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O P I N I O N
Shifting paradigms
If you want to be a great consultant, you have to step into the client’s shoes and see the world as they do.
H ave you ever wondered what was running through a client’s head? Client/ consultant interactions in the AEC industry can be confusing and fraught with misunderstandings. A combined 67 years working on the client side of the food and beverage industry before joining Mead & Hunt has given us a unique understanding and perspective into the minds of clients. Now on the other side, learning to “walk in the AEC consultants’ shoes” has been a challenge that has forced us to let go of some previously held paradigms and shift our perspective.
Greg Marconnet
This experience of working on both sides has given us some useful insights that have allowed us to pursue and complete work more effectively as consultants: ❚ ❚ Listen, don’t tell – you don’t want to be right too soon. Often, because of our experiences, we believe we know the answer to a problem facing a client as they start to describe it. They have hired us to be an expert, so let’s just blurt out the answer, right? Probably not! Coaching and advising from the other side of the table requires patience, listening for understanding, and then asking clarifying questions. Helping the client determine the best answer for their unique problem is the win here, not showing how “smart” you are.
For this reason, it is best to offer multiple options for potential solutions rather than just telling the client what you think should happen. This approach allows the client to have ownership of the direction the project will take. Recently we had a client with floor problems. We knew from our discussion that he was considering exiting the location in the next two years. We provided what we thought was the “right fix,” which would last more than two years, but also an option for a temporary repair to just get him through the next two years. He chose the temporary repair. The “right fix” isn’t always right for every client. ❚ ❚ Invest in relationships. No one looks in the yellow
Jeff Janis
See GREG MARCONNET & JEFF JANIS, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER December 2, 2019, ISSUE 1322
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