how to enchant clients?
TRANSCRIPT
Base Rules The word ‘Enchant’
First presentation of Enchant series
Expected audience is anyone at Confiz
10,000 PKR cash reward if you prove me wrong
Who’s a Client
Internal client Different departments Different teams
External client Buys our services or products Companies or individuals Sits thousands of miles away in a different time zone Depends on us for own profit
Why Enchant Clients Revenue continuity
Business growth
Better market reputation
Opportunity to learn New technologies New business domain Communication skills
Personal/team achievement
What Client Wants Value for money
Quality and quantity of services
A reliable business relationship
And also a good team experience… Friendly and trustful interaction Exchange of information Personal connection (culture, language, life happenings etc.)
Our Enchanting Toolset Solid engineered code
Business, UI and UX skills
Organizational support
Strategic Communication
Enchanting Scenarios Time of Uncertainty
Time of Good News
Time of Bad News
Time to be Clever
Time of Angry Client
Time of Uncertainty New client or client team
Beginning of project
Unknown technology domain
Lack of information about business
Case-Uncertainty
Client: I have given you little or no requirements. We don’t know
about this technology. How long will you take to finish this job?
Possible Responses:
a) One week
b) One month
c) One year
Case-Uncertainty
Correct Response:
Let me ask you some questions, develop better understanding,
explore technology a bit and come back to you…
Means:
a) Not a blind shot
b) Interested in learning
c) Playing smart
Time of Good News Project going quite well
Sprints meeting targets
Engineering code about bug free
Project planning up to mark
Hardees has dropped prices by 50%!!!
Case-Good News
Client: How are thing going?
Possible Responses:
a) Fine
b) Awesome
c) We are kicking Software butt!
Case-Good News
Correct Response:
We are on track in terms of time. Engineers are efficiently engaged.
Regular test cycles are producing less bugs. Scheduled DB backups are
keeping data safe. You will have an updated release in 2 weeks…
Tells client:
1- We are on schedule and making progress
2- Right number of resources are engaged (cost efficiency)
3- Quality is not comprised
4- Using’ good time’ to market our skills and experience
Time of Bad News Too many bugs in builds
Too much ambiguity in business rules
Technology is not mature enough
Builds are delayed
Server or DB crash/issue
Case-Bad News
Client: How are things?
Possible Responses:
a) ‘Silence’
b) You are doomed!
c) Nothing is working and we have no idea why
Case-Bad News
Correct Response:
Over all things are fine. We have hit a small issue caused by lack of
understanding of billing module. I have prepared a list of questions so
kindly assist me fixing the problem… – OR
The technology stack we chose might not be best choice because of
these unforeseen reasons. Here are links where a few other teams are
discussing the same issues. I have analyzed the impact on time and
here is a cost estimation of changes. Also, following will be the benefit
of shifting to this new technology in longer term. Here are some more
links … - OR
Case-Bad News
Correct Response (continued):
We have lost x amount of data in a crash last night, happened because
of this xyz reason. We have recovered most of the records and still
trying to fix the issue. We have also taken following measures to avoid
this issue in future…
Means:
1- We understand client is not a fool
2- We offer a solution while giving the bad news
3- We learnt a lesson to avoid a similar case again
Case-Bad News What’s the catch in giving bad news?
Build a consent in team and with management first Controlled amount of information (hell breaking loose is
bad) Accept a mistake when made one (but smartly) Discuss with client as a teammate not an outsider Do not point fingers on anyone – internal or client or his
team
Time of Angry Client We messed something up
Client frustrated by a personal issue
A not so nice email from client
Aggressive conference call with client
Case-Angry Client
Client: I am very disappointed in you. Not only you are
incompetent but also stealing me of my money. I want to shut
the project down and make sure you loose your job
Possible Responses:
a) Go to hell!
b) How dare you!
c) I am so scared, please forgive me!
Case-Angry Client
Correct Response:
I understand this concern is very important to you and I assure
you whatever happened is a misunderstanding. If there is an
issue, I want to resolve it with you as a team. Your project is very
important to us and I really like working with you in a healthy
and respectful team environment…
Case-Angry Client
Means:
1- Showed patience against aggression
2- Create margin of correctness
3- Appreciated his project and experience of working with him
4- Suggested him to keep a healthy tone
Tips-Angry Clients Client sits thousands of miles and many time zones away
Comes from different cultural background
Different work ethics
Is a human so give him margin
Its not personal, its business
Case-Time to be Clever
Client: Can you please do me a favor and deliver
this task of 3 days in 1 day?
Your Response:
a) Are you crazy?
b) Even Superman can’t do this
c) NO!
Case-Time to be Clever
Correct Response: While we want to meet your expectations, it
is not possible to deliver this specific task in 1 day without
compromising quality and security of system. Here is a break of
sub-tasks that will take 3 days in total
Means:
a) A straight ‘NO’ is quite rude
b) Provide reasons while saying ‘no’ nicely
Skype-General Tips English speaking is a barrier – remove by practice
Prepare for calls – takes notes in advance
Introduce yourself before speaking and say greetings
Do not speak fast and in long sentences
There is no such thing as bad questions
Professional Skype aliases and profile pic ‘Shak33l’ is not ‘Shakeel’ ‘CoolBoy86’ is not a cool alias
Make sure voice quality is good
Email-General Tips Review before sending
Fill ‘To’ and ‘CC’ after review
Avoid too many adjectives
Try to be complete and holistic – do not assume awareness
from reader
Avoid basic typos and grammar
Bullets and not long paragraphs
Chat-General Tips Avoid shorthand
‘F9’ is not ‘fine’ ‘U’ is not ‘You’ What the heck is ‘ROFL’?
Do not break sentencesI am <send>working <send>on build <send>.. Is not good!
Again think, then write, then review, then send