Building Great Customer Relationships
The roles have been reversed and I am the customer. I'm going through a renovation to my house right now. I'm not managing the project, I'm not coordinating users, I'm asking questions, trying to learn the process and paying for work being done.
I am the customer and its a wierd feeling. I feel control slipping away from me.
For the most part, its been pretty smooth but I'm finding myself drawing parallels between my own experiences in working directly with customers and wondering how you get to that really great customer/developer relationship we all yearn for. Here are my thoughts;
Expectations - What are they? Do you have any? Does your customer have any? How do you know if you don't ask? They won't just come and tell you so first off, you need to set the bar - what do you expect from your customer, what do they expect from you (if you think of about, this is really what should be in those Terms and Conditions that you check that box to on every website all the time). This goes beyond the contract you sign, set the paperwork assign and talk to them, really figure out what they need and want and key in on what is going to be important to them in the project.
Communication - Who is in charge? What happens when an issue arises? Is it on Email? Phone? Twitter? What? Make it easy for your customer to reach you. I'm not advocating for giving out your cellphone, but let them know who they can contact, when and how. Are you a big company? Don't design some complicated IVR (Interactive Voice Response) System that is so confusing the guy who programs can't even understand it. The absolute worst, WORST thing you can do is ask for a customer to provide you information via one Medium (Email, IVR, Twitter) and than when you speak to them ask them for all that information all over again. This shows you didn't listen. They played your game, gave you their info, now you need to show that you listened and move the ball forward.
Integrity - I'm sorry, but its not all about Dollars and Cents. I've taken many a custom development gig and done more than what was quoted in the project (not to the point of being obscene losses and hemoraging money) but it was work I could have charged for. I looked at the bigger picture, will they stay on, could they be a long-term customer, will they recommend me to another potential client, is this a matter of pride that I want to do this job right? In most cases I would say it was the latter, I take pride in my work, and want my customers to be impressed with the job I have done for them. And at the same time I can't leave a job done in a poor state and won't ship a half-assed product to a customer. The little things always, always stand out in people's minds - building a massive "Enterprisey" application was delivered and it works, but it actual makes the user's job 5x harder because the UI doesn't scale properly.
Expectations, Communication, Integrity - that sets the bar to create a great relationship with you and your customers and keep them coming back for more.