For this lesson, I will delve into the sticky subject of managing customer expectations. For example, if you get a very large project to work on, and you will be tackling it by yourself, you should let your customer know to expect the project's completion in accordance with the percentage of your time that you will be able to spend on it. For example, if your project will take 40 hours to complete, but you already have 20 hours of your time booked (and over time is not possible for you) then you will want to manage your customers expectations and let him/her know that even though today is Monday, it doesn't mean he/she will be getting the project completed by Friday. It will most likely be completed in a week and a 1/2 as your time is already allocated at 50% elsewhere.
If you manage their expectations, clients will be better able to gage how long projects will take and you will have happier clients in the long run.
On to the laughter: At my last position, one of my clients wanted to participate in weekly meetings for a project I managed. I asked her to provide me with acceptable times and days she would be most accessible for a weekly standing meeting. She offered that she is always available on Monday afternoons. I scheduled a standing project meeting for Monday afternoons and she immediately turned down the meeting invite. Why? She was going on vacation for the next three weeks and then she'll be away at meetings for 2 additional weeks.
Lesson? Even though we go out of our way to manage to customer's expectations sometimes they can't be pleased. HOWEVER we went through the steps so that if there was any question later we would have backup. Therefore, the exercise was still a worthwhile endeavor.
Take care,
Gretchen Koehler-Swaney
Prairie Business Partners LLC
www.prairiebusinesspartners.com
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