DEALING WITH THE UNCO-OPERATIVE CLIENTS.

EVER MET FROWARD CLIENTS?HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH THEM?

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The clients being our employers and the key financier in projects tend to be insidious at certain times. This is very common during the project conception where the project planning is in motion. As the experienced consultant, ,I am sure that you had a fair share of dealings and agree that not all of them are co-operative.

Firstly, achieving the milestone of being a consultant is not an easy task. There should be no room for negotiations for such `kind` charges as you worked hard for that specific reward.Secondly,you are the party with the required information and advice. You bear the responsibility and never bend to demands outside the professional order of practice. That being said, I assume that as the consultant, you best gauge your client from the briefing stage. If the situation is erratic, abandon the mission with immediate effect. Feeling sorry for the client and being desperate for a project will mess up your career.

It’s also safe to note that clients are oftenly insecure with their finances, especially the sole financiers. This is mainly because of the ?fact that there are untrustworthy consultants we hear of everyday or meeting with wrong advisors prior to your counsel. For instance, foremen are known to tell clients that consultants ask for `unnecessary` sums of money and therefore inconvenient to approach. This messes up the psychology of the client who ends up concluding that the consultant is the fraud in his plans. This is the precursor of animosity between the client and consultants.

In my practice, I choose to settle on 2 very clear strategies.Firstly,is to restrict the authority of the client only to the briefing.Dont give the client to much power because as you know, you are first protecting him against himself. Let him speak his mind and ideas as he narrates the house of his dreams but not tell you how to do your work afterwards! This is the cardinal rule of management. Apart from financing and briefing, the direct influence of the client in the project should be limited.

The young professionals are terrified of such procedure because the fear losing clients because they will miss out being part of the project and obviously the petty sums offered. Never fear losing the client, its part of the job. You dare charge unworthy sums, you are also an accomplice in undermining the integrity of your relevant professional designation.Furthermore,most clients are usually aware that projects are capital intensive investments and come prepared. The cries and stubbornness you experience are just mind games to salvage as much discounts as possible. It’s not real.

Secondly, embrace the use of contracts to legitimatize some of your agreements. The first item here is payments then followed by quality assurance. Where payments are not in lumpsum always demand for 60% of your defined sum in advance especially for project managers. I also recommend you put it in writing all site visit costs agreed as well as any other necessary allowances. You are to also agree quality of works are not to be interfered with whatsoever because incase of building failures the consultant is held responsible. Such interference may result from the misinformation supplied by the foreman regarding reducing quantity of materials or substituting the designed quality altogether. There may be also future inflation of materials.

Having these agreements in writing helps to ensure that the client remains disciplined regardless of the situation. This will be a win win event. Remember this is an agreement between the client and consultant or contractor where necessary and must be signed in presence of a witness of common consideration from both sides.

Dearest client; I am the professional who has the information you require. Kindly listen and adhere to my advice and instructions. It is for your own good. I cannot invent information out of the bushes. I have repeatedly mastered the skill for several years for me to dedicate it to you.Therefore,let me do my work responsibly with no due unnecessary interference as you reward me with what I deserve.

Best regards.

#constructionindustry #projectmanagement #sustainability #customerservice

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