Here are just a few key take aways from yesterday morning’s Business Breakfast Series. The focus of the first talk was how to better connect with your clients. Presenters David Sherwin and Erica Goldsmith did a great job on making the presentation fun and lively for the early hour. Not an easy task given the topic can be quite dense.
- It’s the process clients are paying for. Sure we all love the tangible artifacts but to getting there is what makes what we do valuable and is the heart of our work.
- Be a strategic partner from day one and ask the hard questions.
- Control your story. This happens long before they contact you so make sure the story out there is what you want.
- Have a script for the first contact and don’t end the conversation on budget.
- Be willing to say no, just don’t let it be the last thing they hear
- Define the “rules of engagement” of what is expected of the client, preferably in writing.
- Constantly remind your client what it is you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
- Demystify the process as much as possible and speak in plain english.
- Capture everything in writing and make it actionable. That meeting you just had needs a recap to make sure you captured everything and everyone knows the next steps.
- Withhold commitments as necessary. Let them know what you plan to do after you’ve assessed what it is that they want and how it will impact the project.
- Frame your design thinking. Talk about the big idea and share three key points.
- Client requests are not marching orders. Look at things holistically and make sure it fits within the project before doing anything.
- Plan for mistakes, they happen.
- Provide strategic favors but not free work.
The session are early in the morning but well worth getting up a little earlier to attend. Next month the talk will focus on project management.
A great article takes five minutes to read and lifetiome to implement.