Supercharging teams with client leadership skills

We prevented over-servicing our client by finding a win-win solution.

We’ve long been stuck in a cycle of over-servicing, carrying out tasks that seem simple but often become time-consuming and under-appreciated.

This problem arose once again with an innocent request to make some changes.

Prior to our Team Sterka training, we would have responded with a people-pleasing, “No problem”, followed by sighs behind the computer screen. However, this time we pushed back using one of the frameworks that we’d learned.

We solved the issue by finding a win-win where we were able to deliver value in a fraction of the time.

The client was really pleased as the solution allowed us to use our billable time in more effective ways while upskilling their team to save us more time down the line.

We’ve worked out how to communicate with our client who’s short with us, blunt and very time-poor.

We used the Team Sterka training to understand and have empathy for our client’s situation and how to make her life easier.

We completely changed how we communicate with her based on the communication styles that we learned about.

Chat and niceties were out the window and we realised that we had to get down to business quickly and directly. We needed to be efficient and direct.

We also stopped taking it personally when she provided direct feedback and wanted to exert her authority. Previously we struggled with this and it was affecting our confidence levels.

The training has allowed us to keep ahead of her requirements and provide the core information she needs. The relationship is now progressing in a more positive way.

Our engineer, without client-servicing support, turned around a client meeting that kicked off.

He was presenting his work. The client’s response was “I hate it… it’s unusable… we can’t proceed. Put everything on hold!”

The Team Sterka training kicked in. Our engineer felt empowered to ask questions.

He was able to get to the root of the problem: The board was used to seeing things in a slightly different format.

He came up with, and presented, a viable alternative that got close enough to what the client needed.

Historically this situation would have ended up in a bigger fight, an over-spec’d solution or over-servicing (or all three).

Instead, we ended up with a happy client and were appropriately paid for the additional work required.

All managed by a member of the team who is still in the early stages of his career and would always prefer to be immersed in technology rather than difficult clients.

We diffused a difficult client situation and turned things around so the client was happy again.

The client stopped the call after the first slide stating, “This isn’t what I asked for”. I’d spent hours putting the work together so this was really upsetting!

I took a deep breath and instead of continuing the presentation, I allowed the client to talk. I used all my new Team Sterka skills to let the client vent her frustrations and to ask questions.

Once she finished, I relayed the points back to her, showing that I’d listened and understood. After lots of nodding to show empathy, the client was much more positive.

Next week came around and our new work was presented. We acknowledged all the frustrations she’d mentioned the previous week. This time, the client was extremely happy.

The Team Sterka training meant we could diffuse a difficult client meeting and adapt to the client’s communication style effectively.

We got the client to come up with the solution without having to offer a discount.

I called an unhappy client with the PLEASE framework in front of me and worked through each point. I let her “empty her goldfish bowl”, validating her opinion.

She explained what success looked like, by which point she was ready to hear my view. It allowed me to reframe her opinion and set us up for next steps.

It also meant we didn’t have to give them a discount.

The most powerful thing was to put the onus on her for next steps. Before, I would have dictated it and hoped my client agrees. But her next steps were exactly what I’d hoped for!

My original approach would have been to get defensive and explain ourselves – I saw her as ‘wrong’ and needed to prove I was ‘right’. This has been a game changer!