A Consultant’s Perspective: Successful Projects and Happy Clients

Seeing the True Value of the System

As a consultant, one of my primary goals is a successful project/implementation. What does a successful project look like to me? If I was to ask my colleagues this question I would receive a variety of responses, but here’s my idea of success. To me, a successful project is the amount of knowledge transferred to the client. I get the most gratification when my clients have learned enough to be able to move on without my support, and carry out tasks on their own.

I work with many types of clients. Clients who are skeptical, clients who are eager, clients who fear failure or the clients who lack confidence. When I first begin a project, I take the client at face value. I approach every aspect with a positive attitude and expect the client is there to learn. For the most part, this approach has served me well. Mind you, I have come across clients who are resistant to working with an outside consultant, and I feel, those clients lose the most from the project implementation. The ideal client is one who fears failure because this proves to be a welcome challenge for me. The reason I describe this as a challenge is because I know they are going to be reluctant to do anything in the system, but I enjoy working with these clients the most because I know my skills as a consultant will give them the push of confidence to keep trying until they get it right. Thus, removing the idea of failure from their mind.

Clients who are nervous or fearful are clients who tend to resist change as well as lack confidence using new technology. I know the product I am working with is easy to use, and I ensure that they see this. One of my clients who kept warning me they would break the system had such a positive experience with Prophix, she said this was the fastest she has ever completed a budget, and it was a very easy process to complete. Another client has taken off with Prophix, and she is setting processes up on her own and seeing the true value of the system.

To me, this is enough to allow me to feel I am doing my job well and delivering to the client’s expectations beyond what they had ever initially imagined with Prophix.