Challenging Client Conversations
An internal team tells you there are OOP costs for a project, but you have not ever talked to the client about additional budget. What do you do?
What is talk to your client lead on how best to approach?
You notice there’s a lot of people on calls for one of your clients - both internal and external - and many people aren’t saying anything at all. What should you do?
What is ask your PM and client lead about call attendees?
Your status meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning and you have a general list of topics to discuss. However, there are a few things you aren’t certain about. What should you do?
What is connecting with your internal team proactively?
If you receive several requests that seem time sensitive all at once and you aren’t sure where to start, ___is the person you should reach out to for help.
Who is My Manager?
A question comes in from a client that you don’t know the answer to. After you acknowledge we are looking into it, what should you do?
What is to use your resources to see what you can find out?
The first response when a client challenges you on hours billed to a retainer.
What is tell the client you understand the question and that you will dig in with the team?
The client insists something is a bug and they shouldn’t pay for it or use their retainer hours. You assess with the team and confirm the issue is not a bug. The next step is to _____.
What is align with your client lead on how to respond to the client?
You have a ticket that hasn’t moved forward for several days and a client is escalating its importance. Who should you reach out to?
Who is your PM or BA?
The feature you can set up on your Gmail calendar to notify team member’s you need dedicated time to work.
What is a Focus Time Calendar notification?
The internal team has questions about a brief you shared last week and sends you a list of questions for follow up. What should you do?
What is review the questions to determine what we can answer before sharing them with the client?
The client asks for timing on a support ticket out of nowhere on a status call and you have no idea what they are talking about. How should you react?
What is give yourself a second to regain composure and address the question?
Clients are constantly asking what’s next and are unclear of the path ahead. This is the type of communication you should have to ensure the client knows what’s in scope and what to expect.
What is proactive communications?
A client emails with significant concerns about a project and there isn’t a clear immediate answer you feel comfortable providing. What do you do first?
What is acknowledging the client's concern first?
An old school method to track a to-do list
What is a Day Planner?
You are joining a conversation with a client that is typically pretty chatty. You start having a personal conversation but they seem pretty shut down today. What should you do?
What is read the room?
A client is upset that we are behind in delivery. Don’t do this when a client is angry.
What is to tell the client ‘it is what it is’ and they have to deal with it?
A client directly asks you if something is in scope during a round of feedback. You are pretty sure it's not, but you aren’t positive and your client lead is not on the call. What do you do?
What answer honestly and say that you don’t believe it is, but that you will confirm and follow up on next steps?
You are sending a recap to a client after a lengthy status conversation. How should you approach it?
What is making the email scannable?
A tool that can be used to remind you of an upcoming call.
What is a Google Calendar Reminder?
You are having a challenge with seeing eye to eye with another team member on a specific project. What should you do?
What is solution building?
Picture this: You’re on a status call following a wireframe presentation and the client starts grilling you about why we made certain decisions. Describe how to react in this situation.
What is draw upon what you know and offer a follow up conversation with UX?
When clients request an additional round of minor feedback or extend timeline.
What is Scope Creep?
On status calls, clients are consistently asking for more information than the updates you are providing. What should you do?
What is proactive communication?
When looking at your tasks for the day, should you tackle the easiest ones first or the high effort tasks first?
What is to tackle the high effort/most intense tasks first?
You see an ongoing trend from a client around lack of internal communications between team members within their team which is creating some unnecessary feedback and questions to related tickets or projects. What should you do?
What is managing up?