Related Posts
It's officially client holiday season...
🌲😒
More Posts
Hi Fishes!
How are the hikes in Mindtree for last two years? I'm planning to join Mindtree. My yoe is 6 and tech stack is Java & springboot. Is it fine to join with 17 LPA in mindtree with this experience. Is it as per market standards? Need suggestions please. My Lwd is Sep 19th. Mindtree
Mentor
Additional Posts in Advertising
Why did Droga lose ancestry?
Who’s negotiated severance? Any tips?
Mute button horror stories.
Icarus so deserved that Oscar.
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
When all else fails, that's why you write into the SOW that the client is expected to provide timely responsive feedback and the deliverables are dependent on that. Because you may need to draw a line in the sand and tell them you're issuing a change order to handle the delay.
I like this - definitely going to bring this up to my boss & the account team to see what we can do for next year’s SOW. Thank you!
Constantly reiterate deadlines and send reminders that if x deadline is missed, it will push back delivery dates to y. Use wording that communicates x amount of time is required to ensure the quality of the work is at the standard needed and to avoid errors (this is probably the most successful tactic I’ve had in my experience). Make sure it’s written so that if there are errors, you can refer back to your email. Ask the clients to prioritize for you. “We’d be happy to accommodate this for you, please let us know which ones should be prioritized and we can let you know delivery dates for the remaining items.” It’s tough and takes a lot of consistent reiterations.
On paper. Paper trail out the ass.
Rising Star
In addition to talking OFTEN to clients about the impact of missed deadlines on the project delivery, you also need to talk about the impact that has on OTHER work.
Any time I have to pull off an 11th hour miracle, I put in writing to the clients that it will affect our prioritization of other work and as a result, X Y and Z will have new delivery times of A B and C
Too often the account team, especially inexperienced and/or not technically savvy, make unrealistic promises to the client. Whether intentional or not, it’s the creative and editorial teams that take the brunt of it working 12+ hour days and weekends.
If the account team doesn’t know how long or laborious an ask will be give them ballpark turnaround estimates in writing.
If you’re client-facing perhaps there is a communication method (daily/weekly status summaries) that you can try to provide firmer guidance. All you can do is document what happens and do the best with the team you have.
AMs shouldn't be commiting on behalf of other teams without consulting them. I shut that shit down hard.
Bring it up to HR.
Agree. Not HR at all. This is a business decision. This needs to happen with regards to the account.
Do you have an executive sponsor for this account?
Have you tried setting up a call with the client lead and having a frank conversation on the issue and your concerns? It might be better to set up time to discuss head on versus trying to push back in the moment.
D3 - also a great suggestion, thanks!
Might be obvious, but the pressures on the client side might be equally intense. If this isn’t pure arrogance on their part (and that happens), the door is open to a sit down to see how you can make each other’s lives better. If it is “me boss, you pissant” at work, then either you find a way to escalate, or look for tactical workarounds. I’ve had to fire clients for this—and, as you know, that’s not a step taken lightly—but you always figure there’s a way, until there isn’t.
Good point, I can tell you the clients are under the same pressures. There isn’t a simple solution unfortunately. It’s a stressful business.
Lots of good advice in this thread already.
- Provide a timeline right from the start of the project, and update it when anything moves.
- Communicate constantly with the client on timelines. No surprises (or risk of claim of surprises).
- Follow up in writing on everything.
- Have a serious discussion with the senior client (or their manager) if problems continue over time.
Just dealt with this with a difficult client. They ignored deadlines and warnings about the impact of this missed deadlines, then sent an email to the day-to-day point person on the project to ask if we would work the weekend (and into our office closure) to finish the work before the end of the year (which was an arbitrary deadline - no business driver or fiscal year issues). Happily the lead anticipated this and we had done all of the above and discussed our approach in advance. Our answer was “no, and as discussed here’s a reminder of the timeline for the new year.”
$0 change orders
Thanks everyone - all super helpful!
Nudge to them to do the right thing by making the way they want you do work financially disadvantageous for them.
If that doesn’t work exec should have a convo with them about the long term costs that aren’t financial. They’re going to lose the current team through departures. Lose the best people by not being a desirable account to work on.
Short term just about anything can be managed through. Long term not so much. So make a plan to operate differently moving forward/at a set event. Basically control the damage and ensure it doesn’t become SOP