At 2pm last Wednesday, I got a call from one of my
clients. Before I could barely utter my "hello,"
she launched headlong into her story - "I am
so frustrated! I have this client who has been dragging
her feet at every stage of our project. I'm working
on a branding campaign for her company and expected
to be finished nine months ago, but every time we
get to a stage in the project where the ball is in
her court, I have to follow-up umpteen times and push
and prod just to get her to move forward. In almost
every case, it takes her about two months to do something
that could have been done in a week. Then, two months
later when she's finally finished with her part, she
cheerily announces that she's ready for me to start
the next phase and wonders how quickly I can do it.
Every time this happens I have to completely reacquaint
myself with her project. All in all, I've spent almost
twice as many hours as I budgeted. How can I get her
to wrap up this project so I can move on?,”
she finished.
I cannot think of one service business owner that
hasn't faced this issue at one time or another. We
all started our businesses concerned about providing
great customer service and a quality service delivered
on time. We thought that was the key to having happy
clients. But, at some point, we find out that great
customer service means that we're not allowing one
client's delays to impact another client's project,
the profitability of our business, or our own personal
satisfaction. This is when we have to recognize that
we are responsible for this situation. If you've allowed
a client to run amuck dragging a project on forever,
changing project parameters numerous times, delaying
payment of the final bill, why shouldn't they continue
to behave this way? It's up to you to put into place
policies and procedures that communicate this to your
clients and prospects from the very beginning.
One format I've seen used very effectively is a one-pager
called "How We Work Together." It's a very
basic document that outlines the responsibilities
of both you and the client. It makes clear who is
responsible for what and when so there are no questions
later. It also outlines the consequences if either
of you misses the target. Not only does this put the
client on the straight-and-narrow, it shows them that
you are willing to be held to high standards as well.
By using the How We Work Together document, you can
begin setting the stage for productive client relationships
from your very first contact with a new prospect.
During your first meeting, give them a copy of the
document and go through it with them. When I ran my
web development company, mine included a rough timeline
for each stage of the project and described how the
responsibility shifted from me to them and back again
throughout the process. It also included a description
of consequences should particular stages of the project
go beyond the timeline by a specified amount of time.
This applied to me as well as them. People like to
know what to expect. It left them feeling that I had
a system I followed and could be relied upon to do
what I was proposing to do. I feel confident that
this is one of the reasons I got 90% of the projects
I pitched.
I used the How We Work Together document again once
I had received the signed contract and deposit payment.
At that point, I would consult my project calendar
and assign specific dates to each stage of the project
included on the document and mail it out to the client.
They had already seen the document once, so it wasn't
new to them. Now, they just reviewed the dates and
used it as a follow-up tool.
If you are currently in a similar situation, handle
it as best you can in order to preserve the client
relationship and introduce the How We Work Together
document at the beginning of the next project with
this client. To begin to set boundaries with all of
your clients and prospects, create your own How We
Work Together document and utilize it in every new
project for new and existing clients.
