Rules to Better Software Consultants - Dealing with Clients

• Do you know the 3 A's for being a good consultant?
• Do you know the elevator pitch for a company?
• Do you know how to pitch a product?
• Do you always keep the ball in the client’s court?
• Do you give potential consulting work emails the next highest priority after existing clients?
• Do you always follow up your clients?
• Do you get paid for estimates?
• Do you know the drawbacks of a fixed-price, fixed-scope contract?
• Do you always call existing clients before sending an estimate?
• Management - Do you maintain verbal contact with your client?
• Do you know the difference between Fixed Price and Time and Materials work?
• Do you know the difference between Ad-hoc Work and Managed Work?
• Do you know how to be pushy when you need to be?
• Are you persistent when you think something should be done?
• Do you always quote price plus GST (Tax)?
• Do you know how to turn requests for free work into billable work?
• Do you avoid invoicing issues where possible and resolve them quickly when they come up?
• Do you know what a great meeting feels like?
• Do you give clients a warm welcome?
• Meetings - Are you clear about billable time in meetings?
• Meetings - Do you prepare for your meetings?
• Do you recognize the effects of anchoring in decision making?
• Do you uncover the hidden anchor with a client?
• Do you know the difference between a brief proposal and a specification review?
• Do you always meet new prospects to show them an estimate?
• Meetings - Do you exchange names in meetings?
• Meetings - Do you listen more than you talk?
• Do you send thank you email to your client when project is about to end?
• Do you know the first thing to do when you come off client work?
• Do you always state your understanding or what you have already done to investigate a problem?
• Do you reliably deliver your tasks?
• Do you enter detailed and accurate time sheets?
• Do you pencil in the next date before finishing a project?
• Do you know to make sure that you book the next appointment before you leave the client?
• Do you plan the night before what you are doing the next day?
• Do you let your client know when you work overtime and it is not charged?
• Do you know how to manage booking cancellations?
• Do you make sure you get brownie points?
• Do you utilize a positive tone when interacting with clients?
• Do you contact your clients using IM?
• Do you double-check the importance of a task when you realise it's going to take more than 2 hours?
• Do you leave messages when your phone call is unanswered?
• Conflict - Do you fix problems quickly?
• Do you try a second time straight away when you are calling a client?
• Do you know how to get started with your Training?
• Do you know that it's bad to win the argument but lose the client?
• Do you know the numbers you give clients?
• Do you know the client is not "always" right?
• Do you send a 'For the record' email when you disagree?
• Do you know how to handover a sales enquiry to a sales person?
• Do you not interrupt people when they are in the zone?
• Do you build a relationship with clients by giving "Client Love" each week?
• Do you avoid logging out and logging in?
• Do you CC the client whenever possible?
• Do you use backchannels effectively?
• Do you understand why Return on Investment (ROI) should affect decision making?
• Do you know that it's bad to win the argument but lose the client?
• Do you understand the difference between a POC and MVP?