We ordered a new Jawbone JAMBOX late last year and excitedly awaited its early January arrival. Looks like a cool conference phone option, right? After tearing the box open, we realized we received everything but the JAMBOX. Our excited anticipation was replaced by a bit of shock, disappointment and failed expectations.
It’s a simple concept. When you order a specific product, you expect to receive what you ordered. Services are no different.
When clients think they’ve clearly articulated a request and you fail to deliver, you just delivered an “Empty Box.” As client needs evolve and change, and you fail to adapt, this storyline, dangerously, becomes more and more typical. It’s the beginning of a downward spiral. And, once that downward spiral starts, it’s very difficult to recover.
The cause? Your client’s needs are changing and you most likely didn’t realize it. You fell asleep. Your client needed you to evolve from delivering a product or a turn-key solution, to being a partner. He probably didn’t tell you explicitly — depending on where he sits in his organization, he may or may not have realized it was happening — as his role has probably undergone its own evolution.
You’ve got to pay attention and proactively anticipate.
Here are four failures to avoid to mitigate the risk and keep things from spiraling out of control:
1) Failing to keep the relationship strong:
How well do you know your client and her business? How well do you know her personally? Do you know what key business challenges keep her up at night? Does she have confidence in you and your company? Failure to authentically keep the relationship strong creates more of a transactional culture that’s harmful to driving true partnership and the right level of project to project collaboration.
2) Failing to ask the right questions:
Your client is busy and most like hasn’t thought through his request. Don’t just nod to what the client is telling you. Failing to drive for clarity and push when things aren’t clear starts the project/ initiative on misaligned terms, leaving the first iteration of what gets deliver flawed and off target. Engage in an honest, collaborative conversation that results in aligned expectations.
3) Failing to connect the dots in a client-relevant way:
Anyone can ask questions. Failing to listen with an experienced ear that’s able to integrate inputs into a story that makes sense and drives internal actionability can set an entire project up for failure. Work to connect what you hear him saying with past projects, industry or category trends that might be relevant, and leverage your network internally and externally to find ways to bring new perspective beyond his expectations.
4) Failing to deliver:
This one is pretty simple. Do what you say you’re going to do by the deadlines you set. Apply simple project management principles (timelines with dates, etc.) and get input from all key stakeholders on the plan. If something unavoidable comes up and you’re going to miss a deadline, proactively reach out to the client.
We’ve listed four pervasive core issues we’ve observed – there are many other issues that can come up. Try to avoid these four failures. You’ll keep from shipping empty boxes.