5 Techniques to wow your consulting clients — every time
In this article we look at the top 5 techniques that will help you deliver like a pro and wow your clients every time. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, these techniques will offer you a unique opportunity to grow and enhance your service delivery skills.
Introduction
So you’ve landed a client, inked the deal and perhaps even banked a deposit. Now comes the fun part — delivering your services and getting paid for it.
Most consultants don’t have a problem with delivery. This is your area of expertise, after all, and you know what to do. But here’s the thing:
There’s a big difference between a clients saying “thank you and good bye” and a client saying “wow, that was great, we want to work with you more!”
When a client says the magic “wow” word, you not only know you’ve really delivered well — you know they will likely want more. They will speak highly of you to their peers, jump at the opportunity to provide a testimonial and even refer you to other potential clients.
Here are the top five techniques that will help you get a “wow” every time:
Technique 1: Deliver the Results
This may seem obvious, but in my consulting work I’ve seen that it’s just too easy to get “too comfortable” with your client. You build up a close relationship, you talk about (and even work on) things that are not directly related to what they hired you to do, and before you know it you’re part of the family.
The problem
This is great — until it’s not. Here’s what happens:
Not all “comfortable” client relationships end this way. In some cases, I’ve seen (and experienced) consultants being offered a position in the client organization. And if that’s what you want — great.
But most of the time getting too comfortable—and sidetracked into things you were not hired to do—don’t end well.
What the pros do
Here’s how you can avoid the problem (and deliver like a pro):
By focusing on what you were originally hired to do, you make it clear to your client that you’re delivering results. The more successful you are at doing that, the better they will regard you.
Technique 2: Deliver on Your Little Promises
Most consulting engagements run for months (rather than weeks). As you work with your client, it’s easy to make little promises. For example: “I will send you the link” or “let me take care of that”. This is great, because you’re adding value above and beyond what you were hired to do.
The problem
These little promises are easy to make — and easy to lose track of. Make enough of these promises and you’re going to forget some of them. Forget one too many, and your client relationship suffers.
What the pros do
To avoid the little promises from slipping through the cracks:
This last point is particularly important. There’s nothing like stacking up a pile of unfulfilled promises—they will nag at your subconscious and keep you awake at weird hours. Deliver promptly and get it off your list.
Technique 3: Report Regularly
The worst thing you can hear from a client is “what is happening in this project?” Suddenly you’re in a position where you have to explain, catch up, and the client is already feeling underwhelmed by your work.
The problem
Things get busy, and it’s easy to forget (or not have time for) your regular progress reports.
When this happens:
This is not a good place to be. Your relationship with your client has turned adversarial.
What the pros do
At the beginning of your engagement, set your reporting cadence. Be careful not to make this too often, though.
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Regular reporting creates trust. Miss a report and you erode trust, and that’s difficult to recover.
Technique 4: Deliver CEO-Ready Reports
A CEO-ready report is quick and easy to digest. They get an overview of the project or engagement on the front page, and there’s backing detail when they need it.
The problem
There’s a lot of detail in the work we do, and naturally we want to give our clients as much detail as possible. But our clients are already busy—they don’t have time to wade through a 10-page report to find out that things are going well (or where the problems are). That’s why they hired you.
And of course it takes time to create these reports. They are crucial to maintaining good client relations, but creating them will take you away from doing your work.
What the pros do
Take the time to create a template for the reports you’re going to deliver. Personalize that template for each engagement. A good report template has:
Every client is different, so you will need to adjust the level of detail depending on what your client is comfortable with.
If you can, create an online report or portal where your client can view progress reports. This saves on having to create PDF’s and emailing it to everyone, and maintaining it is easier than creating a new report. Don’t forget to let them know the report is ready.
When it comes to reporting, think of all your clients as CEO’s. They will appreciate the summaries and have the details when they need it.
Technique 5: Advance Warning of Things Going Wrong
Very few engagements run perfectly smoothly. There are going to be hiccups (or worse) along the way, and you have to deal with these as a matter of course.
The problem
The worst kind of problem is when you’re unaware that things went wrong and get asked what went wrong. Worst case, this paints you as not knowing what’s going on in your engagement, and you lose trust.
Slightly better is when you know (before the person you report to) that things are going wrong.
What the pros do
If you didn’t know something went wrong:
You know something is going wrong:
If you’re responsible for what went wrong, admit it. Say something like “I screwed up, here are the consequences, and this is what I’m doing to fix it.”
Never blame someone else.
Remember: things will go wrong. It’s how you react to the problem that makes all the difference. Very often, this is where your expertise and experience really get a chance to shine.
Conclusion
These 5 techniques may seem obvious:
But ask yourself this question:
How many of these techniques do you use with every client engagement?
If you use all five consistently, congratulations—you’re a pro.
But if you don’t, don’t despair. Start using them now. Every time you use one of these techniques, you are elevating your consulting game. Use all five consistently, and you will be in the top tier of consultants.
Have a question you would like to see in an article??Let me know. This article was originally published in?The Accomplished Solopreneur. Join the list to get one short, actionable tip in your inbox every Saturday morning.
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1 年I'll keep this in mind