TLDR: Whether you’re in a MOPs team or consulting in the space, learn methods of managing processes, projects, and expectations to strengthen the consultant-client relationship.
Why is a good relationship important? A strong relationship with a consultancy can help MOPs teams to optimize day-to-day processes and tasks, address issues that have built up over the years, and unearth opportunities to improve the strategic contributions that MOPs makes to the business.
The secret to a good relationship: For consultants and clients to enjoy a successful working dynamic, however, both sides must empathize with the needs of the other and be considerate and transparent around scope and project expectations.
What’s in this article for you? If your MOPs team is beginning to work with consultants to deliver projects, or you’re a consultant in the MOPs space looking to build successful client relationships, this Tough Talks Made Easy will help you:
➡️ Communicate your needs within the partnership
➡️ Better understand those on the other side
➡️ Understand effective methods of managing processes, projects, and expectations to strengthen the relationship
Active listening
When MOPs teams and consultants begin to collaborate, there’s a groove to find between the established ways of doing things internally and new recommendations that consultancies bring to the table.
“Reciprocity and active listening are perhaps the most important qualities.”
At this early stage, reciprocity and active listening are perhaps the most important qualities to get the relationship off to a strong start.
As a client
Before contacting an agency or consultancy, your marketing ops team should adopt a specific mindset for success.
👉 Have clear objectives for the partnership
👉 Be prepared to communicate with the consultancy effectively
👉 Be open to incorporating external expertise, even if it means adjusting established work approaches
As a consultant
If you’re consulting with a MOPs team, responsiveness is essential.
Spotting early opportunities to optimize your client’s workflows and tech stack can quickly prove value and create rapport, but your vision should respect your client’s priorities.
Your recommendations and suggestions need buy-in from the decision-makers and day-to-day contacts in the team—and you’re most likely to get that if you show awareness of what your client needs and how more significant changes will impact them.
Big takeaway
Whether you’re on the client or consultant side, approach these early discussions respectfully.
Take on board your consultant’s rationale for certain changes or what motivates your client’s organizational choices and methods — regardless of how early decisions go, if the other party feels understood and appreciated, you’re creating a solid basis of trust.
Expectations vs. reality
As your projects continue, transparency and open lines of communication are like oxygen to the relationship.
As a client
For a marketing ops team, sessions with the consultant are a proactive way to surface your needs and communicate expectations around expected deliverables and timelines.
If your MOPs team lacks experience working with consultancies, they might not understand that consultants have other relationships to manage with unique deliverables and timelines. What might seem like a fair request in-house can be unviable for consultants to fulfill.
For that reason, encourage your team to consider the demands your partners are under and prepare to be flexible. Some urgent turnarounds just aren’t possible for your consultant. Others can be done but require adapting project scope.
As a consultant
Meetings with clients help you keep up with requirements and requests.
A common pitfall for consultants is to view the content of a project in isolation and underestimate the amount of time it’ll take to complete.
Avoid building up client expectations beyond what’s realistic by clarifying the factors that contribute to delays like scope creep, vacations, multiple rounds of reviews in testing and gathering consensus from multiple stakeholders in the discovery phase.
As a consultant, you want to reflect on all these dependencies and share them proactively with clients when setting a turnaround date.
“The train can go off the track without a regular communication channel to set the course.”
Path to success
Both parties should know that the train can go off the track without a regular communication channel to set the course.
Whether you’re client-side or consulting, encourage systems of working that put you on the same page.
👉 Suggest task management software (be it a dedicated tool or a spreadsheet) to assign tasks and monitor progress, and establish weekly status calls to discuss the status of day-to-day projects, longer-term plans, and any issues or roadblocks impeding progress.
Reciprocity
The consultant-client relationship is one of mutual participation.
It requires openness and respect from both parties towards the other’s expertise, needs and demands.
Transparent communication around timelines and deliverables and an enthusiastic approach toward your shared purpose are the foundational components of a rewarding relationship that gets results.
For any project guidance, Revenue Pulse is here to help.
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