Know Your Clients’ Goals

It is important to know your clients’ goals and aspirations when working on their projects. Without this understanding, your hard work may be undervalued by them and become meaningless and unsatisfying to you.

Two Aspects Of Your Work

Every client project you work on has two dimensions. First, it is an immediate solution to a problem they are unable or unsure how to solve for themselves. Whether it is submitting a document to a government body by a certain date, collecting information for an important decision to be made, filling a skills gap in the client’s organization, or executing routine tasks to ensure they are done correctly, everything you do is solving immediate problems for others.

In addition to solving immediate problems, your work also draws them closer to their ultimate goals and aspirations. While you may view your immediate work as complete and final, it is only a means to an end for them. They are likely to undervalue your deliverables when they forget that your work advances them to what they really want. That is, your work, in and of itself, isn’t as valuable alone as it is when connected to your clients’ aspired goals. As you can imagine, this causes a host of problems related to billings, markdowns, fee resistance and delayed payments.

Know Your Clients’ Goals

So this begs the question: do you know what each of your clients really want? Their goals? Their aspirations? Their challenges? It is necessary to ask them questions about what is important to them. Listen to their energy, enthusiasm and passion. This is what your deliverables get them closer to. Then you will know how your deliverables impact their vision. When you listen, you will learn what is most important to them.

Another reason why it is important to know your clients’ objectives is that, without knowing, the work has less meaning to you. Your projects become nameless, faceless assignments.  It is no wonder that you feel stressed and maybe even burned out. Your work is no longer a solution you are providing to your clients. Instead, your work can slide into mind-numbing, rote and meaningless activity that is void of any satisfaction. 5:00 can’t come soon enough.

This week, find out your client’s aspirations before working on their project. You may not be able to know for every client, but you can for some of them. Therefore, when you are preparing or reviewing a deliverable, meeting with a client to explain your deliverable, or billing your client for the deliverable, remember that your work is so much more than the product itself. Prevent your work from becoming meaningless and unsatisfying by knowing your clients’ goals.