Client expectations: Information overload

Client expectations: Information overload

Have you ever received client criticism like the following:

• Your emails are too brief.
• Your emails are too long.
• Your reports don’t have enough details.
• Your reports are too complicated.

How do you manage your client’s expectations?

Start by listening to what he has to say. Is your client a micro manager, or does she just prefer an executive summary and trusts in you to fret about the details? Every client is a different and you just have to fine tune the mix of information you provide.

Examples:
He likes to repurpose your information to distribute to his internal team. Therefore, you should tailor the content to the ultimate audience he will talk to.

She just wants an executive summary, but always has lots of questions. Therefore, you should give her one or two pages up front of summary bullets. But include an appendix of the details you feel are important to back up the high level observations. Hopefully that will allow her to deep dive at her discretion.

When I write a deck, I write, rewrite and rewrite again. My first draft is usually a loose collection of thoughts. In my second pass, I flush out the details as best as possible. In my third pass I try to make sure thoughts flow/segue in a way that tells a story and makes some sort of sense.

Be sure to highlight the important information through tactics such as:

• Charts that make sense
• Text callouts
• Percentages (easier to remember than raw numbers)

Don’t forget:

• Remember to cite your sources, especially when making industry claims.
• Use spell checker.
• Update the document properties. It is embarrassing to distribute documents that have wrong titles and other names in it.
• Make sure your deck is branded with your company’s information on every slide, so you can take credit for your hard work.
• Include a next steps page and a page of contact information.
• Also, ask a co-worker to do a final review before you send it to the client. An objective eye might uncover something you missed.

Taking data and presenting it in a format that is useful and clear is extremely difficult. Few do it well. Check out Edward Tufte. He is an advocate of presenting complex information in useful and informative ways.

It is not easy, and can take many hours. But with practice and a critical eye for self improvement, you too should be able to meet client expectations.

Hope that helps. Please add your comments and suggestions. Thanks.
-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.