Client management: Learn from my mistakes

Have you ever had a client that just didn’t seem to get it, even after having signed an agreement?

It’s amazing sometimes that one can agree to a project without understanding the full scope of work to be completed. Is it up to the salesperson to ensure that the client is well-versed in the process?

Recently, a client of mine seemed to miss the point at the beginning of the project. He was having issues getting the consultant in to work, did not have her workspace ready for her first day and generally seemed to not understand the work flow process that needed to be implemented.

The consultant reported all of this back to me on a daily basis. First, she had confirmed that she was going to be in the office for a half day the week before she started. When she arrived that particular afternoon, no one was ready for her. The client wasn’t even in the office to greet her.

But I thought that this could be forgiven. You see, the client is a young executive. He is far from the greatest communicator but he is quite technically brilliant. He rarely returns phone calls, but then suddenly he calls out of the blue. His knack for absent-mindedly ignoring you is infuriating but does not seem to be intentional.

The consultant arrived promptly for her first day and found the door locked. No one had arrived at the office. She shortly received a call from the client letting her know that no one would be in to the office for another two hours.

Finally, in the office, she received direction from the client that ignored any need for process or preparation and asked her to get to recruiting senior-level roles. The contractor tried to explain to the client that she needed to do some ground work first.

Unfortunately, neither her phone nor her work station was ready, so she was working with pen and paper. The client had been very careful not to involve the contractor with his existing team. She had to introduce herself to people that she would meet in the hallway and try to break the ice while not stepping on the client’s toes. For some reason the client seemed to want to keep her segregated from the rest of the staff.

Luckily (for me), this consultant is used to working with clients that don’t understand the recruitment process (as that’s her specialty) so she didn’t take any of this to heart and soldiered on gaily. She put together a summary of what the client had told her about the open roles and submitted it to him. Not even 24 hours later he asked her in to an ad-hoc meeting with his entire executive team.

Turned out, her summary opened his eyes to the value of process and he was so excited that he showed it to his executive team that bought in immediately. Now he's given her full access to his team and all the tools she needs. The client has almost been too persistent in ensuring that the consultant is accommodated.

So what went wrong initially? Does this client simply communicate better in writing than verbally? Was he worried that his executive team wouldn't buy in to the project? Did he have doubts regarding the contractor’s abilities?

Whatever the reason, it's clear I - as the account manager - could have done a better job in terms of setting the consultant (and the client) up for success.

So, in the interest of learning from every experience, here are the top three questions to ask a client when scoping a project:

1. What is your understanding of the recruitment process?
   This will allow you to get a good understanding of the gaps you may need to fill in. Don’t ever assume, even if your client is an HR professional, that they have an interest in and or good understanding of the recruitment process.

2. In your mind, what does the consultant’s first day look like?
   Ideally, this question will draw out any inconsistencies between the client and consultant’s perspectives of their working relationship.

3. What is the best way to communicate with you?
   Clearly, had I better understood my client’s communication style I could’ve saved myself and my consultant a large amount of grief. Knowing how your client likes to communicate will go a long way towards getting quick feedback and keeping the client’s level of engagement high.