Tips for developing a smooth sailing client-partner relationship

[Jahangir147]

Today I was reminded of the importance of ‘big picture’ communication and how easy it is to forget that this ship we are sailing actually has a destination. We are immersed in the day to day grind of keeping ship-shape, navigating through obstacles, and keeping morale afloat, but sometimes when we are too involved in the running we take our eye off the horizon and find ourselves floating off course.

I’d been invited to a vendor day for one of our clients, not entirely sierra leone email list 38886 contact leads sure what to expect I put on my professional best (so a shirt and black jeans – a consultant’s uniform) and arrived to a very formal presentation hosted by the executive leadership team. Promptly greeted, I took a seat at the back of the large room filled with vendors and partners like us. After the inevitable technical issues, with the missing monitor and connection cables, the presentation began and for 2 hours I ferociously took notes and nodded my head. I had more ‘aha’ moments in that session than I’d ever had in any project meeting for this client.

Why, you say? It was the first time I was taken through their long term strategic vision. I have of course been in countless meetings where these objectives were eluded to, but never was it explained to me ‘why’ these objectives existed in the first place. Understanding the bigger picture allowed me to see where, we as a partner, could bring greater value to the client outside of our current scope of work.

Now I say partners intentionally as we at digital balance are exactly that. We work alongside individuals to help their business realise its potential, be that through mentoring, data and analytics, or developing short and/or long-term digital strategies.