Getting Clear on Clients' Expectations to Maximise Both the Client's and Consultant's Performance

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

So what exactly is performance in terms of our marketing efforts? What memorable we can do for these clients to make them think of us every time they need similar assistance.

Performance is not about doing it yourself. That is not consulting, that is outsourced labour. Also, performance has a lot to do with who you are, that is, it is more of a mindset than a sequence of tasks. Performance is about energy, excellence, commitment, caring, the courage to say “I don’t know that”. And most professionals have all these attributes and consistently work on improving them.

The main problem lies with some clients’ performance. This is why we have to "manage" clients’ expectations. Manage may sound like a manipulative word, but I don't have anything better right now. There are so many clients out there who have no idea how to work with professionals who are not on the payroll but just called in to help out with specific issues.

One red flag is when the prospect asks the consultant, "So, what can you do for me?" This phrase alone indicates that the buyer either regards the consultant as an outsourced labourer (just like an employee minus all the benefits) or is not familiar with the way consulting works.

So, let’s list here what we can do proactively to manage the client’s expectations. Remember, to meet clients’ satisfaction we must exceed their expectations, but unless we have a clear baseline for those expectations, they are impossible even to reach, let alone to exceed.

What Do You Need to do to Manage Expectations?

Be clear with time frames
You finish the project on time. What does “on time” exactly mean to you and your clients? Are you on the same wavelength? If your “on time” is next week but your client’s “on time” is tomorrow, then there is a problem. If you are late just by one day, the client’s expectation is ruined. You think you are days ahead, but failed to meet the client’s expectation. Give yourself time to complete your projects without stressing yourself. Yes, there are urgent things, but they call for “urgent” fees.

Be clear about your purpose of being in business
There are two distinct choices here: Either short-term money grabbing by all means or building long-term relationships to improve the client’s condition. Using sport language, if your eyes are on the scoreboard, you will drop the ball rather sooner than later, and regardless how hard you stare at the scoreboard, your score will go down. However, if you focus on playing the best game of your life, totally love what you do and truly care about the people you do it with – both colleagues and clients – the scoreboard will take care of itself.

Be clear with your agreements

Document everything. Yes, there are people we can do business with on a handshake – ideally each client, but we all need the clarity of documentation. Clearly spell out what you do and what they MUST do in order for the project to succeed. Lay down time frames and activities that lead to the accomplishment of the jointly developed objectives.

Be clear with consequences

There is a good chance that you will stick to your agreements, since your money depends on it. After all the client may well invoke your guarantee policy. But what if the client says halfway through: “I’m too busy to carry on working with you, so just finish everything for me”. Can you create a Riot Act in your agreements that spell out what happens to clients if they don’t “show up” at their ends of the agreement? I think you can. It is not the client’s birthright, but the client’s responsibility to successfully complete the project. You are accountable for your end of the project, but as the ultimate decision maker, the client is responsible for the project.

Be clear with excuses

It something goes wrong, as it does sometimes, just tell the client and move on. Explain what happened and correct the mistake. The main point here is that you communicate clearly to the client what happened and make a new commitment to do it.

Be clear on promises from clients

It takes two to tango. If your partner sits down, you will work too hard but still look funny to be alone on the dance floor. You have to hold each other accountable. If you notice that client don’t hold up to their ends of the agreement, confront them openly and explain they are slowing down their own progress.

Be clear on your concerns

If the project starts off on the wrong foot (client’s lack of commitment, wasted time, late from meetings, being unprepared), then you have to discuss that because it can escalate into serious problems. Make sure your voice is not blaming, just stating the facts and your feelings about those facts. Say everything from your standpoint. For example: “I feel frustrated when this [fact] happens, and if it happens again, I have no option but to end the contract.”

If they discontinue the project, they save you from a lot of aggravation. If they continue, they will be more attentive in the future. Stipulate payments for this event. Will you refund their money or not?

Now let's look at the other part of performance, where we discuss how to set up projects in such a way right from the beginning that clients are fully involved, so they feel the weight of responsibility and realise the end result depends on them. If we consider that clients have the right to say the final word, it also means they are fully responsible for the success of the project. Yes, we are accountable to fulfilling our ends of the gig, but on the final analysis clients call the shots. Therefore it is important to maintain shared responsibility all along the way. So, in the next 12 steps we take a close look at how we can plan and orchestrate our clients’ involvement in projects.

Step 1. Defining the problem and long-term implications

Ask clients what they think the problem is but always dig deeper. There is a very good chance that what clients tell you is just mere symptoms. Low sales is hardly ever caused by lack of sales skills. It is more likely caused by low self-esteem, insufficient interpersonal skills. It is more related to who the person is than what the person does. 80% of a firm’s limitation lies in their people, that is, in who they are and not what they do. In order to have the right things, we must do the right things, and to do the right things we must be the right people. It has everything to do with our perspectives. Possible request from the client can be: “Joyce, you say the problem is low sales, but I see a high level of turnover among sales staff. You and I want to investigate the reason why they are leaving so quickly after being brought on board.”

Step 2. Defining learning objectives

One of the objectives of every single consulting gig is the transfer of knowledge to clients, that is, teaching clients how to fish, instead of just giving them a fish. It is important that we empower and enable our clients, so next time they can solve their problems without our assistance, although, they are likely to call us for a quick fine-tuning, critique or feedback. However, clients can only learn what they expect to learn, so it is our job to make clients clearly define what they want to learn. Possible request from the client can be: “Jack, whatever we do together during this project, I want you to be able to do it on your own the next time. How can we create the most effective learning environment for you, so you have the best chance to maintain the realised improvements, and if the problem comes up again, you can solve it for yourself?

Step 3. Deciding to do the project

This is the starting point of the project, that is, the preparation for recommendations. At this point you and your client decide that the problem is serious enough to warrant your intervention, be it a study, a report, a focus group, etc. Possible request from the client can be: “Jodie, we have established that due to high sales talent turnover you are falling further behind your annual sales projections. Your idea is to run a sales education program, but I believe people leave because corporate culture is not inviting enough for them to stay. Instead of a sales program, I prefer to take a closer look at your corporate culture to reduce and/or eliminate those hostile factors that make people leave so soon. What do you think about this approach?”

Step 4. Defining the project’s scope
Based on your intuition, past experiences, education, etc., that is, process skills, you know what aspects of the problems to study. Your clients, based on their content knowledge, will know how to blend your processes into their contents. Possible request from the client can be: “Jim, this is the point where we blend our individual skills and define the details of the project. I require your full participation, so we can produce measurable results within three months the latest.”

Step 5. Deciding who will be involved
This is a serious point because if you mismanage things here, you can easily become an outsourced labourer, not a consultant. Remember this: Clients want you to do the whole project hook, line and sinker. They also want you to create as little interruption in their busy schedules as possible. This is the time to create a client-consultant project team, so you can start sharing responsibilities. Yes, it is always easier to do everything ourselves, but we must consider the client’s learning and full involvement if we expect full commitment. In the worst case if the client insists on your doing everything, which is often the sign of low level commitment, you can just walk away from the gig. Although if you set value-based fees, and get paid in advance, you hardly ever have to worry about this issue. Also, the more you involve the client’s people and the more you rely on them, the more committed they will become to the implementation of the recommendations. Possible request from the client can be: “Joanne, let’s finalise who will be on the implementation team, their roles and accountabilities. If we do it now and document it, that will make the project run smoother and quicker.”

Step 6. Defining tasks and methods
This is a discussion over how to do the initial part of the project, how to start working on putting together the recommendations. What shape will the recommendation take? Will it be a report, how big and how detailed will it be. Will it be a educational program, workshop, seminar, focus groups, etc. What exactly must be collected in order to compile pragmatic recommendations. You are also teaching the client how to do this stage the next time without your involvement. Possible request from the client can be: “James, having defined the project’s objectives, let’s assign the appropriate tasks to the appropriate team members. Also, let’s set up the right communication channels among members, so everyone knows who to interact with and how.”

Step 7. Collecting data
Here you and the client are moving into collecting the appropriate data for the project. Again, make certain that you do part of the work and the client does the other part. There are two snags here: 1) People in the organisation may withhold information from you because they perceive you as an intruder who came in to change the status quo. They also think you have some power over them. Both assumptions are incorrect. You were invited to change the status quo, and you cannot have power over people unless they voluntarily give their own power away. That is a sign of low self-esteem and self-confidence. Many people do hand over their personal power and beg other people to domineer over them. 2) Some data offered to you may get distorted or totally out of kilter because some people have too much vested interest in the status quo, and will do their best to prevent the organisation from changing. Possible request from the client can be: “Janet, I want to reserve two of your junior managers to work with me, so we can interview people together and they will also learn how to facilitate focus groups and how to document the results. Also you will personally interview these five people. How do you feel about this engagement?”

Step 8. Funneling and summarising data

You must as the client to create a database into which data is collected. It is important that data collection is set up in such manner that the slightest chance of discrepancy is eliminated. Possible request from the client can be: “Jennifer, everyone will work in a common contact manager system set up in Goldmine, and every day we will synchronise our files, so we all are on the same page. You are to get the program installed on each team member’s laptop computer, and distribute the instructions on how to synchronise the files. Then we will practise it a few times just to get it right.

Step 9. Analysing data
This is the time to pull together all team members and analyse the findings. This is the point where many consultants think that clients’ lack of certain knowledge disqualifies them from analysing the data. Never mind clients’ level of knowledge. Request their commitment of being there and basically see what you do and the team are doing. Possible request from the client can be: “Jay, although you have said that you are a computer layman, but I want you to be at the data analysis meeting because you have high level of knowledge on how the company works and we need your contribution from the operation’s angle.”

Step 10. Conducting the feedback meeting
Set up the feedback meeting in such a way that you present a bit and the client’s people present the majority of the findings. You are the unbiased outsider, but the client’s people know the details of operation. Possible request from the client can be: “Jane, at this meeting Eric will present our findings on hardware, Erica will present on software and I will present on how your people relate to the existing system as a whole. I want you to record the meeting, listen to it a few times and get back to us if you have any questions. If you find our findings valid, then based on that we can start developing our recommendations.”

Step 11. Presenting recommendations
At this stage you and the client combine your process skills and the client’s content expertise. Possible request from the client can be: “Jason, based on the feedback you received the other day, here are our recommendation for the new computer network. Again, Eric will make recommendations on hardware, Erica on software and I recommend some changes regarding how your people can use the system more effectively.”

Step 12. Deciding what actions to take
One crucial point where so many consulting projects fall flat on their faces is the implementation after you have made your recommendations. Clients often say, this is a good idea and we will think about it. Make sure right at the beginning that you are there when the “battle” starts. It is very hard or even impossible to fight a battle that is based on a general’s strategy but right after the planning session the general was sent home and the captains take over. If necessary, stipulate in your agreements that you want to be involved in the implementation and you want to be posted on results. Possible request from the client can be: “Janice, as we agreed at the beginning of this project, I want to be involved in the implementation process and see how improvements unfold, so I may be able to offer some guidance and ideas along the way. How do you feel about my involvement?”

Each of these steps engages the client in full collaboration, which also reduces resistance towards implementation and increases the guarantee for success. It also increases your value to the client, so the perceived investment in your services further shrinks in comparison to the magnitude of improvement you create. Be guided by this old saying: If clients could have done it, they would have already done it. But they have failed with their past attempts and that is why you are there.

If you chicken out of the implementation process, clients are likely to get stuck in the same mud they had been before you turned up, and may even blame you for the mess. Remember, that is precisely the reason why many companies hire consultants.

The CEO is not going to blame his own retarded son-in-law, the marketing director. “Let's hire a consultant. We are so screwed up that there is no way he can help us, but at least we can take out our frustration on someone and kick the crap out of him without harming each other.”

Copyright 1997-2008 Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan. All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in whole or in part. One favour though: Can I ask you to you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Also, can you please let me know where you plan to publish the article.

The attribution: This article was written by Organisational Provocateur, Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan of Dynamic Innovations Squad, a firm specialising in helping consulting firms to sell their expertise at the highest margins. Get Tom's free Practice Management Black Paper when you sign up for his monthly newsletter, Commando Consulting: Lessons And Practices From The Ultimate Professional Service Firm, The Military. Visit Tom's website at http://www.di-squad.com.

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