Speaker 1: Welcome to the DPM videocast, where Robin and I jibber jabber on the tricky topics of the day. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Ben Aston, founder of the Digital Project Manager.

Speaker 2: Hey guys, and I'm Robin.

Speaker 1: And in this podcast, we are going to give the lowdown. We're going to give our five cents on everything, or at least one topic that's being talked about in our Slack team. And if you're not part of our Slack team, I'd encourage you to join. We've got over 2,000 people in there as channels that everything related to digital project management and project management too. So check it out and join our tribe if you haven't already. But today we have chosen just one topic to talk about and that is this, is managing client relationships. Robin, do you manage clients?

Speaker 2: Absolutely. I'm the day-to-day kind of client wrangler, right? So I do work with an account manager in most cases, but they're kind of there for more strategic oversight, not necessarily status reports, task management, reporting, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 1: Okay. And so I think there's a question here, and I think it's an interesting one. We always talk about, what's the role of a project manager? Is it to manage just the project or is it to manage the client as well? And many of us have these roles where we're kind of managing the client and we're definitely managing the project, but there's some overlap. So for some people, managing clients is a new thing and it's a big deal if you haven't done it before. So I've spent some time managing clients, but Robin, I'm curious, what are your top tips for managing that client relationship, communicating well, making things flow?

Speaker 2: Yeah. Man, clients can be really scary. It can be really intimidating to work with several of them. You don't always have chemistry with those clients. Sometimes on your projects, maybe you have one client, maybe you have multiple clients, and that always gets weird too. So I think my top tips are, I always like to initially start to get to know my client right at the beginning of that relationship. And knowing me, I'm a bit of a dork, obviously. So I like to do some icebreakers with them. So maybe it's our kickoff call and we'll have a round Robin question about, where's somewhere that you want to travel that you haven't been, or what's your favorite candy? And then that way it kind of generates some banter back and forth and we can kind of bond over something else in the project. I also just kind of always like to make sure I'm on the call right at the beginning in case we're waiting on other people. And I'll always try to ask them about their lives within reason, right? I don't want to become their best friend, but I just feel like it's a courtesy to care about them and ask how they're doing. And then one other thought I have is that kind of going into any of these relationships with clients, I'm always trying to think about how they can look good to their boss or how they can look good to, you know, at the end of this project, right? So for me, it's like, okay, how are you being measured? How can I keep supporting and make them look really good? And I feel like that's been helpful to have that empathy. But Ben, what about you? You're way more charismatic than me. You have more experience than me. And yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think that's a really good tip. I think the thing that I think is really important is establishing a relationship with them outside of work. And I think what you're talking about with the icebreakers thing is really important because I think our clients have got to know that we care about them as people. They're not just people that we do work for, that actually we do care about those people. They don't need to be our best friend, but understanding like their life outside of work, I think is important. Having an interest in their kids or, you know, whatever activity it is that they like to do outside of work. So you can have some kind of chat with them that's not just always work orientated, I think is really important. So I think getting outside of this kind of work relationship is important. So taking them out for coffee, or if you can go for lunch for them, I think is a really great way to start the relationship. And I think it's kind of like you were talking about, we can ask them then like their preferences, like, do you want me to call you on your mobile at 6pm? Or is that a definite no, no, I don't want to text you, like what works best for you? And I think when we're talking about like, the key, I think, to client relationships is communication. So establishing that communication plan, it doesn't need to be written down, but establishing like what works for them and kind of setting their expectations as well as, you know, letting them know, hey, by the way, I have to pick up my kids every day at 5pm. So I'm going to be out the picture. So if you ever try and get, you know, really need to get hold of me at that time, just text me and I'll call you back as soon as I can, but manage their expectations. And don't over promise and under deliver as well. It's like that classic, that classic thing. But I think what a temptation can be is particularly when we're new to client management is thinking, okay, well, I just need to make them happy. They just need to be pleased all the time. But actually, what's more important is our integrity. And the fact that, you know, our clients want someone that they can trust. They want to be able to, you know, if you're going to say you're going to do something, you need to do it. And so don't over promise and under deliver will be the other kind of key thing that I would say.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. And I would say, just to piggyback on that too, be really mindful about not talking poorly about your team in front of the client. I don't care what's happening internally with your drama, but just kind of save face and don't throw anybody under the bus, right? If so and so didn't come with the full comp today, you know, like try and protect that. And then also don't talk poorly about your client to your project team. Like you need to be diplomatic about that. You can really bring the energy down if you're like, yeah, that guy's a real jerk or this person is, you know, doesn't have good design taste or something like that is really poor and toxic.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And it can feel like often, oh, this like great quick win with your team. Like if you go to the team and say, Hey, like the client is a complete dick. Sorry guys.

Speaker 2: Like. And then we're like, ha ha ha.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And everyone laughs and everyone thinks it's great. And then. Yeah. It becomes toxic because we're like, well, why are we doing this anyway? Like I can't even be bothered. The client's an idiot. But yeah. So if we can represent, we're an ambassador for the client to our agency and we're an ambassador for our team to the client as well. So we need to be the UN, we need to be diplomatic in this and keep the peace because keeping the peace and representing our team and the client, well, it's going to help us deliver that project better. There we go. Hope that helps. And I'd love to know what your thoughts are as well. How do you manage your clients? How do you make that kind of relationship work? Well, let us know in the comments or let us know on Slack as well. But until next time, thanks for watching. Transcribed by https://otter.ai