Consultants – How To Communicate With Your Clients

A consultant's primary goal in client communications should be to provide enough contact to keep the client informed, but not more than they want.  Because each client engagement is different, the consultant should have standard methods for client communication which allow for customization.

Planned Reporting, Agreed Reports

Before Day One of the project, you should have agreed with the client on both the schedule of reporting and what form it will take.  Describe the reporting mechanism and schedule in your engagement letter.  You may agree that a weekly email summary takes care of the written reporting and that a schedule of lunch meetings or office discussions will suffice for the personal reporting.  If the consulting project is fairly long-term, covering months, plan on making monthly progress report presentations with the client's team and management.  You and your firm need to know if the client's priorities are shifting just as much as they need to know your progress and findings to date.  TIP:  Stay flexible and be sensitive to your client's schedule – a last minute crisis may cause a meeting to shift.  Go with the flow.

Focus Your Communications

Know what your client wants to know.  Combine the goals and action steps of your engagement letter with your findings to date.  Highlight any changes you have uncovered in the original expectations of the engagement.  Let there be no surprises at the conclusion of the engagement.  TIP:  Above all, do not share your daily trials and tribulations with the client.  Remember the Golden Rule of consulting:  Your problems are not the client's business, but theirs are your business.

Share The Credit

In your meetings, be fair.  Refer to input by the client's team and any help from their organization.  At the same time, make note of the knowledge the client's team has gained – you do not want senior management to think they don't need your help.  The last thing you want is to create an antagonistic situation where the client team feels upstaged by the “expert” outsider.  TIP:  This fine line needs finesse and sensitivity on your part.  Leave your ego at the door.

Prepare For Meetings

Nothing is worse than wasting the time of the people who are paying you.  Prepare and circulate an agenda before the meeting and have a list of issues ready to discuss. Let your client's management decide who should be at the meeting, but suggest who should be circulated on the agenda and any post-meeting written report.  They don't have to agree, but you will have done your job by pointing out the people whose input you believe will be of benefit.  TIP:  Take good meeting notes, using your agenda as an outline.

Stay in Touch With The Client's Business

Throughout the engagement, stay in touch with the business happenings of your client.  Get on the circulation for key reports and industry newsletters.  Make sure you read what they read and know what they know.  If there is a change coming, you will want to be aware of it and a part of it.

Client engagements start with the first meeting and are documented in the engagement letter.  Successful client engagements are the result of providing real value.  A smart communication strategy makes sure the client knows how valuable you have been.