The importance of working to a brief with clients

7 August 2009

The importance of working to a brief
Professional consultants and their clients can easily get in to disagreements. Even though these incidents rarely escalate to a full-blown compensation claim, they are still something you would prefer to avoid if possible.

Such a disagreement can take up time and effort on your part to resolve, which would be better spent finding and carrying out work. What’s more it can be extremely stressful having an unresolved disagreement hanging over you.

However, on a more positive note, there are steps you can take to help minimise your risks. They are all simple, straightforward and quick to implement, and taking the time to do them could save far more time and effort in the long run, than it takes to put them in place:

(1) Start off with a detailed brief
Starting on a project for a new client is an important time, as it sets the tone for the rest of the client relationship. So it’s important to get things right at the outset, by working to a detailed brief.

If a new client appears vague or to not like working from a brief, there is nothing to stop you drafting up a brief, and running it past the client, and giving them every opportunity to amend it or disagree with it. Having evidence that you have done this can help you defend yourself against a complaint further down the line.

(2) Document any changes
It’s almost inevitable that most projects you work on will change from the original brief before you reach the end of them. This is not a problem, but it is important to still document them, especially any significant ones.

Just as it’s important to start with a detailed brief, it’s equally important to ensure that you do so throughout. So make sure that as and when any changes are agreed with a client you take note of them, and also confirm them in writing or by email to your client.

(3) Give clients time to respond
If you suggest any changes yourself, of your own accord, it’s important to give the client every opportunity to respond to your suggestions.

For example, if a training consultant made some changes to a course she was delivering for a client, it would be wise to contact the client to explain the suggested changes. If the client doesn’t respond within weeks, it would be hard for them to claim later on that they were not happy with the changes.

It is still good practice to chase clients to confirm their acceptance (and then follow up in writing where they do accept) where possible.

(4) Don’t rely on ‘off the record’ communications
Disagreements – and sometimes even compensation claims – can occur when an important instruction has not been carried out following a phone call or face-to-face conversation.

Anything said verbally, be it by phone or face-to-face, is as much a part of the consultant-client relationship as written communications are. It’s important therefore to act on any actions arising out of such conversations.

It is good practice– and thankfully common practice – to ask people to confirm things by email or in writing, if they do happen to speak to you while you’re unable to take notes, for example while you’re driving. If they don’t follow up in writing, try to remember to remind them about this, and make it clear that you don’t have a full record of the conversation and need their confirmation.

(5) Champion the cause of clarity
Last but not least, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re not entirely clear about any aspect of a project, you should consider it your responsibility to achieve clarity in your dealings with your clients.

The minor embarrassment of having to double check something with a client, is far more favourable than having to extract yourself from a disagreement with them, which could lead to a lot of stress and wasted time, and could even lead to a compensation claim against you.

The above tips are very simple, and you may well be doing many or all of them already. It can sometimes be useful though, to look at  the way you work from another perspective.

As you’ll have seen from these tips, the implications of not working to a tight brief can go way beyond the boundaries of your day-to-day business. However, putting these simple steps in place could help you maintain better client relationships and avoid the risk of a dispute or disagreement with a client.