Managing Client Expectations: Preparing for the Not-So-Perfect Customer

It would be great if every client were the perfect client: their expectations were clear and never changed, they allowed us to do our job our way and deliver the system that they asked for, and they always paid up on time.

If only.

Realistically, you have to expect that your clients will have different thought processes and rationales than you. Not everyone has the same world view, and not everyone is a direct speaker, a logical thinker or a firm decision maker.

So how do you deal with a client who only vaguely understands what they're paying you for? What if they can't resist changing horses mid-stream?

You need to manage your interactions with your clients very carefully.

Qualify

If you're too complacent when developing your relationship with the client, inattention will come back to haunt you.

Develop a standardized, formal Needs Assessment document that explains in-depth what your client would like their system to do once it is completed. Use it as a script for your preliminary discussions and include as much detail as possible.

You need to get to know your client's lifestyle and needs in order to produce a desirable end result.

Detail

When you come back to your client with an initial design proposal, make sure that it is detailed. I like using something called a Function & Scope of Work document that details, room by room, what the system will do, how it will be controlled, what devices will be controlled, and how.

Going room by room and function by function with your client gives them a clear picture of the plan and allows them to tell you what they want to modify while it's all still on paper and easy to change.

Document

Once your design has gone through a few revisions and the client approves it, it is critical that you get them to sign off on your design documents.

Give them a copy of the documents for their records, which will also allow them to remember the specific details in the coming months.

Handle

When the client comes back to ask you if they can "do this" or "change that" or "move the other," your comprehensive documentation puts you in a great position to say "Yes" or "No" and maintain control of your project's process.

Any undocumented vagary in your system or things-left-unsaid will come back to bite you before your project is complete. Just as with physically engineering the system, you have to design for the Worst Case Scenario.

Maintaining control over your project's execution saves you from awkward misunderstandings that can lead to tension and discord.

Document so thoroughly that if a client ever calls you with a complaint, you can haul out your project binder, point to your collection of documents and printed emails and say, "No, that's incorrect. This is what was agreed upon. If you'd like something different, we can discuss the feasibility of including that at this stage."

Regarding change orders, one of my favorite aphorisms is that "any achievement is either easy or impossible." In real life, it might be a little murkier, but really, you can either do something or you can't. When the client comes to you at a later stage in the project and wants something modified or asks for an addition to the design, you've got two possible outcomes: it will be easy or it will be financially irresponsible to do.

If your client decides at the eleventh hour to add a pair of speakers to the deck, and if the wallboard and insulation have not yet gone up and you still have an open channel on your distribution amplifiers, then yes, you can do that for them, subject to your usual rates.

If the walls are up, the painters are coming in next week, and they tell you that you need to move the motorized plasma lift in the ceiling because their decorator and Feng Shui expert said that they need to turn their bedroom around 180 degrees, be prepared to stand your ground. Tell them "no" and let them know why you're acting in their best interests.

Few people are completely profligate and irrational. If you communicate clearly why making this change will be foolish and uneconomical, most people will come to their senses.

Real Life Hassles

Three years ago, I walked away from a project where the homeowners simply could not get off the fence. Despite signing off on a design and paying their deposit, their requirements flip-flopped every week or two.

It was, practically speaking, impossible to get them to keep their eye on the ball.

Worse yet, they fiercely resisted the labor and material charges that their changes would require. I wish that I could have mediated a more harmonious solution, but in the end, we agreed to disagree, and they chose to default on their deposit and find another firm more willing to acquiesce to their quirks.

I went for lunch a few months ago with a friend from the other installation firm, and he confided that they still hadn't completed their project. The client still hadn't moved into their house, and the builder had been asked to move virtually everything in the house but the kitchen and the staircase at least once. I believe that I got off easy.

By managing your documentation and keeping impeccable records of your design and communication with your clients, you will be doing both them and yourself a great favor.

Lee Distad is a CEDIA Certified Professional Designer for Systems Inc, a high-end audio/video and automation firm in Edmonton, Alberta. For 19 years, Systems Inc has provided consolidated design, installation, and project management services for new home construction and renovation. Systems Inc’s new Web site is under construction at http://www.systemsinc.ca and Lee’s business and industry blog can be read at http://www.leedistad.com