How to Interact with a Client (In-Person)
After talking to multiple people and documenting my own experiences, I have made a list of dos’ and don’ts when interacting with clients.
1. Introducing yourself and your brand
Before walking in to your first meeting, some interaction in the form of emails or calls are shared between you and your client. Yet, the first in-person meeting can make or break anything. So, it is highly important to make a good impression.
You can start talking about yourself and the project, but it is always good to have a presentation deck to show it. Seeing is believing and it helps the client gain trust.
Your presentation deck should cover the following subjects;
- About Yourself
- Your Past Projects
- Proposal for the Client
Most people suggest you introduce yourself before jumping into the project, even if you interacted via phone or email earlier.
2. Dressing the Part
I always thought this totally depends on who your client is. In some cases, it does. But, there is absolutely no harm in dressing up professionally for a meeting. It can only do you good and maybe even show that you are a professional worker.
So, yes! A clean face, groomed hair, pressed clothes and a good aura goes a long way. And of course, do not forget that smile and confidence.
3. Better to be Curious than making Assumptions
I usually have a lot of questions for the clients — just to make sure I get all my requirements. But, I have always wondered if asking too many questions bothers the clients.
So, I asked/surveyed a few of the clients and some of the people who work with clients. Turns out, it’s totally okay to ask as many questions as time permits.
Do:
- Ask a lot of questions to the clients during the meeting to confirm your requirements.
- Gather all your questions and ask them at once. Value their time!
- Structure your questions because a new question might crop up based on the client’s answer and you might have covered it elsewhere.
Don’t:
- Make assumptions as to what the clients might want. Ask to confirm.
- Keep emailing the client asking a single or couple of questions at a time.
- Ask questions that has no relation to the project.
4. Showing your Work
I primarily work with designing and developing Enterprise Applications such as BI Dashboards. After introducing myself, I share my experience and some of my work. For 2 reasons,
- Showcasing to them that I have enough experience in what they are asking for.
- Giving them some ideas on what they want in their own product.
This helps them gain some trust and at the same time gets their brains churning on what they want for their own project. No matter how prepared, most ideas crop up during the discussion.
Also, I wondered how much time can be spent on showing past work and how much can be shown. The majority response was to keep it short but not too short. Pick 3 of your best projects and talk about them to the clients — so that you can have enough time for requirements gathering which is much more important.
5. Going a Step Ahead
Before the in-person meeting, try to get on a phone call with the client. Even if you don’t, ask them if they can share any documentation or data that they might have for the project.
This will play an immense role in making a good first impression for 3 reasons,
- You have some extra time to study the data and documentation of the project
- Your questions will be more curated and get you closer to the project requirements
- You can put together a small deck or wireframe with the data you received before hand — but, don’t get attached to this design. Be prepared to toss it and start from scratch.
6. Knowledge is Power
You have heard this saying a lot and well, it can’t be truer.
I asked the clients what impresses them the most in the first meeting — is it the past work, the person’s title or what we have prepared for the meeting.
It is your persona (confidence & good speaking skills) and knowledge of the field, that impresses the clients the most. The reason being, anyone who is able to answer the questions and give suitable solutions to problems the clients are facing, are going to win the client’s respect and trust.
Also, good presentation skills and showing confidence in the work & what you do is a big bonus.
7. Any Pet peeves? Of course!
There are many things that could make you lose the client’s trust and confidence. They are listed in the survey below but the 2 most important are,
- Being unprepared for the meeting and winging along could make you lose the project before even starting it. Reason being, the client might assume that you have no interest & professionalism or you are not good for the job.
- Overselling yourself and your product in the very first meeting. This is something you do when you’re well into the project and make the client realize that a particular function cannot be performed without your product or something you’re marketing. Or you do this when you have completed the project and show them a variation with the tool you’re marketing. But, just mention it briefly and don’t oversell in the first in-person meeting.
8. Dealing with Distractions
There are so many distractions that you could face during the meeting. There are 2 steps which are mandatory to avoid distractions,
- Turning off your phone and not browsing on your laptop.
- Making sure you don’t discuss a lot with your team members in front of your clients. Save them for after the meeting.
But, what if the clients themselves are distracted and you have a time limit to adhere to — especially if they are having a long discussion amongst themselves or are probably going off topic.
I have always wondered if it would be rude to cut in-between and continue talking about the project and if so, how can I go about it. And turns out, it’s not rude if you put it in a nice way. The most effective way it seems would be,
- Listen to them intently, see where the conversation is, ask “May I please add to it?”, give a suitable answer and drive the conversation back to where you want it to be.
This is a lot easier said than done but, if done correctly you can save a lot of time and get your requirements. And the way you can do this is, if you listen to your clients and have knowledge about what they are discussing.
9. Getting the Vital Information
While there might be many important views that you would want to collect, have a list of the 3 most crucial questions ready. During the course of the meeting, you can cover these 3 questions.
In terms of an enterprise application, the most important information to collect is ‘What are the Key Performance Indicators?’. It also holds true for any application as it drives the goal and story. This will help you determine the features, screen flow and placement of components.
So, make sure to get this information as soon as possible to help you steer the conversation in that direction because everything else will revolve around the KPIs.
10. Getting over Cold Feet
If you’re dealing with your 100th client, you probably won’t experience this. But, most people do and it’s quite normal. While there are so many ways you can deal with nervousness such as meditating, staying hydrated, walking.,etc. The most effective way to reduce nervousness and gain confidence is to go very well prepared.
I spoke to multiple professionals and analyzed from the survey that this is the most effective way. I tried it and it worked wonders! Reason being, when you’re well prepared, you automatically convince your brain that it’s all going to be fine because you’re prepared for this — You’re not just going to be fine but you’re going to do great because you can! And, being nervous just makes it worse for you and doesn’t help you. Of course, not to forget that being over-confident can be bad for you too.
