Tom Chute: @tomcchute @pragmaticweb

from the

ClientSidE

Talesfrom the

ClientSidE

Tales

Who am I?● Account Manager

@ Pragmatic

● Previously a client

● Previous to that - hard sales

● Why I care about client tales and experiences

Welcome to our relationship counselling session

You don’t understand me anymore

“T”

You don’t understand me anymore

“T”

Tale: The Non Techy, Disappointed Client

● Non-techy client

● Poor briefs - help!

● Unclear KPIs

I’m on a burning platform, and I don’t want to be the one left carrying the baby with the bathwater being poured all over my head.

“

T”

T

“You don’t understand me anymore”

● Know your client, I mean really know your client

● Continued discovery

● Client and individual goals/KPIs not just project

● Don’t just find solutions - talk it through

Have you met someone else?

“T”

Tale: The Shunned Client

● “How’s things generally over there?”

● Smaller project syndrome

● Shiney new things for us, not for them

Have you met someone else?

“T”

“Have you met someone else?”

● Maintain positivity around smaller accounts

● Benefits of project trickle down

● Transparency and resourcing

You never want to do anything together anymore

“T”

Don’t make me swear in front of my wife, but where’s my ************support!

“T”

Don’t make me swear in front of my wife, but where’s my ************support!

“T”(11:30pm, Sunday whilst

driving)

“I’ve got a Service Level Agreement - service me!”

● Understand what you’re getting involved in

● The people involved

I feel like you’re hiding stuff from me

“T”

I feel like you’re hiding stuff from me

“T”

Tale: The Out of the Loop Client

● Panicked calls

● Where is all the money going?

● “I’ve been left in the dark and don’t feel in the loop”

… followed by...

● “Can you guys stop spamming me”

“I’ve been very interested to read your company’s Christmas internal blog, and can offer some advice around the team issues, however I don’t think I should be on the distribution list.”

T

“I feel like you’re hiding stuff from me”

● Under-sharing Vs Over-sharing

● Communication levels - ask

● Stakeholders (internal and external)

● Don’t build a wall

I need some space

“T”

I need some (shared) space

“T”

Tale: The ‘Use my Dropbox for this, Google Drive for this and MySpace for this’ Client

● Logins always lost

● Similar tools doing the same job

● How to refer back to decisions

T

“I need some space”

● Which tools?

○ Confluence, Wiki

○ Google Docs

○ Project Management

○ Slack / messaging

○ Drive, Dropbox

● Ways of working with these tools

You said this but you mean something else

“T”

Tale: The Keep it in the Family Client

● Mixing business with family and friends

● Applying pressure externally when issue was internal

You said this but you mean something else

“T”

“T”

Q: Why, why, why is there a hold up?

“T”

Q: Why, why, why is there a hold up?

A: The copywriter

“T”

Q: Why, why, why is there a hold up?A: The copywriter (your son)

“You said this but you mean something else”

● Be clear and direct, immediately

● Don’t be afraid to hurt feelings - you’re probably wrong!

● Offer a solution, not just identifying the problem

Summary● Understand your clients, not

just the work you are doing with them

● Transparency and honesty

● Tell a hard truth

Tom Chute: @tomcchute @pragmaticweb