When we win a new client, often the feeling of success and euphoria can blind us and cause us to make the most fundamental error in building a long-term client relationship. We think about them as a client and not as a potential client.
By this I mean that we take them for granted. Not in a way that means we don’t deliver amazing work, but by forgetting that they are totally new to us. They have never worked with us, and we have never worked with them.
We jump straight into taking the amazing ideas from the pitch and delivering them with strategic brilliance, awesome craft, and tight project management. And we do this by using our tried and tested processes. The ones we outline in the Governance section, in appendix C of the hygiene pack, we e-mailed over alongside the MSA, SLA and Scope of Work.
What we forget is that we know the process inside out. They work for us. They are the easiest way for us to work.
So, what happened to servicing the client? Putting the client first? Client centric thinking?
I’m not suggesting you need to change everything to fit the client, but we need to onboard the client. To explain how we like to work with clients. To stress test whether our standard process will work for this particular client. To see how we can tailor them to fit with their processes. We must agree on a process that works for both parties.
I have learned this the hard was. I remember we had won a finance client many years ago and the first project was a bit bumpy, with numerous client amends and project retimes. At the very end of a final sign-off meeting the clients ask, “can you remind me, what do you mean by copy”. Suffice to say, we didn’t retain the client for many more projects.
Don’t waste the fabulous work you do to win a client only to fail to onboard them and turn the win into a one hit wonder.
by Richard Wright
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