The Best Time to Talk to the Client is at the Beginning
By Dan Safford

Your clients’ projects do not just spring up, like mushrooms, overnight. They are the result of a need of some sort that has been analyzed and defined and refined and scrutinized. It may be a part of a public agency’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Or it may be a facilities renovation of a private firm’s manufacturing plant. Or an upgrade of a company's IS system.

All projects let out for bid have one thing in common: for each one that gets the go ahead and goes out to bid, there are dozens of fledgling projects that did not get funded.

The best place for you to be is at the very beginning, when the client is just starting to understand the need that confronts her. That way you can become an important cog in her problem solving machinery out the outset. But more than that; if you get involved from the start, you can help the client define the nature of the problem to begin with.

How many times have you looked at an RFP and said, “These guys just don’t know what the real problem is?” And then you are probably tempted to write a proposal that address what you think is “the real problem.”

And you may be right; the client may not know what the real problem is. The trouble is, by the time she has issued a solicitation, she is convinced the real problem is the one she has defined and she’s not about to change her mind on the strength of your say-so in a proposal!.

Here’s what you need to do to influence the client’s thinking about what the problem really is early on.

Find out the client’s need. How do you do this? The best way is to keep your ear to the ground while you are working on a current project for the client. In this case, the project manager is in the ideal position from a marketing standpoint. Is this project part of a larger effort down the road? While working on this project can you identify other issues that the client may or may not be aware of? If so, can you figure out a good way of telling him about these problems so that he sees the need to resolve them?

Another way of hearing of a client’s needs is by talking to other firms that have done or are doing work with the client. Figure out ways of asking probing questions that pick their brains. The best ones to ask are firms that you do not compete with; they will more likely to open up with you.

Here’s another way of finding out what the client has coming down the pike. When you spot that CBD announcement that you did not know was coming out, instead of writing a proposal—it will probably lose, remember—hold your fire and think, Is the work in this project related to anything in the future? Is it a piece of a bigger job? Then you can contact the client and say, “You know, we saw that you were requesting proposals for the XYZ Project, and while we did not propose on that job, it seems like it is a piece of a larger project coming up. Can you tell us about that?” This puts you in a good position to establish a relationship for the next opportunity.

Clarify the client’s "real" needs. One of the main complaints A/E firms have when they see an RFP is that the client does not understand the real problem. Sound familiar? Instead of griping about it at the proposal writing stage (when you can’t do anything about it), you can help the client early on in the process by using your technical expertise to help him define the problem. Use your experience to show the client that what he thinks is the problem is only a symptom of another, larger issue. You can cite your past work on related projects to convince him of your based on your experience.

This approach allows you to 1) influence the shape the eventual project will take, which puts you in a good position to supply a solution that specifically addresses the problem; and 2) establish yourself as a trustworthy ally, someone who genuinely cares about seeing that the client’s true needs are identified. This is what a consultant does. This is what you should do.

Offer a solution to the client’s real need. Once you have successfully defined the problem you can give the client a solution to it. This is the time to write a White Paper (pg. 49). The solution does not have to be complete; you don’t have to spend a whole lot of time coming up with a detailed plan. You just need to have something the client can use to feel that you can be of help to him.

Meet with the client and refine the solution based on your increasing knowledge of the client’s context. Once you have delivered your solution to the client, keep in touch. Ask for input and revisions, then make them. During this activity you’ll be able to gauge the client’s level of interest in you and your solution. If interest wanes, you can back off a little.

Help your client keep his clients happy. Here is a fact: Your client is responsible to someone else. If your client is with a private firm, he has to report both to his client and to his management on the progress of his project, and how well it is being carried out. If your client works for a government agency he likely has a whole host of others to whom he is responsible.