Communicate Effectively with Clients

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved.
Effective Client
Communication

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 3
About this Document
• This document is targeted at service providers, including
IT services and outsourcing.
• The following slides are related to the “soft skills” needed
to establish, develop and maintain long term successful
business relationships with your clients.
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Introduction
1

Introduction to Effective Client
Communication
• As a service provider, you must be prepared to deploy
qualified subject matter experts across geographies in
accordance with client agreements.
• You must be prepared to interact with your clients in a
professional manner, forming successful business
relationships.
• This presentation is focused on the “soft skills” needed
to establish, develop and maintain the long term
successful business relationships with your external
clients.

Stakeholder Management
2

Stakeholder Management – What is it?
Continual, effective personal interactions are
the key to success
• Recognizes that businesses are run by human beings
• Confirms that people prefer to work with others whom
they respect
• Uses personal interactions to calibrate client satisfaction
via:
Formal meetings
Published reports or data summaries
Informal business or social interactions

Stakeholder Management – Why is it
important?
Effective Stakeholder Management provides
significant benefits to both parties
• It establishes and builds on personal relationships:
Escalations of people who know and respect each other are less
likely
• It provides early warning of potential issues
Active listening is essential
• It promotes proactive account management
A useful way to anticipate changes

Stakeholder Management – Who are they?
The client stakeholder includes more people
than you might think
• Executive organization charts are a start, but consider
this:
The list also includes client personnel...
...whose personal performance is affected by the service provider’s
performance
...whose opinion on the service provider’s performance carries weight
with others
...who may resent the presence of your organization as a service
provider

Stakeholder Management – Important Skills
Good client facing skills are essential to
demonstrating professionalism
• Show you care for the client’s company as much as (or
more than) they do:
Do your homework, get to know your client’s company
• Be very responsive at all times:
Don’t assume they know you are working on an issue – tell them!This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

Stakeholder Management – Final
Observations
Find the right balance between assertiveness
and sensitivity in your behavior
• Don’t just collect opinions, create them!
You can guide some stakeholders to your conclusion
• Become an expert in reading body language:
Sometimes the words just aren’t that important
• Be responsive, but drive your agenda when you can:
You don’t have to be the victim

Stakeholder Management – Final
Observations
• Recognize that every interaction is an opportunity:
Elevators count too!
• Navigate the client’s culture carefully:
Your organization’s way isn’t the only way
• How can I make this person look good?
Consider ways to help the client personnel succeed

Setting and Meeting Expectations
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
• Define
Time
When do you want this?
Is this a priority?
Specifications
What do you want it to do?
What is it you are looking to improve?
Cost
How much resources are available?

Setting and Meeting Expectations
• Execute
Implement solution capabilities to achieve desired performance,
impact and benefit
Meet or exceed delivery time table
Communicate progress and status
Resolve issues

“Do what you do so well
that they will want to
see it again and bring
their friends.”
Walt Disney

Guidelines for Working
with Clients
3

Be Prepared
• Questions to a client:
3 most important things
What keeps you awake at night

Behavior
• Pay attention during meetings and treat them seriously –
turn off your cell phones and do not answer emails when
in a face-to-face meeting. Give the client that is making
the time to meet with you your full attention.
• If you are on the same site or in the same city as the
client during a conference call, have the meeting face to
face if possible
• Don’t ever misrepresent the truth to clients – about
where you are, when you are going to deliver something
or anything at all

Communication
Effective Communication is the Key to
Successful Relationships
• Listen, listen, listen
Listen actively. Concentrate on what the client is saying, not what
you are thinking.
• Acknowledge you understand through summarizing what
you have heard and reacting appropriately
• Be proactive
• Drive the process
• Communicate effectively, not just frequently

Presentations / Emails
Let Your Professionalism Shine
• Make sure the numbers in a presentation are consistent
• Save and spell check your work
• Fix the document properties
• Use search and replace to quickly sanitize a document
If you are using a template and/or re-using a document, be sure
to search for other client names and remove accordingly
• Proof read

Summary
• Client perception = Your organization’s reality
• Let’s cultivate that positive and professional perception

Copyrights of all the pictures used in this presentation are held by their respective owners.

About
Operational Excellence
Consulting

END OF PRESENTATION
For more of our training presentations,
please visit:
www.oeconsulting.com.sg

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