Expertise alone is no longer enough
How do you become more of a partner to your customers?
How do you become a trusted advisor to your client, so you can get to the table sooner and have less hassle? Keeping clients satisfied requires more than just delivering excellent work.
How do you ensure they remain loyal and aren't tempted to see if another organization can do the same work cheaper and (at least in their eyes) just as well? How do you improve collaboration with clients and colleagues? How do you uncover the underlying question?
We're happy to help organizations grow from expert to partner. And the first question is: why would you invest time and effort in that?
From the expert
We hear from professionals themselves:
- The customer often contacts us too late ...
- The client doesn’t want to follow up on my good ideas…
- I hate all the fuss about extra work and money, especially when it's clearly necessary.
- Why do people respond so badly to my emails?
- That client sees us as an executor and isn't interested in discussing his strategy with us...
- How can I ensure that customers are more engaged in what we do?
From the organization
Leaders often say something like: We are top-notch in terms of content, but…
- The client doesn't see us as a true partner; they expect more initiative from us.
- We don't have enough strategic hours with our clients...
- Our people spend too little time on their network with clients…
- We are too interchangeable…
- Customers want broader support, not just hiring a content expert.
See our book:
Client satisfied
From content expert to advisory partner
And for managers:
Why don't they just do it?
Make sure your consultants and technicians find and keep clients satisfied
From expert to partner
What role do you want as a content expert? Are you an executor, expert, or partner? (This three advisory roles, come from Edgar Schein / Peter Block). Many customers prefer the partner role.
How do you become more of a partner?
K = I x A
The quality of your work (K) is a multiplication of the content (I) of your work and its acceptance (A).
Many content-savvy professionals tend to focus all their energy on making the content just a little bit better. While there's often more to be gained by improving acceptance and expectation management.
It starts with a specific goal...
There are many ways to be entrepreneurial. Behavioral science teaches us that a clear goal is incredibly helpful. Here are a few examples of how we help our clients.
- Our clients see us too much as an executor…
- We want more strategic/challenging assignments for our people.
- We spend too much time and money fussing over deadlines or things going wrong
- Our people should take more ownership
- We want to be more of a customer partner
- We want to improve our image as a department towards colleagues
- We are only involved at too late a time
- We want less secondment and more consultancy or team assignments
- Do more nice assignments for selected clients instead of doing small jobs everywhere
- Better billing for extra work / less giving away
- From one-time jobs to long-term relationships with our customers
- We want to offer more added value; build more customer intimacy with our customers
- We are too often seen as a commodity, customers think they can easily replace us…
- We don't profile ourselves enough...
- Our service managers are too operational…
- We respond too little to help signals compared to competitors who are certainly not better than us in terms of content
- We want to work closer to our customers' core business and deliver added value (beyond offshore countries)
- We want to know sooner that something is going on with a customer
Commerce, I've even started to like it!
Van Aetsveld
From goals to program
Once we've clarified the objectives, we'll design a suitable program. This often consists of a mix of training, coaching, just-do-it sessions, organizational consulting, and design. We collaborate with both management and consultants/technicians.
Boost Workshop Client Satisfied
Many organizations regularly organize themed sessions. In a single (evening) session with a group of colleagues, we'll work on the foundation of keeping clients and colleagues satisfied.
New insights and techniques to better manage expectations and communicate. Removing barriers, practicing, and providing practical tips. Inspiring for both small and large groups.
This way, we activate all our employees. If this sparks your interest, we'd be happy to delve deeper with (some of) the professionals.
With a group of (usually) 6-10 employees, usually including a manager, we will give concrete substance to the partner role.
The program consists of a mix of training, practical guidance, practice sessions, and, of course, hands-on activities, including "get-to-work" hours. It typically lasts from a few months to a year.
Another important aspect is developing a structure together with management, so that, for example, identifying the question behind the question becomes a normal and enjoyable part of the job.
TV show hosts who train pets or children primarily work with their owners or parents. Those owners or parents are always a bit reluctant to do that, because it's clear that Bello or Junior needs some work...
However, managers can structurally increase entrepreneurship with a number of simple actions.
However, this doesn't happen automatically. Managing partner behavior is quite different from managing the substantive area where the professional is already task-mature.
For managers we offer, among other things, a short introductory/Boost workshop and a Plan of Action workshop.
Want to know more about how we can help your organization move from expert to partner?
Contact us. Then you immediately notice how we fulfill our role as partners...