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 ...
- They don't listen well to our good ideas.
- Afterwards, the customer turns out not to really know what he wanted. They often ask the wrong question.
- Why do people respond so badly to my emails?
From the organization
Leaders often say something like: We are top-notch in terms of content, but…
- The customer expects more initiative from us.
- Our added value as experts is diminishing due to AI, so we need to take on more of a leading role.
- Our people spend too little time on their network with clients…
- We are too interchangeable…
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
AI is taking over routine work, so it is even more important to be a partner to the customer.
An increasingly large part of the substantive work is being taken over by AI. Consequently, the role of technologists and consultants is shifting. Our people need to become better at managing customer expectations, uncovering the question behind the question, and maintaining control.
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...
You can be entrepreneurial in many ways. Behavioral science teaches us that a clear goal helps enormously. Here are a few examples.
- Our service managers are too operational…
- We want less secondment and more consultancy or team assignments
- We want to work closer to our customers' core business and deliver added value (beyond offshore countries)
- We respond too little to help signals compared to competitors who are certainly not better than us in terms of content
- We want to do more selected assignments for a few selected clients.
- Since AI, our work has shifted from technology to management. How do we bring our people along with us?
- Our techies suddenly have to talk to customers more often. They need soft skills.
- Customer intimacy is becoming increasingly important. How do I achieve that with our people?
- Our people should take more ownership
- We are too easily replaceable
- Our image towards the (internal) customer could be much better.
- We spend too much time and money fussing over deadlines or things going wrong
- We are only involved at too late a time
- We want to know sooner that something is going on with a customer
- We are missing out on money by poorly accounting for additional work.
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.
Course for a group or team
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.
Management guidance
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 usThen you immediately notice how we ourselves fulfill the partner role…
