Project managers are the ones who closely communicate and work with clients day to day. PM’s are a face of every professional services company, and they are exactly the ones who pay a vital contribution to company’s image.
In today’s post, we’ve decided to share our vision and experience on the main and core duty of every project manager – making the client happy.
1. Need for Speed
All of us hate queues. Whether it’s a queue in a local supermarket or a full of people DMV office. Same with online business, client will be happy to get an answer to his question ASAP, so start measuring and improving your average response time.
2. Prioritise
Make sure that you know which tasks are urgent and which ones can wait so you can deliver more desired parts of the projects faster vs the ones that can wait. Although, none of the tasks should be in the queue too long (see #1).
3. Keep your client in the loop
Make sure that your client is always aware of the current status of his project. Even if there are no significant updates, make sure to follow up every so often to ensure client’s peace of mind. If there is an impediment, make sure that the client knows about it, and you do all you can to resolve it.
4. Meet the expectations
Before starting the project, make sure that both client and the development team are on the same page and understand the desired project’s outcome very well. Although, we may like surprises in our personal life, surprises are not so much welcomed when it comes to work :)
5. Take the extra step
Make sure that you are really involved in the process and suggest any possible improvements that you think client’s business may benefit from. You should help your client in every possible single way that you see.
While all of the above is valuable, the most important tip is: Love your client!
Famous poets and writers dedicate all their lives to describe this precious feeling and still love can’t be defined. The same is for us because love is a feeling and not something rational. Only you decide what signs your love will have – extra care, a birthday card or something really special, but in any case, if it is a true love, your client will feel it and pay back the same way.
Thanks for reading and we will be glad to see your comments on how to improve clients service.