“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department,
it should be the entire company.”
— Tony Hsieh
Hi Everyone,
We often hear the “customer is always right” and while that might provide some inspiration in a retail setting, it’s not exactly right for consulting. Good customer service in consulting is about managing conflict and expectations.
I think we could all agree that every consulting project has conflicts, simple or
difficult issues around scope, schedule, budget, and communication. It’s not
possible to eliminate all the conflicts. What is possible, is to handle them with poise and aplomb.
The first step in managing conflict is regular consistent communication. There is an axiom that I wrote early in my career, which is “trust is a function of consistency over time”. Tahzoo needs to provide a consistent experience. This will build trust and we need trust between teams to resolve conflicts quickly. Each of you plays a role ensuring that the Tahzoo customer experience is pitch perfect. To put a finer point on it, each of you is responsible to make sure we don’t break our customers trust by not adhering to the standards of communication that we’ve set. Weekly status meetings and reports need to always have an agenda, documents must be sent out the day before the meeting, meetings should happen on the same day each week, and meeting minutes need to be sent out by the end of the day. Four simple steps in our approach to ensure better communication and trust.
All project related meetings, especially meetings to share and review deliverables, that are not on a weekly meeting cadence, need to follow a similar process. Agenda sent out when the meeting is scheduled, deliverables sent a day ahead of time and meeting minutes sent out at the end of the day.
Meeting minutes should include, who attended the meeting, what was presented, any client feedback captured, and action items detailed and assigned. All agreements between the client and Tahzoo are documented with a request for confirmation. The request for confirmation is a great way of making sure that what was agreed to is understood to be the same thing between all parties. This one habit will dramatically reduce the potential for conflict. I strongly recommend recording all meetings and using the AI auto meeting summary feature in Teams to assist in the process.
Avoiding/ignoring problems never make them better. They only get bigger and more consuming. We are hired by our clients to lead and implement change within their organization. Leadership requires bravery, the courage to raise issues or confront challenges within a project. If you detect a miss in communication or expectations, ask your client directly or surface your concern to your team, so that the concern can be directly addressed and resolved. If you have knowledge and fail to take action, Tahzoo has failed our client. Leadership is everyone’s responsibility.
Change orders are not just about asking for more money. They are an essential tool for documenting change within a project. I am a huge fan of zero dollar change orders because that means the team is reconciling a change and documenting it with the client. Scope, schedule, and budget are the three pillars that need to be effectively managed to ensure a successful engagement. While we rely on our PMO to track the details, scope, schedule, and budget are a team responsibility.
Think of these practices as constructive habits that should be ingrained in our daily work routines. They may pose challenges initially, but with time, they will become second nature and standard practice. I genuinely appreciate each of you taking these guidelines to heart and actively implementing them within our company. As I mentioned at the outset, exceptional client service hinges on effective conflict resolution. Let’s employ these tools and good habits to elevate the quality of our service to excellence.
Think of these as good habits that need to be instilled in our everyday work routine. They will be a bit challenging at first but over time, it will become a natural and normal course of business. I really appreciate everyone taking what I am saying to heart and actively implementing these ideas within our company. Like I said at the beginning, great client service also includes great conflict resolution. Let’s use some tools and good habits to make our service excellent.
Let’s go be great!
Brad