It’s inevitable. Although you may be an expert in your particular field while employed, as soon as you venture out on your own you will be faced with problems. Oh, and these roadblocks and issues are nothing like you’ve faced before. They are life and death (for your company at least).
Big company, small problems. Small company, big problems.
When you are working within an organization, little delays and obstacles are just that – little. The IT guy that forgets to install an application, the business manager that neglects their meeting charts, and the project manager that overlooks a task on the schedule. These little mistakes are easily subsumed and lost in the gears of the corporate machine.
On the other hand, when you are on your own, little things matter. An overlooked customer meeting can lead to your termination, a program that was not installed could mean a breach of contract, and a missed task may be the loss of profit for both parties.
Handling your issues.
You are going to make mistakes, but what do you do when they occur? The easiest and best answer is to stay calm, be a man (or woman) and communicate! The worst thing that you could possibly do is to keep your client in the dark. You can never over-communicate with your customer, and although they may not like what they hear, they will respect you and value you more for keeping them in the loop.
One client that I had needed a way to synchronize their files across multiple staff member’s computers. I came up with a solution that would supposedly meet their needs, and would take a couple of hours to finish (not in my time, but for the application to finish). Well, a couple of hours turned into 2 weeks. Not only that, the client’s computers were heavily bogged down because of the application (and because of their current network setup) during that time. All I could think was, “What the @$$%? This NEVER happens whenever I am doing this for myself. Why does this crud happen when I am getting paid?”
Did they drop me as a consultant? Hardly. Rather, because I consistently communicated with them, and actively tried to solve their problems, they asked me to work with them on a recurring basis. I would call them almost daily to ask them the status, I would copy them on emails on all emails I sent while trying to solve the issue, and I would leave the door open to any criticism.
In the end, communicate. People who can understand and empathize with their clients will win no matter what happens.
Homework:
- How often do you email your past or existing clients?
- What concerns do your clients have regarding your services?
