Dot Connector Blog

This post is part of the One Goal Project to achieve exceptional performance at work.  Learn more about the project.  Learn more about April’s Goal.

Time to question your Clients like Socrates would! (Source)

By now, you’ve completed your first task: you’ve made a list of your Clients.  Good work!

3 Reasons You Made a Client List Last Week

1. To know who your Clients are. If you know who your Clients are, you can get down to the business of getting to know them better.  More on that below…
2. To think about who you really serve. Often we don’t clearly outline who it is we serve.  By not doing this, we tend to get overwhelmed by all of the requests coming at us.  However, once we know who our Clients are, we can then prioritize tasks and projects using the following priority order: #1: My Crew (those people who help you get things done), #2 My Clients (we know who they are by now), and #3 My Company (those people who are neither Crew, nor Clients, who ask you to do things)
3. To commit to a select group of people (and ignore the rest). Ok, that might sound harsh.  But if you have to decide between helping a Client solve a problem, or completing a survey for an internal team, you know what to do!  It’s important to know you are already committed to your Client, and should prioritize her needs first.

Your Goal for This Week: Get to Know Every Client

You are your Clients.  Remember: you are as good (or as bad) as your Client list.  So, for the next 7 days, put other things on the back-burner, and visit your Clients!  You want to cut through the surface-level conversations you have had in the past and go DEEP with them to understand their real needs.  Here’s how:

STEP 1: Create a Client Information System (CIS)

Your CIS could be as simple as a piece of paper about each Client in a file.  Or you could use shared contacts in Outlook, or tools like Salesforce or Highrise.  Whatever you decide, the key is to start collecting information about each Client!

21 Things to Record in Your Client Information System

Here are some ideas to get you started with your new CIS:

1. What do you know about your Client professionally? Personally?
2. What your Client’s family life like?
3. Does your Client have kids?  If so, what are their names and ages?
4. What are some important milestones in your Client’s life?
5. When does your Client get in to work?  When do they leave?
6. Where has your Client worked previously?
7. What are your Client’s priorities at work?
8. Why do they have those priorities?
9. Who does your Client report to?
10. How can you help make your Client look better to that person?
11. How does your Client like to communicate?  Email, voice mail, IM, etc.?
12. Who can your Client put you in touch with that you couldn’t otherwise talk to?
13. What other companies does your Client work with?
14. How do they feel about those companies?
15. What does your Client like to do for fun?
16. How can you make your Client do their job easier?
17. How can you make it more difficult for your Client (be sure to avoid that!)?
18. What does your Client do really well?
19. What does your Client need from you to perform?
20. What are your Client’s limitations?
21. How does your Client like to be kept informed?

STEP 2: Visit With Every Client this Week

To initiate a deep, ongoing, conversation with your Clients, you have to visit them.  If you can’t visit them all physically this week, that’s fine.  But, try to visit as many as you can.  If that’s physically impossible, have a serious phone conversation with each one.

3 Client Conversation Templates to Use

Here are 3 Client conversation templates you can pick from for your visit with each Client this week.  All 3 are taken from Tom Peters‘ book, Professional Service Firm50.

Client Conversation Template #1 – The “Humble Servant” Approach

• How are we doing?
• Are the current projects we’re doing with you “OK” or “WOW”?
• Or, are we doing a half-ass job?
• Are we listening to your concerns?
• Do you love us, like us, or heaven forbid, dislike us?

Client Conversation Template #2 – The “No-Holds Barred” Approach

• I’m here to serve you.  Period.
• I am here to do life-altering work.  Period
• So…how am I doing?

Client Conversation Template #3 – The “Trusted Adviser” Approach

• How are we doing?
• Rate us…mercilessly!
• Are we pushing you?
• Are we dazzling you?
• Are we disappointing you?

Good luck!  And remember what Tom Peters says…

YOU ARE YOUR CLIENTS!

• 13 Ways to Achieve Exceptional Client Service This Week
• Exceptional Client Service [The One Goal Project]
• LinkedIn Answers Discussion: Exceptional Client Service
• 7 Client Service Lessons from Graham Skidmore [Interview]
• The One Goal Project: Reaching Exceptional Performance at Work

Posted in: Leadership, Personal Development, Project Management