External Customer Relationships

Submitted by Steve Brady
in
General Questions and Comments
Hi MT'ers, I was just wondering if there was a podcast already, or some threads on the forums, about improving external customer relationships. I am looking for something along the lines of the Jumpstarting Internal Customer Relations cast, but for external clients. I have searched the site but haven't had too much luck finding topics along these lines. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I am moving into a new role soon and will be following the suggestions in the Jumpstarting Internal Customer Relations cast and would like to do something similar for our external clients. My move is internal, so I know a bit about the client relationships already, and I can clearly see a need to improve them! Thanks in advance Steve
Submitted by Inactive Membe… on Wednesday October 1st, 2008 6:14 am

Hi Steve -
In the absence of more detailed suggestions, here's mine:

Meet with 'em - with a priority on the most important and the most troubled among them.

If at all practical, meet with them on their turf - make the extra effort to see them in their own environment rather than just making a phone call.

Develop a method to do regular surveys of client satisfaction. And ensure that every such survey is followed up with a conversation to clarify any concerns, with a specific action plan for addressing any concerns and then reporting out prior to the next survey.

If you have recent surveys for any of them, make those the subject of your initial meetings. Try not to meet with them without a specific agenda (you might think they'll appreciate your just meeting with them to hear their concerns, but that often ends up with meandering discussions. You want to show that you're here to fix anything specific, and then to build a relationship of trust and value creation).

-Hugh

Submitted by BJ Marshall on Wednesday October 1st, 2008 6:53 am

[quote="stevejb"]I am looking for something along the lines of the Jumpstarting Internal Customer Relations cast, but for external clients.[/quote]

Replace the word "Internal" with "External," and I think you'll have it.

I used [url=http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/11/jump-starting-internal-customer-re… Jump Starting Internal Relations 'cast[/url] when I started my new job two months ago, and I found great success with it. I used it to meet with the clients we do work for as well as our internal customers.

BJ