly documenting them, for example, writing - "Project outlines were discussed and agreed upon" won't make any sense to Enterprise architects who are working on the bigger picture. Instead complete verbal communications needs to be documented for posterity & clarity.

Don't let anybody guess. Set clear expectations from the outset. Upon further discussion you may revise them by agreement, but you need a rock solid backstop benchmark to work from.

I have a slightly different approach to setting the expectation part since the client almost always has a goal set in their books even before an external consultant is engaged and there must have been budgeting exercises done already to meet the identified goal. A high-level task based nominal effort/time estimate serves as a good starting point to discuss where and how the project will move within the boundaries set by budget and time. This approach ties the problem statement and solution approach together giving all the parties a much better view of what is coming and if any changes are required they could be planned beforehand.

We often here the reference is sales B2B(Buisness to Buisness) Not all companies buy from any company. Companies now want to buy from people. These people will become friends. ?So to be successful in sales and service, simply go out there and make yourself lots of friends…?

Building trust is one of the key factors in building and maintaining relationships. I once worked for two companies who were competitors, I made them aware that I'm also working with the competition although there were apprehensions in the beginning but in the long term everyone was assured that neither of the parties would get any information about the competition through me. This simple information compartmentalisation helped me gain trust which resulted in references and concrete leads.