Work effectively with clients or customers in the creative industries
Overview
This Standard is about working effectively with clients or customers and building productive, enduring relationships with them to increase the chance of them continuing to work with you or use your services.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
1 manage
clients’ or customers’ expectations of relationships and the work
2 balance your input to client or customer
relationships with your organisation’s resources, requirements and practices
3 behave ethically in your dealings with
clients or customers and develop relationships that demonstrate trust,
commitment and cooperation
4 build rapport and communicate in a professional,
timely, patient and appropriate manner
5 keep records of expectations, conversations
and agreed actions.
6 make realistic promises, deliver promised
actions in the timescale and manner agreed and communicate this success to
clients or customers
7 anticipate and proactively communicate
unavoidable changes in agreements to clients or customers
8 determine the principal lines of influence
and communication within client or customer organisations, identifying
individuals who are key decision makers and influencers
9 promote to clients or customers ways they
can gain added value from their relationship with your organisation
10 establish effective professional relationships
with key decision makers and create an agreed agenda for action
11 monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and
profitability of relationships on a regular basis
12 use feedback from clients or customers to
ensure that the quality and consistency of service is maintained
13 deal proactively with clients’ or customers’ complaints
or problems.
14 feedback to others inside and outside the
organisation on aspects of relationships that may be relevant to them
15 identify opportunities to develop new or
existing client or customer relationships that will benefit your organisation
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
1 clients’ or
customers’ needs and priorities and, if relevant, the markets they are in and
how they generate income
2 the time and effort it may take before
clients or customers commit to working with your organisation or using your
services
3 what can affect client or customer
decision making and lead times including, if relevant, their organisational
structure and internal processes
4 your organisation’s criteria and processes
for developing client or customer relationships
5 the impact of over-promising or acting
solely for the short term on relationships
6 the contribution that client or customer
relationships make to the achievement of your organisation’s strategic aims and
creative integrity.
7 the role of other areas of your
organisation in managing client or customer relationships
8 the benefits and disadvantages of
different ways of communicating with people and how to communicate clearly both
verbally and in writing
9 how to assess the risks and potential
benefits of client or customer relationships
10 how to identify opportunities to add value and save clients or customers money
11 how to positively communicate necessary
adaptations to agreements and changes to product
12 what to do when things go wrong
13 how to establish the level of resource
required to manage a client or customer relationship effectively and
profitably
14 ways to identify and grasp opportunities
when maintaining client or customer relationships