Client Care Flashcards
What actions / processes do you undertake to ensure good client care?
- understand client needs
- providing accurate and relevant information
- communicate professionally, clearly, and concisely
- continuously learn and improving
- use complaints handling procedures
- use quality assurance procedures
- use key performance indicators
- use client feedback questionnaires
Why is client care important?
- Retain clients, secure repeat business
- Reduce likelihood of conflict
- Protect company PI insurance
- Maintain stronger reputation within the industry
- Attract further clients
How do you conduct yourself with a new client?
- Well-mannered
- Good presentation
- Respectful
- Friendly and enthusiastic
- Genuine
Why is it important to maintain existing client relationships rather than solely building new ones?
- Large % of commissions won through repeat business
- Promotes positive image of individual, company and industry
How do you identify / manage the client needs and expectations?
- Hold planning sessions / discussions regarding project key deliverables and scope of services required
- Appreciate unique nature of each client and project
- Review any complaints, identify mistakes and best practice methods of working
- Ask questions, listen and identify key challenges / issues
- Briefing checklists
- Seek further clarification if required
- Good listening
How do you build trust with a client?
- Learn about them and their objectives and challenges / limitations
- Only act within my level of competence
- Act in a professional manner
- Provide high level of service and transparency
Difference between a client and a customer?
- Client - one under protection of another ongoing business relationship formed
- Customer - one who purchases commodity or service
What is the term ‘soft landings’ referring to?
Strategy ensuring transition from construction to occupation is ‘bump-free’, optimising operational performance
What is a project stakeholder?
Person / organisation with an interest in a project
Please detail some quality management systems implemented on your projects?
- Contractor payment schedules
- Standardised contract administration forms and documents
- Procedural checklists
- Reporting templates
- Following industry guidance and advisory notes
- Follow company policy and procedures
What is a lessons learnt workshop?
- Review recent failing / success on a project
- Put new procedures in place to prevent failing happening again
- Review success and share with others
What are KPIs?
Key performance indicators - used to measure supply chain performance and benchmark against others
Examples of KPIs?
- Qty of defects / snags
- Construction cost overrun
- Achieving programme milestone
- Profitability
- H&S scores and reviews
- Environmental scoring
- Social value
How do you act on feedback received from a client?
- Ensure formally recorded
- Share positives, discuss how to improve negatives
- Verify any negative feedback and necessary course of action
- Feedback response to company via lessons learnt process
- Review improvement in suitable period (i.e. 6 months)
What is a complaint?
Expression of dissatisfaction, arising when expectations have not been met
You receive formal complaint from client in writing. What should you do regarding insurance?
Firm to notify insurance company ASAP
How would you deal with a complaint from a client?
- Acknowledge receipt and show empathy
- Establish bass of complaint
- Notify appropriate person in firm
- Appoint someone to investigate, identify outcome and course of action to rectify
- Formally respond to client, communicate outcome
- If still unhappy, refer to independent dispute resolution
- Communicate lessons learnt internally
- Review at predetermined date in the future
- Inform PI insurers of complaint at each stage
How can complaints be avoided in the first instance?
- Set clear expectations in scope of service and appointment documents
- Communicate clearly and effectively with client and other key stakeholders
- Good record keeping
- Follow company procedures and policies (i.e. QA)
- Follow RICS standards, professional statements and guidance
- Seek feedback, resolve issues as they arise
- Acting within the boundaries of my scope of services
If a client contacts you with a complaint regarding a document you have issued, what is your response?
- Acknowledge complaint, apologise, work to resolve complaint to their satisfaction
- If this doesn’t solve, refer client to firm’s complaint’s handling procedure for formal submission
- Inform PII providers ASAP
How do you complain about an RICS member / firm?
- Raise concern with member / firm
- Complain directly to them / firm via complaint handling procedure
- If no resolve, complain directly to RICS (form / directly)
What is a good CHP?
- Fit for purpose
- All employees aware and understand process
- Good record keeping, reviewing lessons learnt
- Process regularly reviewed and updated
- Readily shared with (potential) complainants
- Agreed with PII brokers / providers
When would you notify PI insurers about a complaint?
If:
- Against negligence
- Reaches second stage
- Could lead to a claim
What is meant by client’s money?
Money of any currency (cash, cheque, draft, electronic transfer) that:
- RICS regulated firm holds / receives on behalf of another person, inc money held by regulated firm as a stakeholder
- Not immediately due and payable on demand to RICS regulated firm for its own account
What is the RICS client money protection scheme?
Last resort scheme providing protection in unlikely event a firm is unable to repay client’s money (up to limits / exceptions set out in scheme rules)
If a client wants to pay in advance for your services, how would you deal with this?
- Set up separate account- clearly identifiable, provide client with access
- Refer to client money handling guidance note
- Inform client how and when monies will be drawn, provide statement
- Once services complete, send statement with all transactions
- Maintain transparency, auditability, ensure money has been checked for laundering
What info would you expect to see in a client’s brief?
- Services and insurances required
- Terms of appointment
- Duration of appointment
- Client procedures and policies
- Key drivers for success
- Fee
What might be excluded from a consultant fee proposal?
- VAT
- Disbursements
- Dealing with claims
- Services not required
What might be included in a consultant fee proposal?
- Scope of service - identification of Client needs
- Terms of appointment
- Basis of pricing
- Info on team (CVs, qualifications)
- Project details
- Timescales
- Insurances
- Exclusions and assumptions
How would you calculate professional fees on a new commission?
- Understand client requirements inc project scope, key project details, budget, scope of service
- Identify seniority of resource, no. people required
- Assess duration required
- Apply daily / hourly rate against activities
- Apply suitable allowance for OH&P
- Review total fee as % of project budget
- Agree % of contract value (% based), time charged or lump sum
If you put together a fee proposal and a few months into a project you realised you didn’t have enough resources to deliver, what would you do?
- If project requirements (services, scope, value) have increased, could be reasonable for fees to increase
- If scope has remained same, deal with the situation, accept any losses and get it right next time. Wouldn’t reduce level of service originally offered but may look for potential for increased efficiencies (i.e. meeting and valuation on same visit)
If the client gives you a lump sum fee before going on holiday what would you do?
Place funds in separately identified client account, agree drawdown of monies against services being provided with the Client
Can there be issues (from client perspective) by having all professional services delivered by one consultancy practice?
- Can be harder to be critical of colleagues of same company
- Perceived conflict of interest - especially when challenging potential errors or omissions
- Advantages include potentially more efficient team - work under same policies, procedures
On what grounds can you ask the client for additional fee?
- Dealing with insolvency of contractor (usually excluded from scope of service)
- Delay to programme
- Increased scope of service
After verbal agreement of services to be provided, what should you do?
Follow up in writing, confirming T&Cs, fee, scope of service
What is client care?
The principle of client care is looking after the clients’ best interests and providing an appropriate level of service that satisfies the client’s needs and achieves VfM.
How can cleint care be provided?
o Professionalism.
o Competence.
o Punctuality.
o Trust.
o Reliability.
o Presentation.
o Regular communication.
o Review of services provided and standard.
o KPIs to monitor client satisfaction.
o Client Performance Feedback.
Why is Client Care important for surveying firms?
- The majority of work is developed through repeat business from existing clients.
- Therefore, it is important not only for the client to achieve their requirements but also for the company to encourage repeat businesses where possible.
- Providing that the Client’s satisfaction is maintained, positive testimonials can be achieved and word of mouth recommendations will be generated.
- However dissatisfied Clients can be very damaging as negative feedback and experiences can spread quickly.
- Providing excellent client care can also reduce the potential for negligence claims to arise.
What does CPF stand for?
Client performance feedback
* the process of gathering and acting on feedback from the client
How to cunduct client performance feedback?
o Gathering feedback during and after project completion.
o This is usually carried out by an independent person.
o The feedback sets the standards for the company and identifies areas for improvement.
o It encourages open discussions with the client to ensure satisfactory service is delivered and that goals are achieved.
o It also provides an opportunity to gain future work for the company.
o CPF is usually carried out at regular intervals (3-6 months) to ensure any problems can be identified and rectified as early as possible.
How would you identify the needs of a client?
- I would look to achieve this by holding Client Account Planning Sessions.
- Each client & project is different & their needs would be assessed on their own merit, this could be achieved by:-
o Holding discussions regarding project key deliverables & the scope of services required.
o Reviewing past CPF scores & identifying key areas for improvement.
o Reviewing any complaints to identify mistakes and best practice methods of working.
What is a Client Brief?
- The purpose of the client brief is to provide a firm foundation for the initiation of the project.
- It is a formal statement of the objectives and functional and operational requirements of the finished project.
- It should be in sufficient detail to enable the integrated project team to execute the specification and detailed design of the work and is therefore an essential reference for the team.
Please provide an example of your client care & empathy skills?
- Despite working on multiple commissions I always try to ensure that I prioritise each client’s needs accordingly.
- My approach is to always make the client feel like their project is the only commission I am working on
- Through organisation and communication I can meet the deliverables of each client in advance of the agreed deadlines and am always sure to deliver work to a high standard.
When should you decline an instruction of new work from a client?
- If there is a Conflict of Interest.
- If the appointment is would not be in the clients’ best interests.
- My firm may not be able to resource the job adequately.
- If the project is outside of my skillset.
- If the work was unlawful.
What do you need to consider when using preparing a fee bid?
o Finding out what the client’s requirement are and identifying whether this is a service that we provide.
o A bid or no bid form is populated to identity if this is suitable for the business by considering the risks involved.
o There are varying levels of sign off depending on fee value prior to submission.
What makes up a fee bid proposal?
- The Executive Summary including reference to the Scope & Solution.
- Identification of the Client’s needs & key deliverables.
- Identification and analysis of Project issues.
- Communication of key Benefits for the Clients.
- References to relevant experience.
- The Conditions of engagement.
- A Methodology.
- An Organogram.
- The proposed fees.
- Supporting CVs.
- References to the project programme.
- Identification of sub consultants.
- A List of quality assurance procedures
How would you limit the risk of working with a client who may be financially unstable?
- I would use a screening process to check the client’s finances, this could include:-
o A company search using the Companies House website to obtain their account information.
o A Dun & Bradstreet or credit safe credit check.
o An Internet search using their website for additional information and to make a judgement on their reliability.
If your client asked you to lower your fees because of their limited funding, what would you do?
The client would have to pay the required price for the level of service required or reduce the scope of works involved.
How would you calculate a fee proposal?
- I would review the work involved with the commission based on the level of information available.
- I would calculate the time & number of individuals required to undertake the work & multiply it by an hourly rate adding a suitable allowance for over heads and profits.
What is your company’s procedure for client’s feed-back?
- We undertake formal project reviews with the client every two months.
- In my day-to-day involvement with the client I look to obtain regular informal feed-back through verbal and email communication.
- We undertake a satisfaction survey questionnaire at the end of each project.
What is your company’s procedure for complaint handling?
- The RICS specifies 2 stages as a minimum:
o Stage 1 – The complaint in the first instance is reported to a Senior Member of the firm or the designated complaints handler.
o Stage 2 – If the complaint cannot be resolved this is referred to the independent redress mechanism. - The person is invited to make a complaint in writing to our designated complaint handler who will investigate the complaint with all parties involved and advise the complainant of any action taken within 21 days.
- If the complainant is not satisfied, the complaint is escalated to the Regional Managing Director who will take action and respond within 21 days.
- Should the complainant remain dissatisfied, the matter can be escalated to the RICS independent redress mechanism.
How do you identify your client’s needs and expectations?
- I am always sure to ask questions and listen to the client on key challenges and issues they are facing.
- I also use client’s briefing checklists where applicable.
- There have been times when I have not received an adequate briefing from the client and in these instances I am sure to ask for further clarification on their specific requirements.
How do you establish trust?
- I am transparent and honest about my actions at all times.
- I learn about my client and their long term objectives in addition to key challenges they are facing.
- I only act inside the parameters of my level of expertise and competence.
- I always act in a professional manner.
- I always provide a high level of service.
How do you encourage repeat business?
- I provide high levels of service and customer care during projects.
- I regularly obtain feedback and act on it.
- By dealing with complaints honestly and effectively.
- Through keeping in touch with clients even when we have no live projects with them.
- Organising business development activities such as social events or CPD’s.
What are the advantages / disadvantages of working from a client’s office?
- The advantages are quicker and clearer lines of communication.
- A better understanding of the client’s culture, needs and expectations can be determined.
- The disadvantages are the loss of technical support from colleagues and a possible isolation from my own organisation’s culture.
What should be included in the appointment documents?
- project description.
- scope of works.
- The fee, and when it is to be paid.
- Allowable expenses.
- The period covered..
- The amount of professional indemnity insurance cover.
- The named staff who will carry out the commission.
- Termination agreement.
- Disputes agreement.
What is Stace’s CHP?
NEED TO FILL
