Methods for Establishing Good Client Relationships

If you work for a firm or agency that provides consultative services, then you know quite well how important it is to have a good working relationship with your clients. With so many businesses these days providing outside support to companies of all shapes and sizes, it’s vitally important that account managers have a strong rapport with customers to ensure a long term partnership.

The following methods are simple, effortless ways that company employees can use to help foster a better connection with your business’ clients.

Be Timely with Email Responses

 

Everyone knows that work can be hectic, but it pays dividends to take the time to reply to client emails shortly after receiving them. A prompt response to an email shows the customer that you are setting their business as a priority and are eager to give them the attention they deserve. 

Should the customer email regard a task that you know you won’t be able to handle for at least some time, you should still take a moment to reply to the email and let the client know you’re working on it. This is a good way to acknowledge the customer so that they can be sure you’re listening to their requests.

Don’t Be All Business

 

Although some employees may want to get down to brass tacks immediately during meetings, it’s important that you’re not all business with your clients. Make sure to keep things light from time to time and discuss current events, sports, and other common interests. This helps you come across more as a trusted friend than a business expense.

To go a step further with this, you can also try to arrange an outing with your client. This could include a round of golf on the weekend or similar business-friendly activity. 

Use Your Calendar!

 

If you promise a client that you’ll be back in contact on by a certain day, then make sure you stick to that promise. Whether you use Microsoft Outlook or Google services, you should always make sure to schedule everything in your calendar. Doing this helps ensure that you’ll always fulfill your obligations to your clients.

Remembering client birthdays or other major events is another good way to build a strong working relationship with your clients. Send birthday well wishes or congratulations cards when a customer has a child. This level of care and interest is always appreciated by customers.

How to Take Control of Meetings

Most managers know the frustration of having to lead a team meeting when it’s clear that the participants are barely paying attention. Few moments are more irritating than looking out at a sea of faces that are either staring blankly at you or pretending like they’re not looking at their smartphones. Even when everyone appears to be attentive, few people respond to your questions or involve themselves in the discussion.

So how does a manager take control of his or her meetings? While this is a topic of constant debate for management everywhere, there are several useful methods that can be employed to make sure that your meetings are effective and your employees responsive.

#1: Plan the Meeting at a Time When It’s Convenient

Simply put, if you place your meetings at lunchtime chances are you’re going to end up with a crowd of hungry, unfocused people listening to you speak. The same goes for planning a meeting at the very end of the day when everyone just wants to go home.

In order to make sure your participants are listening to what you say and willing to participate in conversation, try holding your conferences at a time when it’s convenient for them. This can include earlier in the morning or right after lunch.

#2: Hold Meetings with a Purpose

While weekly meetings can be very useful to discussing important company milestones and hitting goals, they often aren’t used to their fullest potential. If you find yourself in a meeting where you’re padding out the dialogue to fill out the hour, then chances are you’re not using your time wisely. Meeting participants may also quickly note your lack of direction and pay less attention when you’re speaking.

Before you hold a meeting, plot out an agenda of talking points. You should always do your best to make sure you’re getting the most from everyone’s time, including your own.

#3: Involve Your Employees as Much as Possible

When one person spends the entire meeting speaking to the crowd, it’s less a discussion and more a lecture. In order to make sure that everyone is giving their full attention in meetings, you should always look at ways to involve them more in the conversation. It’s a rare occasion where everyone actively participates in a meeting, so you should design the meeting to require their involvement.

Next time you set up a meeting, try planning an activity to get people to work together. This could involve small group discussions, unveiling of side projects by employees, and other team-oriented activities.

3 Workload-balancing Methods for New Hires

It happens to new employees all the time. You lean back in your chair, thinking that all your assignments are complete, when suddenly you have the anxiety-inducing revelation that you’ve forgotten a major task. Soon you find yourself scrambling to get things done and worrying like it’s the end of the world as you watch the deadline for that big project draw near.

Stop. Take a deep breath and relax. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed when starting a new job and losing track of tasks is incredibly common for many people. Fortunately, there are many methods that will help you keep your workload organized and delivered on-time.

#1: Prioritize Your Work Accordingly

More often than not, the biggest stumbling block for new employees with deadlines comes from not knowing which tasks to tackle first. Since most new hires will have very little familiarity with how long certain assignments may take to complete, they usually end up going about their work in the order it arrives. 

If you feel that certain tasks may take too much time, try to schedule out your tasks to ensure more pressing assignments are handled first.

#2: Schedule Out Your Tasks

There are many different ways to plot out your workload, but most people make the mistake of not scheduling tasks accordingly. In addition to keeping your all your tasks organized, keeping an up-to-date calendar also ensures that proper attention is giving to important tasks so that they are completed on time. 

You can either use Microsoft Office or any of the numerous cloud-based browser calendars to plot out your assignments.

#3: Keep Detailed Records of Your Work

If you work for multiple clients or deal with numerous company departments, you may end up losing track of what needs to be accomplished during the workday. By keeping detailed notes handy, you can easily check to see what’s been completed and what still remains to be done. Consistent recordkeeping is also invaluable in a crisis should you ever make a mistake and miss a task.

By keeping a list of your total tasks in a Microsoft Word or Excel file, you can conveniently record and edit your work over time.

Getting the Most Out of Your 1-on-1 Meetings

For many managers, the classic 1 on 1 employee meeting can be an unpleasant experience. More often than not, these meetings occur as a result of issues or errors related to a particular employee that need to be addressed. While it is true that people make mistakes and they do need to be corrected, few managers want to deal with what can be an uncomfortable yet necessary meeting.

However, there are ways to get the most out of these meetings and ensure that they are productive, helpful interactions. The next time you need to conduct a 1-on-1 meeting, consider employing the following methods:

Schedule the Meeting Ahead of Time

Have you ever worked for a supervisor before that would call you into his office without warning for a meeting that would last almost an hour? If you have, then you know quite well how disruptive these impromptu meetings can be. 

When you need to meet with an employee, always schedule the meeting ahead of time if possible. While emergency situations will always require an immediate discussion, most meetings can wait at least a few hours until when both you and your employee are freely available to discuss things.

Encourage Bringing Questions or Other Topics to the Meeting

Although you may be meeting to discuss a certain topic, you should consider encouraging your employee to bring his or her own topics and talking points to the meeting. Doing this not only allows you and your employee to better leverage your time and get more accomplished, but it also helps keep the tone light and the meeting organized.

Try to have about 2 or 3 topics to discuss aside from the main matter at hand. If you find you need more time to discuss those topics, then schedule another meeting at a later date.

 

Have Follow-Up Meetings

Once you’ve wrapped up your meeting, you should hold follow-up meetings when you deem necessary. This can help you not only monitor projects your employee is working on, but also keep an eye on trouble employees and see if they are meeting personal goals and deadlines.

With these practices in mind, you can hold 1-on-1 meetings that are productive, upbeat, and allow you to set up for future success. All it takes is being conscious of how you approach your employee.

Should you find that your 1-on-1 meetings aren’t conveying the message to trouble employees, then it may be time to turn to a professional staffing agency. If so, then contact us at J & J Staffing Resources today. We can help you find the right employee for the job at hand.

Starting Off a New Job on the Right Foot

When starting a new job, many men and women understandably feel pressured to impress their superiors. With the current unknown job market, every American worker knows that there is no shortage of competition for most open job positions.  As a result, most people tend to feel that they are trying to meet lofty expectations to prove to their manager that he or she made the best hiring choice.

While everyone wants to impress his or her boss, not everyone manages to make that happen. Sure, effective use of time at the office is a great way to get noticed and being punctual is always a must, but these are behaviors expected of all dedicated workers. In order to set oneself apart from the competition, a person needs to have particular behaviors in place to be truly exceptional.

The next time you find yourself worried over whether or not you’re proving to be a great hire, try demonstrating the following behaviors.

Get Done Before the Deadline

 Deadlines for tasks are usually set to allow for a little more time than it takes to actually get the job done. You should always manage your time and prioritize your work so you can complete your assigned duties or projects well before they are due. Doing this will not only allow you to get started on other tasks more quickly, but it also shows your superiors you are a fast and efficient worker. Just be careful not to rush tasks and do a subpar performance in the process.

Ask “What Else Can I Do?”

We’ve all been in team meetings where brainstorming and crowdsourcing lead to the creation of a new project. If you find yourself in a sea of silence when it your manager asks who wants to take on the task, then you should seriously consider taking the assignment. Taking the initiative on new, exciting projects shows team leaders that you are forward-thinking and eager to try new things. This eagerness can be seen as a great asset for managerial positions and is always noticed come promotion time.

Offer to Help Others When Time Allows

 

A little bit of help goes a long way. If you find that your colleagues are bogged down in their assignments and need their workload lightened, try offering to take some of their tasks off their hands. Doing this helps you forge better workplace relationships and lets others know that you are dependable and helpful when they need assistance. 

Of course, there are other ways to impress your superiors and colleagues, but the methods listed above are good ways to start. Just remember that being eager to help and managing your time well goes a long way to proving you were worth hiring.

If you’re eager to prove yourself in a new position but are having a tough time finding the job you want, contact us at J & J Staffing Resources today. We can match your qualifications and experience with a career worth having.