How to Perfect Your Client Management Skills?

You have probably heard that clients are a lifeline of a business. They are essential for many reasons – mostly because they bring money into the company which keeps it alive and running.

This is the reason why client managers are so crucial to a company. They serve as somewhat of a bridge between the clients and the team. Together with project managers (and sometimes interchangeably), they help control the resources and the project workflow.

Also, happy clients mean happy shareholders, so cultivating good relationships with clients is a must. Because of this, you will need to find a way to perfect your client management skills.

But worry not – by focusing on these four aspects of client management, you will succeed in no time!

Learn to Update Your Clients and Report to Them Weekly

As a project or client manager, you will always know just how hard your team is working on a project.

However, your clients do not know that. For them, you might as well be just sitting and doing nothing – if you do not let them know about your work. So, one of the most important ways in which you can improve your client management skills is through reminders.

Getting yourself in the habit of updating your clients is very beneficial. For example, every Friday, you can send a short email to them about your team’s progress. Doing so will take only a little of your time, but it will mean the world to your clients.

Remember, they probably have someone they report to as well – and you sending your overview will help them a lot! This way, they will have a better opinion of you and your team which only serves to improve your relationship.

Luckily, nowadays, there are so many different ways to manage client projects efficiently through smart online tools. They especially come in handy when dealing with multiple clients, where client management starts to look a lot like a juggling act.

So, use a software that fits your team to keep everyone on the same page, and you will keep everyone happy with ease!

Patience Is an Important Part When You Want to Perfect Your Client Management Skills

We cannot stress just how much of a vital role patience plays in client management. Without a doubt, it is one of the necessary skills you need to have. You already know this, but, as a client manager, you will be meeting and working with different types of people. Some might seem like good clients, while others might feel bad after the first bump in the row.

However, it’s important to understand that you can take an active role in ensuring that no client turns “bad” – and you can do it by being patient. Simply put, clients will react in the way you act towards them. So, if you do not have a positive outlook, then it is only a matter of time before a client picks up on it and starts doing the same.

So, in order to perfect your client management skills, you need to find a way to fight all the confusion and frustration you might feel when working with clients. It helps to remind yourself that, after all, you are on the same team – not playing against each other.

Both you and they want the project done – so work together towards it!

Communication Is Another Staple of Good Client Management

The second skill you need to work on to perfect your client management skills is good communication. Experts usually consider this the key to good project workflow.

Remember – you are the one connecting your clients and the team. So, you will need to find the best way to communicate with both. Again, this is where those amazing tools come into play. Nifty, for example, offers you a way to communicate with both the clients and the team instantly. What’s more, it allows you (and thus the clients) to get an instant progress report and overview of the project.

With things like Gantt Charts and Kanban tables, it can also help you manage the time you spend working, which is the fourth important aspect of becoming a better client manager.

Time Management Skills Are a Vital Part of Any Organization

A lot can be said about learning how to manage your time properly – and you are probably aware of most of this. Basically, happy clients mean a happy business. And when you are breaking the deadlines these clients set, then they will never be satisfied.

This is why it is imperative to learn how to manage time as a client manager properly. You are the person who needs to keep everything running smoothly and on track. Also, you will be the person who gets in trouble when something is late.

And once more, you are in luck, because the technology world offers so many amazing tools that can help you deal with time management. We already talked a little about this, but you should also try to figure out exactly how your team works and if there are any areas where they might be lagging.

With the immediate progress overview, you can see exactly this. If there is something that seems like it will be running late – it is up to you to speed it up.

Conversely, if your team is running full steam ahead and appears that they will have ample time after they are done, you might want to slow them down and afford to focus more thoroughly on the task.

This way, your clients will be happy when they get a project on time – as well as well-done – and this will perfect your relationship with them.