Welcome Professionals…

…Do your clients know what you are working on?

Of course, they will know what you are supposed to do. But do your clients know what you are actually doing until date of delivery? When did you send your last progress report?

I don’t know any consultant who likes to write progress reports. Yet this is such a powerful tool to generate trust.

For most consulting work, the end product is hard to judge. The final presentation of results may meet the expectations or it may bring a surprise. One good indicator for high quality results is the effort that was put into them.

On day of delivery though, your client will most likely not have the patience to listen to stories about all the effort you undertook. On the other hand, explaining the effort after the executive summary will rather sound defensive.

Regular progress reports do the trick. They deliver the right messages to your client:

• “I am thinking of you”
• “I am doing what you expect me to do”
• “I am going through ups and downs to achieve results for you”

Such a report does not need to require much work in itself. It can be just a few lines in an email or a two minute phone call. Take your clients through the process and they will value the work even more!

Try to share some progress just now, I’d love to hear from you!

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!