Client Management Conversation
I thought this would be a really cool way to start a conversation and get your thoughts on different kinds of language or techniques to manage clients. We all have to do this. At the risk of exposing “secrets” here are my thoughts.
Communicating timelines
1. Never tell a client you are working on a project for another client that is causing you to be late. Best to say, based on what is happening internally…
2. Language to push back: “given our current deliverables”
Example: Given our current deliverables and what is happening internally, we should be able to submit this to you by XXX date.
Negotiating on timelines or managing expectations
Use the Time-Quality-Money rule.
1. Money: Push back based on budget agreements: “Well that may not work with the current budget that we have agreed on. Bringing up the timeline would require a $xxx budget, but what we could do is A or B.”
2. Quality: “Well, such and such would usually take X days/weeks to complete to get to the quality that you are asking for, but we could possibly give you XXX to meet your requirement.” (List Pros and Cons of doing it each way, and be clear about what could suffer by shortening the timeline.
3. Time: If the client sets an earlier deadline and you suspect they may not review it right away, find out what their schedule looks like as well. Will they be able to review and give approval on the deliverable? If not, negotiate for a more realistic deadline.
