Tips for Effective Client Relationship Management

By: Agile Delivery Studio
Building an effective and trustful relationship with the client and stakeholders is the stepping stone to have a high quality delivery. Here you’ll find some tips.
• Establishing good communication channels from day one is key. Understanding the client’s culture and how they interact will allow you to fit better with the client, blend in and get involved in product strategy conversations, roadmap definition, discovery processes, etc.
• Understand the client’s expectations and goals. It is important to listen to the client’s needs, ask questions and let the client see you are listening and working accordingly.
• Encourage open and honest communication between team members and the client to avoid any confusion. Explain the benefits of close relationships and the importance of the client’s feedback all along the project.
• As Project Manager get deeply involved in the business goals while working on the deliverables. Get to know the people within the client’s organization and try to build a personal relationship, when possible.
• Understand exactly what your client wants and what your team is capable of delivering and present the suggested solution that will become a list of deliverables and a roadmap for the team.
• In the project, showing valuable and measurable results early on will make the client confident that you can deliver value in the mid-long term too. Quality delivery is as important as good visibility. Make sure you generate reports that add value to the people reading them and cover topics like progress, risks and issues, actions, budget, etc.
• Autonomy and accountability to address issues are great qualities for a Project Manager, knowing when and how to escalate and bring other parties to the table is equally as important.
• Be prepared to be challenged by the customer and face difficult situations. Let the client talk, listen and let them share what they think is not working. Go back to your team and analyze the situation. Make sure you always come back with a plan on a timely manner. It is key to make sure we still have the client’s trust and that they feel we care about them.
• Even if you think all is going well, keep doing retros and lessons-learned regularly to ensure everyone is on the same page.
And remember… people are people in every single place in the world. And people solve issues by talking and talking and talking. A healthy communication is the foundation for a successful relationship!