Consulting Journal: Style - Visiting clients

Style: Visiting clients

by David Blakey

Are you on your best behaviour when you visit clients?

[Monday 28 January 2002]

Imagine this.

I am visiting a client. I am sitting in the client's reception area waiting to see someone whom I have not previously met. Someone comes towards me. What do I do now?

First, I stand. Second, I smile. They say ‘Good morning, I'm Ms Jones's secretary.’ I say ‘Good morning, I'm David Blakey.’ I reach out to shake hands. If I made the appointment by telephone I may recognize the secretary's voice. I say ‘What's your name?’ Once they have told me, I make sure that I remember their name, their face and the sound of their voice.

When I next ring to make an appointment with Ms Jones, I will recognize the voice and greet them personally. When I'm next in that client's reception area, waiting to see Ms Jones, I will rise, smile and greet them personally. Name, face, voice.

You may have noticed that I shake hands when I meet secretaries and PAs. As well as being a sign that I regard them with respect, it makes my movements easier. If I shake hands with everyone I meet, then I don't finish up twitching like a man I worked with who would only shake hands with ‘important’ people. His hand would sometimes start to move out and then be withdrawn when he discovered that the other person didn't rank highly enough to merit a handshake. Because of his other attitudes, he could be amusing with male secretaries, who sometimes almost did get a handshake, and female executives, who sometimes almost didn't.

The impression that you create when you first enter a client's premises can be very important. This means the very first impression. Not the impression that you make on the person you have come to see, but the impression that that you make on everyone else that you meet on the way.

Many years ago, I worked for a company in central London where the uniformed security guards on the ground floor would greet each visitor: ‘Good morning. Who have you come to see?’ Some visitors treated the security guards as mere minions, and answered them curtly and unsmilingly. They would say ‘Mr Jones’, but it was as if they were saying ‘Mr Jones, and what has it got to do with you?’ I would smile and say: ‘Good morning. I've come to see Mr Jones. I'm David Blakey.’

Later, when I was on an assignment with that client, with an office assigned to me, the guards would just say ‘Good morning, David’ as I entered, and I would say ‘Good morning, Robert’. If a new guard appeared, I would stop and introduce myself and ask his name. I would make sure that I knew them all by name.

The tea trolley came round twice each day: once in mid-morning and again in mid-afternoon. We left our offices, greeted the tea-ladies, collected our tea and biscuits, and returned to our offices. The tea-ladies and I soon used each other's first names. I did occasionally wonder why the client continued this practice, when most other companies had drinks machines or kitchens where people could make their own drinks.

It was some time before I discovered that the chief executive spoke often to the security guards and tea-ladies, and found out from them who was surly and ill-mannered, who was sometimes drunk in the afternoon, and who was cheerful and apparently in control of their work. Fortunately, my educaton and background lead me to treat everyone at the work-place as colleagues, so I think that any reports about me were favourable. This experience does teach one about the value of treating people with friendliness and about not becoming arrogant and supercilious.

Also, one is often unaware of when some form of continuous surveillance is operating. Somebody, somewhere, may be viewing - and recording - each shrug, or smile, or sneer. This surveillance need not be electronic.

Where to start

Someone told me recently that from the moment you enter the client's door, people are checking you out. I disagree. The checking can start back in the client's carpark or in the street. So you should not just walk into your client's premises with the right attitude, you should walk towards them with it.

At reception

When you arrive at the reception area, smile and be friendly. Remember the names of the receptionists at regular clients and greet them by name. If you forget someone's name, ask them. People are more impressed by the fact that you want to remember their names than by the fact that you have forgotten them.

If you're offered a beverage, accept it without adding ‘if it's not too much trouble’. It isn't too much trouble, and it's their job, and you don't want to sound obsequious. If you're not auditioning for the part of Uriah Heep, don't add these trite asides. Just say ‘Yes, please.’

Meeting the client

Always stand up. Shake hands. Smile. When they lead you to their office, abandon your beverage unless they suggest that you bring it with you. Even then, if it's in a cup and saucer and you're nervous or if you don't know how far their office is, abandon it. Don't apologize to the receptionist for leaving it.

Starting the meeting

Avoid starting with small talk. Get straight to the heart of the business. If you're asked how you are, the answer is ‘fine.’ The answer is always ‘fine,’ no matter how ill you are. Do not discuss your state of health.

If the client asks you what you thought of a recent sporting event or some item in the news, keep your answer brief and truthful. In New Zealand, some clients ask me what I thought of ‘the game.’ I just tell them that I don't follow rugby. I do not go into detail about why I prefer soccer and about how Aston Villa is doing.

Do not start these conversations yourself and bring them to a close quickly if the client starts them. I once worked with a junior consultant who could never seem to control this ‘gab.’ He'd go on about his visits to the gym and his other leisure pursuits, which were equally trivial and boring. He never noticed clients shuffling uneasily under the weight of this guff. He also never remembered my warning, before every client meeting, to shut up.

Do not gossip. If the client refers to someone else, do not make derogatory remarks about them. If you can't say something positive, say nothing. If they say ‘And how's David Blakey these days?’ and you hate my guts, then just say ‘I believe he's fine.’ Don't add that you haven't seen for me for some time unless it's true.

On the way out

Remember to say goodbye to the receptionist. This is also a good time to thank them for the beverage again, especially if you abandonned it. Smile at anyone else you encounter.

If you are with a colleague, do not discuss the meeting on the way out. Do not discuss it in the car-park. Preferably, you should not discuss it at all until you are back in your own office.

A final story

Here's a final reminder of how to behave. One of my colleagues was working on Saturday in a client's open-plan offices. As Chris worked, he noticed an older man walking about, watering the tubs of plants throughout the offices. The older man was in scruffy baggy trousers and a well-worn sweater. Eventually, this man came up to Chris's desk. Chris looked up and smiled. ‘Good morning,’ said the man, ‘who are you?’ Chris told him who he was and what he was doing. The other man listened and smiled. Then he said he must get on with watering the plants. Then he turned back to Chris. ‘Oh sorry,’ he said, and held out his hand, ‘I'm Joe Bamford.’ My friend had been talking to the founder and chairman of the company.

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