SOP 211: Client engagement playbook

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  3. SOP 211: Client engagement playbook

Client engagement playbook

Last Updated / Reviewed: Feb 1st, 2023

Execution Time: ~ 1 to 2 weeks

Goal: Improve client interactions' quality while building stronger and more long-lasting relationships with clients.

Ideal Outcome: To drive business performance and success by building brand reputation and creating a positive, consistent experience for a successful long-term business relationship with clients.

Prerequisites or Requirements: Understand the organization's goals and objectives, know the target audience, and clearly define roles and responsibilities with performance metrics and KPIs.

Why this is important: The purpose of the Client Engagement Playbook is to engage with clients and ensure a consistent, high-quality client experience. It outlines the critical steps for building and maintaining solid client relationships and provides guidelines for effective communication and collaboration.

Where this is done: During an employee training ground for new and existing employees.

When this is done: Whenever a new employee is hired or during an employee training.

Who does this: The Client Engagement Playbook is used by employees typically trained by their managers involved in client engagement, such as sales, customer service, account management, and project management.

Useful templates

  1. Client Engagement Planning Checklist
  2. Client Feedback and Survey Questionnaire
  3. Client Offboarding Checklist
  4. Client-centralized Database Template
  5. Client Meeting Monthly Planning Sheet
  6. Client Monthly Catch-up Meeting Template
  7. Client Monthly Meeting Script
  8. Client Onboarding Questionnaire

Overview

  1. Building Relationships with Clients
    • Understanding your clients
    • Building Trust
    • Effective communication
    • Personalizing your approach
    • Managing expectations
    • Resolving conflicts
  2. Collaborating with Clients
    • Managing projects and deliverables
    • Project pitch, onboard, mid-project, completion, and follow-up
    • Tracking progress and performance
    • Solving problems and mitigating risks
  3. Tips For Maintaining Strong Relationships with Clients
    • Providing exceptional customer service
    • Delivering value and meeting expectations
    • Continuously improving the client experience
    • Staying in touch and building loyalty

Building Relationships with Clients

  1. Understanding your client: This will help you tailor your approach to their specific needs.
    1. Gather information:
      • Research their company and industry
      • Study their website and social media profiles
      • Look for recent news and press releases
      • Identify their key stakeholders and decision-makers
    2. Ask questions:
      • Schedule a discovery call or in-person meeting
      • Ask about their current challenges and priorities
      • Get to know their communication preferences
      • Learn about their decision-making process
    3. Listen actively:
      • Pay attention to what they say and how they say it
      • Ask follow-up questions to understand their needs better
      • Show that you are engaged and interested
      • Avoid interrupting or finishing their sentences
    4. Analyze the information:
      • Look for patterns and trends
      • Identify their pain points and areas of opportunity
      • Evaluate how you can add value to their business
    5. Document the information:
  2. Building trust: Act with integrity, be honest and listen to their concerns.
    1. Be transparent: You may use this template for a client engagement planning checklist to be upfront about your intentions and expectations and clearly communicate what you can and can't deliver. Be honest about potential roadblocks or challenges, keep your promises, and follow through on your commitments.
    2. Provide value and build rapport: Consider using our client-centralized database template to get to know them individually. Identify ways to add value to their business and offer solutions and ideas to address their pain points. It is recommended to share your experiences and perspectives, find common ground and build relationships. Probe for the right questions.
    3. Communicate regularly: Put yourself in their shoes and listen to their needs and concerns. Asking for feedback and sharing concerns with one another helps to foster client relationships. Respond in a way that addresses their emotions and interests and remember to send regular updates and follow up on their needs. Effective communication is the foundation of any strong relationship. Make sure you understand your client's communication preferences and take the time to articulate your message clearly.
  3. Personalizing your approach: Tailor your approach to each client's specific needs, preferences, and personality.
    1. Arrange for a kickoff call meeting to manage expectations. Be sure to explicitly define what the client can expect from your services or products, including the project's scope, timeline, budget, and other relevant details.
    2. Send a welcome gift accompanied by a client onboarding questionnaire.
    3. Schedule monthly catch-up meetings with your client(s) to manage expectations. Be sure to plan ahead by using this client meeting monthly planning sheet. For further guidance, refer to client monthly meeting script.
    4. Consider project management software tools such as Asana, ClickUp, and Trello to keep track of client interactions and updates. Follow the project stages by clicking on the checkboxes in chapter “Collaborating with Clients”.
    5. Consider a help desk ticketing solution such as zoho, oodoo, and freshworks for your clients to raise a concern/task directly to your teammates.
    6. Follow up regularly by Asking for feedback and sharing concerns with one another.
    7. When your team has successfully completed a project, the Client Offboarding Checklist is important because it helps maintain professionalism, facilitate a smooth transition, maintain goodwill, retain knowledge, complete the project, and improve processes. Offboarding marks the end of a project and provides an opportunity to review and improve processes, gather feedback, and maintain a positive relationship with the client, which can lead to future business opportunities.
  4. Tips To Resolving Conflicts: Resolving conflicts with clients is crucial for maintaining a positive and productive relationship and ensuring customer satisfaction and a stronger working relationship.
    1. Listen to the client's concerns: Listen actively to understand the client's point of view and the root cause of the conflict.
    2. Acknowledge the client's feelings: Validate the client's emotions and concerns to show empathy and build rapport.
    3. Find a mutually acceptable solution: Work with the client to find a solution that addresses their concerns and meets the needs of both parties.
    4. Communicate the resolution: Clearly and concisely communicate the agreed-upon resolution to the client to ensure understanding and prevent future misunderstandings.
    5. Follow-up: After the resolution, check in with the client to ensure the agreement is upheld and address any additional concerns.
    6. Document the conflict and resolution: Document the conflict and the resolution for future reference to help identify and prevent similar conflicts.

Collaborating with Clients

  1. Managing Projects and Deliverables: Use the checkboxes below to determine your project status.
    Stage 1: Project pitch
    • Research the client and their industry to understand their needs and challenges.
    • Prepare a customized pitch that highlights your company's strengths and how they align with the client's needs.
    • Clearly communicate the value proposition and benefits of working with your company.
    • Anticipate potential objections and have counter-arguments ready
    • Practice your pitch several times to build confidence and ensure seamless delivery.
    • Send a creative portfolio of your best work.
      Stage 2: Project Onboard
    • Clearly outline the project scope and expectations
    • Set up regular communication channels with the client and stakeholders
    • Establish clear roles and responsibilities for both parties
    • Obtain necessary approvals and signatures for the project agreement
    • Schedule regular check-ins to monitor progress and ensure the project is on track.
    • [Suggestion for leadership team/managers] Create a unique onboarding package with all the tools they’ll need to best work and collaborate with your team
    • Consider project management software tools such as Asana, ClickUp, and Trello.
      Stage 3: Mid-Project
    • Monitor progress and performance against project milestones and KPIs
    • Address any roadblocks or challenges promptly
    • Communicate updates and changes to the client as they occur
    • Provide regular reports and insights to the client on project progress
    • Foster a collaborative environment to keep the project moving forward
    • Consider what events overlap with your project timeline (holidays, birthdays, etc.), and remember to send something special
    • Send a mid-project congratulations when you are halfway through a milestone
      Stage 4: Project Completion
    • Complete all outstanding tasks and deliverables on time
    • Ensure the final product meets the client's expectations
    • Obtain final approval from the client
    • Conduct a thorough review of the project to identify lessons learned and opportunities for improvement.
    • Provide the client with all relevant documentation and materials for future reference.
    • Turn the completed project into a case study.
    • Review what worked and what didn’t work out, and consider you can be better in the next project.
      Stage 5: Project Follow-up
    • Schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss the project outcome and gather feedback.
    • Address any post-project issues and resolve them promptly
    • Acknowledge the client's contribution and express gratitude for the opportunity to work with them
    • Encourage the client to share their experience with others
    • Maintain regular communication and foster a long-lasting relationship.
    • Consider a referral discount for the next project
  2. Tracking Progress and Performance: Monitoring progress and performance makes it possible to make adjustments and course corrections in real-time, ensuring that projects remain on track and that goals are achieved.
    • Establish performance metrics
    • Regularly track progress and performance against goals
    • Provide feedback and coaching as needed
  3. Solving Problems and Mitigating Risks: Solving problems and mitigating risks helps prevent potential issues from becoming more extensive and costly.
    • Identify potential problems and risks.
    • Develop contingency plans
    • Monitor and assess risk levels
    • Implement corrective actions as needed

Tips For Maintaining Strong Relationships with Clients

  1. Providing exceptional customer service is crucial in building and maintaining strong client relationships. It helps to establish trust and create a positive impression of the organization.
    1. Listen to customer needs and concerns.
    2. Respond promptly and professionally to inquiries.
    3. Provide clear and accurate information.
    4. Solve problems effectively and efficiently.
  2. Delivering value and meeting expectations are critical for building and maintaining solid client relationships. It demonstrates a commitment to providing high-quality products or services and fulfilling promises made.
    1. Clearly communicate expectations and deliverables.
    2. Meet or exceed customer expectations.
    3. Continuously seek feedback and improvement opportunities.
  3. Continuously improving the client experience is important because it helps to build strong relationships with customers and retain their loyalty. An exceptional customer experience helps differentiate a business from its competitors and increases customer satisfaction and retention. The following points describe how to improve the client experience continuously:
    1. Regularly review customer satisfaction and experience.
    2. Continuously identify and implement opportunities to improve.
    3. [Suggestion for leadership team/business owners] Invest in technology and resources to enhance the customer experience.
  4. Staying in touch and building loyalty with clients is crucial as it helps establish a solid and long-lasting relationship. This not only benefits the client by ensuring they receive consistent, high-quality service but also benefits the business by fostering customer retention and creating opportunities for repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals. Building trust and respect with clients through regular communication and exceptional service can lead to increased loyalty and a more sustainable customer base.
    1. Regularly communicate with customers and stakeholders:
    2. Build relationships based on trust and respect:
    3. Provide added value and exceptional service to retain customers and foster loyalty:
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