Client Care

Question 1

What is client care?

Answer 1

Client care is identifying all types of clients and adopting suitable behaviours to develop good relationships along with procedures to manage good quality service, all within the public interest

Question 2

What are the principles of client care?

Answer 2

1. Identifying different clients and their needs
2. Identifying key drivers of the client
3. Understanding client targets or KPIs
4. Good communication

Question 3

What behaviours establish good client relationships?

Answer 3

• Active listening
• Clear, concise communication
• Behaviours sometimes tailored to individuals
• Gathering feedback and implementing it
• Asking questions to clarify client objectives
• Professional tone/behaviours

Question 4

What does good client care entail?

Answer 4

1. Understanding of the client and their key drivers
2. A professional approach/working relationship
3. Clear, concise communication
4. A quality assurance policy – like being aligned to ISO 9001
5. A complaints handling procedure
6. Professional indemnity insurance

Question 5

Who are your clients in your role?

Answer 5

MSG but can also be MSC. When referring to MSC, their clients are 70% public sector (Department for Education or NHS) and 30% private

Question 6

When have you collected data for clients?

Answer 6

Examples:
- Scope 3 accounting
- Collecting 10tC data

Question 7

What is ISO 9001?

Answer 7

ISO 9001 is a globally recognised system for quality management. It helps organisations to improve their performance, meet client requirements and demonstrate a commitment to quality

Question 8

Why do clients care about ISO 9001?

Answer 8

Benefits of ISO 9001 is customer confidence, complaints handling procedures, improved processes and ongoing optimisation

Question 9

What is MSC’s view on ISO 9001?

Answer 9

MSC has a Quality Management Plan which aligns and is certified by ISO 9001. This is part of our wider Project Execution Plan (PEP). The Quality Management Plan defines where documents and records are kept which confirm how the project is managing quality. These are kept on SIMS. The QMP is a live document which is reviewed throughout the project

Question 10

What is an example of a time when you have provided excellent client care?

Answer 10

Acting on feedback from CarboniCa users, I created client targets within CarboniCa. It had been requested from clients in the East that it would be good to visual their progress against carbon targets visually. After receiving this feedback, I advised my client MSG that I should create this function. They approved and I drafted the instruction for our software engineers

When setting up a project in CarboniCa The way this looked was an additional tab in CarboniCa next to the headline data where

Question 11

How do you interact with clients?

Answer 11

• Professionally
• Effective listening and understanding of their objectives

Question 12

How do you act upon feedback from a client?

Answer 12

Feedback should be manually recorded somewhere, like a client feedback questionnaire. If negative feedback, necessary action should be taken to rectify the situation. If a formal approach is required, this should follow the complaints handling procedure. An addition would be to recommend advice and polices to rectify the complaint so it does not happen again

Question 13

How do clients pay you? How would you behave if a client wished to pay you upfront?

Answer 13

In my role clients do not pay me, however if I were to set up alone:
1. I would ensure that a client account is set up in line with the RICS Professional Standard - Handling Client Money
2. I would issue a statement of the account to the client once set up
3. I would agree with the client how monies would be drawn
4. I would issue a revised statement every time the client withdrew monies
5. Once the project was complete, I would issue a reconciliation of the account and explain to the client to reiterate every time money was drawn

Question 14

How do MSC handle/store client money?

Answer 14

1. MSC has a full commercial management process
2. Typically we are paid in advance for work
3. Projects manage their own profit and loss

Question 15

How can you meet a clients’ requirements?

Answer 15

Work with the client to best understand their requirements, asking for clarity if unsure, debrief the team/stakeholders on the requirements

Question 16

If you were going to set up a business as a surveyor, what insurance would I need to set up?

Answer 16

Professional indemnity – amount depends on the turnover of the business. I would choose the provider by looking at the RICS published list of approved providers

Question 17

If setting up a business and you had an office/property, what other insurance would you need?

Answer 17

Employers liability insurance. This covers employers for compensation claims against them by employees for accidents or incidents at work

Question 18

What is a client brief? What does this contain?

Answer 18

A client brief outlines a clients objectives, expectations, target audience, timeline, budget, any other specific requirements

Question 19

How do you identify stakeholders in a project?

Answer 19

Depending on the project type, I would look at stakeholders across my organisation, or they might need to be geographically located or have certain previous experience. I establish their scope with a clear and concise brief. I would then prioritise them using Mendelow’s Matrix.

Question 20

How do you refer a client to your complaints handling procedure?

Answer 20

Typically, it would be included in terms and conditions to the Client. At MSC, it would be defined in the Quality Management Plan. However, in my role, it is likely I would also brief this in an introductory call when setting up a project, especially if there are multiple stakeholders

Question 21

How can you ensure that complaints do not occur?

Answer 21

1. Effective communication throughout the relationship – this minimises complaints
2. We have a ‘Perfect Delivery’ framework to ensure this

Question 22

Why would you use a KPI?

Answer 22

To provide a quantitative measurement against a topic. For MSC, it is important that the client KPIs are met to the ambition as this goes into reporting. KPIs are also useful to generate healthy competition between decentralised regions

Question 23

How to set up KPIs? (Level 2 example)

Answer 23

Identify a topic which the client wishes to be improved, develop a methodology of how to track it across business units, inform the business units, collect the data, review progress against the ambition, monitor and repeat

Example of the 10tC KPI – We have challenged our businesses to complete a 10tC on 80% of our projects under PCSA or on site. Exemptions are projects under £2m, or less than 3 months. I track 10tC case studies, sense check/triangulate the data and then report them on our PST which calculates the KPI

The logic of the 10tC is linked to % of our scope 3 accounting

These KPIs are shared monthly with our business units

Question 24

An example of a time when something has been outside of my competence

Answer 24

Asked by the project manager on the Regenerative Twin to advise on complex building services and energy calculations, this is not my area of expertise as my focus however I put them in touch with a member of my team who leads on building services

Question 25

How to understand a client

Answer 25

1. Effective listening to their demands
2. Understand their key drivers
3. Understand the project at completion

Question 26

How do you get feedback from clients? How do you implement this?

Answer 26

Typically, a client satisfaction survey. Feedback can be shared with the team and aspects can be implemented into best practice

Question 27

Tell us about a time you identified a conflict of interest?

Answer 27

Working on the Innovate UK funded ICCE project, I was interacting with Circular Ecology who were our data experts on the project. They needed the Excel version of CarboniCa to examine the databases. However they mentioned they were having their own carbon tool verified as IMPACT Compliant. This is an R&D process we had already undertaken and our calculations would be visible to CE. I advised MSC/MSG to only share the web application as the aspects of data they needed would still be visible, but they would not see how we got IMPACT compliance. I also advised for CE to sign an NDA. I explained this on a Teams call to CE who understood. I would define this as a ‘confidential information conflict’.

Question 28

Provide an example of when you have given reasoned advice to a client?

Answer 28

After researching the industry, I advised the Client that there should be a retrofit capacity within CarboniCa. This idea was triangulated by the fact that our retrofit projects were growing to roughly 20% of all projects and had an upwards trajectory

This ties into advising MSC to create a decarbonisation offer for the market where we have a ‘build new’ and a ‘retrofit’ approach. This is an example of a proposal which is linked to business strategy

I also acted on qualitative feedback from champions and suggested a compare button so users can compare data and different revisions – this was so their clients could visualise optioneering data changes

Question 28

What is IMPACT Compliance?

Answer 28

IMPACT Compliance means a WLCA has integrated the BRE’s IMPACT database into their dataset. This means that WLCA can complete BREEAM projects and has Mat 01 reporting functionality.

Question 29

What does the RICS guide on Conflict of Interests state?

Answer 29

RICS defines a conflict of interest as existing between two parties when a member or firm’s impartiality is threatened due to the existence of a conflict. Examples include financial or personal conflicts. The RICS guide to either avoid the conflict of manage the conflict appropriately. Types include party conflict, personal or confidential.

RICS encourage members and firms to follow 3 steps:
i. Conflict avoidance
ii. Written advice to both parties, might need written consent
iii. Conflict management

Question 30

What does the RICS complaints note state?

Answer 30

The RICS compliant handling procedure 2016 states that:
i. a RICS firm must have a complaints handling procedure approved by RICS
ii. the CHP details should always be presented to the client
iii. complaints logs should be maintained
iv. RICS firms must have an alternative dispute resolution approved by RICS
v. PI insurers should be notified as soon as there is a possible claim

The standard procedure is 3 steps:
i. Stage one is in-house
1. Quick CHP procedure, details in writing, a timeline
ii. Stage two (ADR)
1. If unhappy after stage one, readdress the complaint, use the relevant redress mechanism
iii. Stage three (unlikely)
1. Escalated to the RICS if ADR is disputed or ignored

Question 31

What is the MSC complaints handling procedure?

Answer 31

MSC have an internal and external route
i. Internal there are two: raising concerns which is a hotline and then the HR Policy 08 which states that complaints need to be made in writing, investigation, request a full grievance meeting if not resolved internally
ii. Externally, as a decentralised business, this is left up to the regions to govern. This framework is laid out in our ‘Quality Management Plan’ whereby the project team must explain how they will monitor, resolve, and respond to customer complaints. This is written into contract documents. If a complaint is made, a client is informed to contact the PM, contracts manager or AD, depending on the nature of the complaint. If serious, it is immediately sent to the AD.

Question 32

What is an example where you have made a lower carbon recommendation to a client using CarboniCa?

Answer 32

An example of where I have made a lower carbon recommendation is on the Regenerative Twin project. I looked at the embodied carbon graphs with project teams and clients where we can identify ‘carbon hotspots’. Using CarboniCa, I can optioneered and suggested to replace UK brick for local reclaimed brick which was lower in embodied carbon. Roughly 30kgCO2e/m2 surface area can be saved for using reclaimed > new

Question 33

What logic do you use to advise your client on CarboniCa’s strategy?

Answer 33

a. Industry research (where the industry is going e.g. retrofit, RICS PS, client targets, use of nature based materials)
b. Looking at other WLCAs and their functionalities e.g. OneClick
c. Maintain that construction users can complete WLCAs

Question 34

What is PAS 2038? What are the 13 steps?

Answer 34

PAS 2038 is the set of guidelines for the retrofit of commercial buildings in England and Wales. It explains the process and roles required

Question 35

What are the 6 steps of the decarbonisation offer you created? Why these steps?

Answer 35

1. Review options to adapt or retrofit existing building
2. Define ambitions and targets
3. Option evaluation
4. ‘Retrofit in a day’
5. Model cost & carbon
6. Delivery, training, POE
   These steps were necessary to encompass the whole journey. They broadly align with PAS 2038.

Question 36

How did you identify the conflict of interest with CE?

Answer 36

Identified this on a Teams call and immediately organised to notify both parties

Question 37

How did you brief CE about the conflict?

Answer 37

On a Teams call in clear, concise language. I laid out the alternative steps to avoid the conflict to which they agreed

Question 38

What would have happened if there was a dispute with CE over IP/compliance?

Answer 38

If there was an IP dispute, depending on the severity, there could be legal action in civil courts or an injunction or a claim for damages.