MANAGEMENT OF THE

CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
By:
Aquino, Julie Ann
Habaradas, Alethea
Lopez, Rayziel
Pineda, Pattrice
Ruanes, Merelyn
MANAGEMENT OF THE
CLIENT/CONSULTANT RELATIONS
 MANAGEMENT OF THE
CLIENT/CONSULTANT RELATIONS

Consultant must maintain two key relationships:

Relationship between consultant and the problem-

solving process;

Relationship between consultant and the client;

Relationship must also be established by the
consultant with other personnel of the clients
organization such as
Administration and employees who have information and facts concerning the
problem situation.

Managers and employers who are likely to be affected by the implementation of

solution to the problem situation.

Managers and employees who are assigned to perform tasks under the consultants
guidance.

Managers and employees who are assigned to serve as liaison on a daily basis
between the consultant and higher-level managers or other organizational units with
support system.
 HOW TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN
HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP
The client or entity should understand that the consultant is hired in
order to create value for the organization.

The consultant should aim to develop a sense of trust and openness.

Harmonious relationships may be achieved through both oral and

written.

At meetings, the consultant should be introduced and should be

willing to answer questions concerning the engagement.
 Harmonious relations can also be established through a round get-
acquainted interviews.

The consultant must reflect an attitude of helpfulness during the

engagement.

The consultant the consultant should not directly tell the client what
decision to make instead he should diplomatically guide the client
toward the solution.
MANAGING CLIENT
EXPECTATIONS
When communicating what the consulting project
can do for the business, the following should be
observed:

Be careful as to what can be offered.

Be positive about what can be offered, but be realistic.

Be honest about the limitations of the project.

When talking about limitations put them between

positive statements.
 CREDIBILITY
To the recipients perception, the ability of the sender to satisfy the
expectations being generated.

It is not a once-and-for-all thing, it is an ongoing thing which is built over time.

Confidence occurs if the level of credibility suggests that expectations will be

achieved to a degree that satisfies concerns about outcomes not being
achieved.

Credibility comes from satisfying realistic expectations.

In particular this will center on the
following:
Is what being offered viable?

Does the proposer have the expertise/ability to make the offer?

Are the necessary resources in place?

How satisfactory have previous experiences been?

What is the proposers reputation?

MAINTAINING CLIENTS INTEREST
To maintain the managers interest, the consulting
team must:
Keep the manager informed and motivated about the project.

Keep up the communication.

Give the manager regular updates on the project and how it is

developing.

Remind him or her of the outputs of the project and the value these
will have to the business.
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
CLIENT BUILD-UP
A NUMBER OF CONSULTANTS COULD TRACE MOST OF THEIR
CURRENT BUSINESS TO THE FOLLOWING SOURCES:

Business contacts gains throughout the business community

Speeches in professional and business organization

Books written from experience

Referrals from speeches, books and articles

Word-of-mouth referrals
Some suggestions on how business contacts be
established and made to grow are:
Join at least three organizations that offer regular meeting and the
opportunity to interact with peers in the industry.

Create a reference library

Establish a circle of informal advisors and make it a point to contact them

once a month.

Establish collaborations with other consultants.

Mail to clients items of interest.

 Mail to prospective client items of interest.

Publish articles in relevant periodical.

Offer probono work for community, government and nonprofit

organizations.

Accept speaking engagements at trade associations and

conferences.

Create a website.

Business listing in phonebook / yellow pages.

SELLING OF CONSULTING
SERVICES/MARKETING PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
New business opportunities are created through
activities in four major areas:

1. Present client activities

2. Nonclient relationships

3. Public relations or promotional activities; and

4. Potential client activities

PRESENT CLIENT ACTIVITIES
 PRESENT CLIENT ACTIVITIES

01 RETENTION

02 EXPANSION OF SERVICES

03 GENERATION OF REFERRALS FOR

NEW BUSINESS
NONCLIENT RELATIONSHIP
 NONCLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Development of relationship with significant third-party
referral sources.

These referral services oftentimes are fellow professionals

who serve mutual clients.

Former clients are a particularly good source for new

business referrals if one is just starting practice.
PROMOTIONAL AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS ACTIVITIES
 Scope Of Public Relations

Marketing professional services involves promotional and public

relations.
It also includes a wide range of traditional as well as innovative
strategies.
Most authorities agree that promotional activities should be
viewed primarily as vehicles for creating and enhancing
awareness of the firm.
 The following might be considered
representative:
Institutional advertising Press relations

Product and services-oriented Trade shows

advertising Participation in community trade and
Newsletters professional organization

Seminars and workshops Symposia and panels

Speeches

Articles in professional or industry

publications
 Effective promotional activities

Seminars

Community involvement
ABANDONING CLIENTS
GRACEFULLY
 Explain to the client that certain assignments cannot be cost-
effectively handled anymore.

Establish alliances with younger consultants who may want to align

themselves with more established practitioners in order to learn, obtain
business and network.

Provide the client with advance notice that the consultant will be
accepting lesser assignments and doing lesser workshops and
appearances.

Offer to transfer the skills to the client, if appropriate.

The following conditions could justify abandonment of
some client:
1. Beneath the growing fee structure
2. Unchallenging
3. Providing reputation that does not fit the consultants growth strategy
4. Overly specialized
5. Unable to attract the kind of talent the consultant wants in his firm
6. Unable to attract the kind of references the consultant needs
7. In areas and industries that themselves are not growing
8. Unpleasant and/or has rude and offensive people
9. Unethical in its actions and/or borderline illegal
10. Harsh in its demands for travel, support and other logistics
THANK YOU