MANAGEMENT

OF THE CLIENT
RELATIONSHIP

Management of Client/Consultant
Relations
The

consultant must maintain 2

key relationships:
1. Between consultant and
problem solving process.
2. Between consultant and the
client.

Management of Client/Consultant
Relations
Client

Is the organization that engages

the services of the consultant
Individual with whom the
consultant has the initial and/or
ongoing contracts

Relationship must also be

established with other personnel
a)

Administrators and employees

b)

Managers and employers

c)

Managers and employees

How to Develop and Maintain

Harmonious Relationships
Written

and oral means

Get-acquainted
Create

interviews

an attitude of helpfulness

Managing Client
Expectations
An

important aspect of
maintaining harmonious
relationship is managing the
expectations that are being
developed.

Managing Client
Expectations
When

communicating what the

consulting project can do for the
business, the following should be
observed:
1. Be clear as to what can be offered.
2. Be positive about what can be
offered, but be realistic.
3. Be honest about the limitation of the
project.
4. When talking about limitations put
them between positive statements.

Managing Client
Expectations
Credibility

Relates to the recipients perception

of the senders ability to satisfy the
expectations being generated.
Confidence

Occurs if the level of credibility

suggests that expectations will be
achieved to a degree that satisfies
concerns about those outcomes not
being achieved.

Maintaining Client Interest

Keep

up the communication

Give

the manager regular

updates and how it is developing

Remind

him/her of the outputs of

the project and the values these
will have to the business.

Creating Opportunities for Client

Build-up
Consultants

could trace most of their

current business to the following
sources:
1. Business contact gains throughout the
business community
2. Speeches in professional and business
organization
3. Books written from experience
4. Referrals from speeches, books and
articles
5. Word-of-mouth referrals

How business contacts be

established and made to grow:
Join at least 3 organizations that
offer regular meetings and
opportunity to interact with
peers in the industry.
2. Create a reference library
3. Establish a circle of informal
advisors and contact them once
a month
4. Establish collaborations with
other consultants
1.

How business contacts be

established and made to grow:
5.

Mail to clients item of interest

6.

Mail to prospective clients items of

interest

7.

Publish articles in relevant periodical

8.

Offer probono work for community,

government and nonprofit
organizations

How business contacts be

established and made to grow:
9.

Accept speaking engagements

at trade associations and
conferences

10.Create

a website

11.Business

listing in
phonebook/yellow pages

Selling of Consulting Services/

Marketing Professional Services
New

business opportunities are

created through activities in 4
major areas:
1. Present client activities
2. Nonclient relationships
3. Public relations or promotional
activities
4. Potential client activities

Present Client Activities

As

far as present clients are

concerned, the business
development activities are
usually directed towards client

1.
2.
3.

Retention
Expansion of services
Generation of referrals for new
business

Retention
Activities

that can be undertaken

to monitor client satisfaction:

Gather evaluation of personnel

and performance
2. Ensure regular contact with
significant clients
3. Develop client service planning
1.

Expansion of Services
Another

purpose of present client

marketing is the so-called cross
marketing of services to current
clients.

Generation of Referrals
Satisfied

current clients are the

best single source of referrals.

Nonclient Relationships-Third
Party Referral Source Activities
Referral

services oftentimes are

fellow professionals who serve
mutual clients.

Promotional and Public Relations

Scope

of Public Relations

Institutional

Advertising
Product and Service-Oriented
Advertising
Newsletter
Seminars and Workshops
Speeches

Promotional and Public Relations

Articles

in Professional or
Industry Publications
Press relations
Trade shows
Participation in Community Trade
and Professional Organizations
Symposia and Panels

Effective Promotional
Activity
It

is important to remember that

all public relations/promotional
activities should be designed to
establish contacts that can be
enhanced on a personal basis as
a follow up to the activity.

Seminars
A

popular tool for many

professionals primarily because
they offer an opportunity to meet
a large number of people and to
demonstrate indirectly the quality
of the firms people and
expertise.

Community Involvement
Community

involvement in civic
and charitable organizations offer
professionals the opportunity to
repay their communities, more
pragmatically the also meet
fellow professionals and future
business contacts.

Abandoning Clients Gracefully

The

vast majority of consultants

fail to grow their businesses
because they refuse to abandon
business.

Some

suggestions are:
Explain to the client that certain
assignments cannot be cost
effectively handled any more.

Abandoning Clients Gracefully

Establish

alliances with younger

consultants who may want to
align themselves with more
established practitioners in order
to learn, obtain business and
network

Abandoning Clients Gracefully

Provide

the client with advance

notice that the consultant will be
accepting lesser assignments and
doing lesser workshops and
appearances.

Offer

to transfer the skills to the

client, if appropriate

Following business conditions could

justify abandonment of some clients:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

Beneath the growing fee

structure
Unchallenging
Providing a reputation that does
not fit the consultants growth
strategy
Overly specialized
Unable to attract the kind of
talent the consultant wants in
his firm

Following business conditions could

justify abandonment of some clients:
Unable to attract the kind of
references the consultant needs
7. In areas and industries that
themselves are not growing
8. Unpleasant and/or has rude and
offensive people
9. Unethical in its actions and/or
borderline illegal
10.Harsh in its demands for travel,
support, and other logistics
6.