Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

LEARNING OUTCOMES

LO1- Log requests for support

LO2- Prioritize support requests with appropriate personnel

Recording Client Support Requirements

INTRODUCTION

Do you know how to maintain communication with client?

In every society, humans have developed spoken and written language as a means of sharing

messages. The most basic form of interpersonal communication is a dyad (conversation
between two people). Communicating well in a dyad requires good conversational skills.
Communicators must know how to start and end the conversation, how to make them understood,
how to respond to the partner's statements, how to be sensitive to their partner's concerns, how to
take turns, and how to listen. Together, these abilities are called communication competence.

It is actually difficult to contact clients too much. It is easy to fail to contact them frequently enough.
If there is anyone anywhere who has ever sent you a check for your services and with whom you
haven't communicated in the past 6 months, then you will never reach your growth potential. The
secret is simple: Establish an ongoing dialogue with clients.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE WITH A CLIENT?

In two words: Very carefully.

There are any number of occasions that require either written or oral communications between a
professional and a prospective client.

Note
 Communication: the exchange of information between people, e.g. by means of speaking,
writing, or using a common system of signs or behavior.
 Client is a person or entity helped by another: a person or entity dependent on the
protection or patronage of another person or entity

Example
In developing website

Do More Listening Than Talking

It is important to emphasize the need to listen and let them provide you with the information that
will help you to do the best job possible. Of course there will be plenty of times where the clients
should be doing the listening, but especially during the initial stages when you are just getting to
know about their business, be sure to place the most value in listening to what they have to say.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

Misunderstandings will always lead to wasted time, so don’t be afraid to ask the client questions that
will help you to get on the same page and to design something that will work for them. Many clients

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

won’t give a lot of information to you about their business or their customers unless you ask because
they may not see the need for you to fully understand their business.

Be Patient with Your Explanations

Clients appreciate designers who show patience and a willingness to explain things in a way that
they can understand, without putting them down.

Explain Your Reasons and Thought Processes

As you give your opinions throughout the process it is important that you also explain to the client
why you are giving that advice. When those situations arise, rather than just doing it the way they
want or doing it your way with no explanation, take the time to demonstrate to them why you think it
is important and what the potential impacts can be.

Give Advice When Needed

Designers really are consultants to clients as well. There will be situations where you will need to be
willing to give them advice on a particular decision that needs to be made, or situations where you
should add some of your own ideas for making the project better.

Avoid Jargon

One of the biggest frustrations for clients is when designers talk to them with terms and phrases that
they don’t understand.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

Avoid Assumptions

Assuming that the client understands certain things or that they want something a particular way can
lead to miscommunication. If you’re unsure about something, take a minute and ask the client rather
than assuming and causing a lot of work that needs to be re-done later.

Use Examples When Possible

One thing that can really help your communication, particularly when you are explaining things to
clients or giving them choices, is to use real-world examples. Explaining options over the phone or
through email can be challenging, and at times ineffective. By using examples to help, you can make
things more clear for clients and get more accurate response and avoid misunderstanding.

Make Your Communication Count

Because your clients are busy, most of them will not want to be constantly receiving emails or phone
calls about the project. One of the lessons I’ve learned from my experience is to make the
communication count. Try to put your questions together in one email rather than sending 4 different
emails in one morning with one question each. Additionally, make an effort to be as clear as possible
when you communicate so there is no need to go back and forth several times just to understand the
issue at hand.

Because clients value their own time, they will appreciate if you maximize the time that you have in
communication and if it requires them to respond to less emails or take less phone calls. This also
goes back to the need for good organization and having a system to keep tabs on the communication.
If you forget what a client told you, you can either go back through your records to find out yourself

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

or you can contact them to ask again. Of course, it’s preferable to not have to go back to the client
when it’s not necessary.

Put it in Writing

One of the reasons that email communication is effective is because it gives you and the client a
record of what has been said. There may be times where it is necessary for customer service or for
legal purposes to have a record of what was said, by whom, and when.

For situations where you are talking to clients on the phone, it’s a good practice to type notes after
you get off the phone to summarize what was discussed, and of course you will want to include the
date and the names of the specific people that you spoke to. While you may not be able to prove that
what is in your notes was actually discussed, it is still better than not having record at all, and it can
be just as effective when you need to go back through the records for your own purposes. Another
option is to send a summary of the conversation to your clients by email. This may be overkill for
short calls just to discuss one point, but it could be helpful with longer, more detailed calls, and it
could also help clients to have an account of the conversation for themselves.

Keep it Professional

While you are communicating with clients, whether it be face-to-face, telephone, or email, always
stay professional. Clients are paying for your services and they will expect you to conduct your
business in a professional manner, so avoid things that could cause them to see you differently.
That’s not to say that you can’t get to know your clients on a more personal level, but remember that
what you say and write can impact you designer/client relationship.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

Whenever you communicate with your client

You should consider the following 7 C’s (characteristics of the message to be transferred, and proper
attitude to follow)

1. Complete: the message should includes all the parts, that are necessary
2. Clear: the message should be easy to understand and not causing any confusion
3. Correct: the message should be accurate or, true without any mistake
4. Considerate: you should always think of other people’s wishes and feelings, careful not to
hurt or upset others. Use We instead of I where ever necessary.
5. Courtesy: you should have a polite behavior that shows respect for other people
6. Concise: the message should include only the information that is necessary and important,
using few words, i.e the message should be short and precise
7. Coherent: the message should be composed of ideas which are logically ordered, well
organized, and easy to understand

Note: Take care to speak or behave in a way that follows the accepted standard or rules

Examples of means of communication

Telephone  

 An instrument that sends and receives voice messages and data. Telephones convert speech
and data to electrical energy, which is sent great distances.
 an electronic apparatus containing a receiver and transmitter that is connected to a
telecommunications system, enabling the user to speak to and hear others with similar
equipment
Electronic mail, or e-mail,

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

 Is a widely used Internet application that enables individuals or groups of individuals to

quickly exchange messages, even if they are separated by long distances.
 is a method of sending written messages , voices ,and graphics over digital communication
link such as the internet

Note: Internet is a computer-based global information system composed of many

interconnected computer networks. Each network may link tens, hundreds, or even thousands
of computers, enabling them to share information and processing power. The Internet has
made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another effectively
and inexpensively.
Note; Refer information sheet how to use telephone and E-mail to communicate with client.
Summery
 For situations where you are talking to clients on the phone, it’s a good practice to type notes after
you get off the phone to summarize what was discussed, and of course you will want to include the
date and the names of the specific people that you spoke to.
 The Internet has made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one
another effectively and inexpensively.
 While communicating with client follow the 7C’s

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

Prioritize client support requests

Prioritizing, essentially, is logically thinking about how you spend your time. When you arrive at
work each morning, you might come full of optimism and with a full to-do list. But office
distractions like phone calls, meetings and unexpected emergencies distract you from your larger,
more important projects that are necessary for getting ahead in your career. Here are some tips to
prioritize tasks.

Prioritizing Requests from Multiple Customers

Have the customer force rank what's most important, considering your input on how much each
feature will cost.

But what if you have multiple customers and you're expected to represent their needs? How do you
prioritize possible features such that your product or system delivers a little something for everyone?

The "force-rank" approach works pretty well for a single customer voice, but for independent
software vendors, or service owners with diverse customers, a little more is needed.

One approach that works pretty well in my experience is to use a "voting" approach. This basically
lets stakeholders choose their favorites, while limiting them to a fixed number of choices.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

We like to consolidate the input from stakeholders (could be an actual customer, product manager,
colleague, best friend, or family cat). Each voter gets to pick their top 5 most important features from
the larger list. Features can then be ranked by the number of votes they receive, at least as a first cut.

After adding up the totals and ranking the features, a pattern will usually emerge. One or
more features will be clearly more requested than others. Now combining this with the
development estimates, we can start to put together a rough picture of what the next release
might contain.

Now, this doesn't mean that we would only implement what the voting turned up, but its a
powerful way to get a handle on what has the most meaning for our customers. Sometimes a
smaller feature that didn't get any votes will make sense to combine with a popular feature to
have a bigger impact. Or we may have to defer a feature that is too costly to implement, or that
would make the product more complex to understand.

When deciding on priorities, your customer's voice is a key input. Even when there are
multiple voices. The trick is finding a way to meaningfully combine those voices into a hit song.

As a product manager, you are very likely to have more feature requests than what you can
put out in a given release. In my case, a good product manager’s job at release planning is

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

figuring out what to eliminate from consideration – you have to make hard decisions – that is
what you are paid to do.

Please note that my background is working on products that have mass market appeal and did
not have to deal with things like customer funded development – where a customer throws
money at you to get a feature that only they will use.

Prioritize requests based on guideline

There are five guidelines for Prioritize requests

1) How MANY customers will ever USE it?

We held a strong line on this – if the feature was meant just for the selected few (no matter
how much money these customers had), we said No to the customer. You may say – no way, it
will not work in my case. My reply – have you tried – Have you told your customer No and
told him why? – if not try it.

I will give you an example – we had a very well-known consumer company in Ethiopia as a
customer – they had bought a few licenses but had the promise of buying a whole lot more
licenses – they had a lot of money. We visited them in Ethiopia, they visited us here, met with
our executives etc. – they tried to push their agenda hard on us and they had all sort of ideas as
to how the software needs to work. We questioned them hard to get to the bottom of their
underlying problems – why, why, why do you need to do something. They had some great ideas
and some that applied only to them – we readily agreed to do the former and rejected the latter with
solid business reasons why we won’t do it – not enough customers have the need.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

They respected us at the end – their feedback was that we were the first vendor to have grilled them
on their requests and were bold enough to turn them down, as opposed to other vendors who were
ready to do whatever they wanted. They realized that we were a company that knew what we were
doing and our willingness to grill them, told them that we wanted to make sure we were solving their
problems the right way.

2) How OFTEN will customers USE it?

Is this something a customer will use once a year, once a month or something they would use every
day. Why does this matter? Remember the phrase “death by thousand cuts” – if something that needs
to be used every day is not supported or is very inefficient to do, it kills user productivity. This may
not be something that will make a press release when you launch a new release or in your product
demo, but this is something that will get you a standing ovation from your existing customers.
Believe me, I have experienced this multiple times where the smallest change scored the highest in
customer satisfaction. Stuff such as choosing the right default values, remembering the last used
options fall into this category.

Taking how MANY customers would use it and multiplying it by how OFTEN they will use it; you
get what I define as Velocity of a new feature.

VELOCITY = How MANY customers will use X How OFTEN they will use

Features with highest velocity should be serious contenders to make into your new release.

3) Will this open up new markets?

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

It could be something that could be asked by your smallest customer – but it could be this brilliant
idea that could change the rules of the game and open up a completely new market for you. You as a
product manager need to make this call.

I have been asked in the past if we implemented feature requests only from large customers with lots
of licenses – my response always has been – size does not matter, quality of the idea does. This is
what product managers get paid to do – take such ideas and make a business out of it.

4) Is this considered table stakes by the market?

There could be features you would need to compete in the market – if you don’t have these basic
things; you are not even considered a player. These ones should be obvious if you know your
market. For example, pivot tables or charting are considered table stakes for a serious spreadsheet
application.

But tread this one with caution – this is where sales can take you for a ride. They will say “we cannot
compete because we don’t have this X, Y and Z” and the list could be endless. For those being raised
by sales, ask them to put you in touch with customers who would not buy without this feature – then
from the customers get to the real problem that is solved by the feature – for all you know, you may
have an innovative way to do it, or can come up with one that might change the rules of the game.

5) Is the feature a building block to the real thing?

This could be something determined by R&D (architectural changes) or some other user facing
feature that is needed to support the final feature.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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 Unit Record Client Support Requirements

NSPTC Information Sheet

Module title Recording Client Support Requirements

If you consistently use these guidelines, you end up making a business case why you want to turn
down a feature request – this even works with executives because it is now based on facts and not
opinions. After all this, if some higher up overrides your decision, it is not in your hands, but you
know you did your analysis.

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TTLM Development Manual Prepared by: Habtom A. TVET Outcome Based
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