The 3 Client Communication Risks (& How to Avoid Them) w/ Susan Fennema

Teamwork

Mar 7, 2024

It can be terrifying to allow your clients to “see how the sausage is made,” and this is one of the main concerns related to handling client communications within your project management or professional service automation software.

While there are benefits to streamlining your client communications and inviting them into the system that runs your agency–benefits like visibility, client perception & efficiency–each of those benefits comes with some pretty intimidating risks.

What if internal communication accidentally goes to a client?

What if we give clients “too much visibility"?

In today’s conversation with Susan Fennema, CEO at Beyond the Chaos (an operations consulting firm that helps service-based businesses bring order to the, well, chaos), she answers those questions and also shares:

The 3 primary risks to client communications within the software where you manage client work
How to mitigate those risks through a few key communication strategies
Tactical tips for making your team more efficient without making it harder on your clients (hint: it has to do with a few specific integrations you can leverage)

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Connect with Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanfennema/

An Agency’s Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization: https://bit.ly/3TdvrZx

3 Steps to Avoid Furious Clients w/ Jackie Hermes: https://www.teamwork.com/agencylife/podcast/3-steps-to-avoid-furious-clients/

How This Agency Reduced Churn by 50% (with AI's Help) w/ Erik Huberman: https://www.teamwork.com/agencylife/podcast/how-this-agency-reduced-churn-by-50-percent-with-the-help-of-ai

How to Talk to Your Clients about Money: https://beyondthechaos.biz/how-to-talk-to-your-clients-about-money/

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00:00 Introduction