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Conference call: Eileen Pannetier CEO and founder of Comprehensive Environmental Inc. (Best Firm #3 Environmental for 2016), a 30-person firm headquartered in Marlborough, MA.

By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent A cornerstone of great project management? “Be available,” Pannetier says. A CONVERSATION WITH EILEEN PANNETIER. The Zweig Letter: What’s your philosophy on fee/ billing and accounts receivable? How do you col- lect fees from a difficult client? Eileen Pannetier: Making sure that we understand the clients’ needs is the first crucial step. We en- courage project managers to build their communi- cation skills and develop a good rapport with the client from the start. A good clear scope detail- ing any assumptions we’ve agreed to with the cli- ent is key. Next, we follow up with frequent, infor- mative communication – verbally and in progress reports. It doesn’t happen often, but if there’s a

problem with an invoice, we communicate immedi- ately with the client to see if there’s anything that can be modified to ensure they get what they need. “Making sure that we understand the clients’ needs is the first crucial step. We encourage project managers to build their communication skills and develop a good rapport with the client from the start.” TZL: What’s the recipe for creating an effective board? Is there a secret to effective ownership transition? EP: CEI is an employee-owned company by a first- class group of principal engineers and scientists

Eileen Pan- netier, CEO and Founder, Comprehen- sive Environ- mental Inc.

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