How to manage ever changing client expectations

A Business Analyst has to deal with lot of different types of clients during his career. Some are easy to deal with but with some it can go horribly wrong if not dealt tactfully. Difficult situations do arise between business analyst and the client but as a vendor to your client it is important for the Business Analyst to put on Customer Service Hat rather than playing the blame game. It is never easy to handle situations where the client is being demanding and unreasonable but the Customer is always right - Right? Professionalism plays an important factor in dealing with such scenarios and as a representative of your organization it is the responsibility of the Business Analyst to avoid instances of bad customer relationship and dissatisfied customer, since it may lead to business loss.

Listed below are few of the difficult situations which may arise when dealing with challenging clients and few tips on how to handle such situations

1. Lack of clarity in business requirements: A situation may arise that when there is a constant change in the requirements and even after various telephonic / in-person discussions, email requirements do not match the discussions then it is always better to get everything in writing. If there is course correction after that then it depends on the type of contract with client whether to accept change in the requirements / extend the project deadline / charge more for the new changes etc. Have official signoff from the client - Always!!!
2. Beware against scope creeps: In such situations it is advised that you educate the client about the reality with relevant facts about the current project timelines & deadlines and new ideas cannot be squeezed in short time-frames. This situation arises often in Agile model and needs to be dealt tactfully. Everything is easy and nothing is impossible but it takes time and efforts to do it. Do show full commitment and loyalty towards work but over stretching always will make you and the development team unhappy and it is not good in the long run. It also affects the quality at times if impact analysis has not been done completely.
3. Changes in prioritization: In this scenario also it is better to get everything in writing at the start of the project. Additionally keep client informed client on the progress of the project so that if course correction is required then it happens at the beginning and not when the project is midway.
4. Improper impact classification of issues: When client gets nitpicky about small issues which aren’t going to make much difference to the functionality and are good to have features in the current scope but considering the project deadline it is difficult to implement, then it is always advisable to be honest and be reasonable enough to accept such good to have features but also be straight forward that it is too late for implementation.
5. Micro Management: Sometimes clients think they can do better job than the expert hired by them and will always throw suggestions for improvements and will disturb the established workflow which can lead to micro managing things which are not necessary.
   It is the job of business analyst to assure client by showing confidence in his approach and style of working. Be humble and accept suggestions which would work and with appropriate reasoning politely turn down suggestions which won’t work. Deal tactfully since it is not good to make them look or feel unwanted.
6. Managing personal and project life: Clearly define at the start of the project about the working hours so that the client doesn’t assumes you will be available on weekends and after office always. During crunch situation you are professional to get the work done by working overtime and on weekends but that shouldn’t be a daily case.

Listed below are some of the industry norms that a Business Analyst has to follow to ensure smooth functioning of the project

1. Do Not Argue - EXPLAIN: Always give an ear to clients concerns and issues as it helps them to know that you understand their problem and will help in building good rapport.  It is advisable to not point out fingers when something is not working as intended instead provide quick solutions to fix the problem. Acknowledge different viewpoints.
2. Be Polite and Honest: Always be polite when talking to client during altercations. Accept your mistakes and move forward.
3. Be Professional: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going - only if you show “Professionalism” in your attitude and approach towards client’s issues and concerns. 
4. Keep Clients Informed: Keep the communication about project progress and roadblocks flowing so that no news comes as a shock to the client and client is aware about the project status.
5. Demonstrate your value: Flaunt your past experiences and with relevant facts show how you have been doing good work and how it has benefitted organizations. Provide useful and tailored status reports displaying the progress of the project.
6. Learn from Mistakes: To err is human – even client understands that no one is perfect and mistakes are bound to happen. Problem is when mistakes are repeated and a business analyst it is very important to utilize past experiences for enhancing and improving the product development process.
7. Document Important Decisions: Document requirements and taking signoff before the start of the development is a process of old Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models. Today we are in the Agile SDLC era where documentation is not given much importance since it is considered as a waste of time. Well there always be an argument how much to document in Agile SDLC but very important thing for any type of SLDC model is get important decisions in writing.
8. Double check deliverables: Business Analyst is suppose to double check his deliverable before delivering it to the client since there is no review gate in between client and business analyst. Self Analysis is as important as feedbacks from client.

Business Analyst has to accept that difficult clients are fact of life. Even if a business analyst is very good at work and has a very good track record at some point of his professional life he has to deal with a difficult client who is not easy to please. Important key to deal with such clients is being a good listener and convert criticism into constructive feedback to improve the development process and build a satisfying product. Empathize and be Apologetic towards clients when genuine concerns and issues are raised.

No matter how difficult the journey is during SDLC if the end product is a good and satisfying product then the client will be eventually a satisfied customer. Focus on the destination and not the journey.

About Author:

Nikhil Vaishnav is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, he actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. He can be contacted at nikhil.v@spluspl.com