What You Want or What You Need? Where “The Client is Always Right” Philosophy Falls Short

"The Client is Always Right"

When a provider is price-focused rather than outcome-focused, they tend to meet all client requests with a “yes”, but they often fail to play the part of the “consultant” well.

“The Client is Always Right” philosophy sounds great, but a healthy client relationship is better served by providing a “qualified yes” to challenging client requests to ensure there’s understanding and alignment to the client’s desired outcome and to educate the client on the options.

When vendors fall to “the client is always right” philosophy and simply offer a blind “yes” to clients, they risk breaking promises, and risk failing to deliver the desired results, which ultimately ends poorly for the client and the provider.

Here's a First-Hand Example of how this plays out in Live Events

Recently, I spoke to a potential client who shared that they needed a forty-foot-wide LED Wall to make their meeting impactful. As I explored this further, I uncovered there were factors that hadn’t been considered. Another company had pitched the idea of this LED wall, and the managing partner loved the concept of being on stage in front of a wall like Steve Jobs. The problem was that the other vendor companies simply provided a quote for equipment and labor based on the request and did so at their desired price, without focusing on the outcome.

Rather than fall to “the client is always right” philosophy and simply quote an LED wall, like all the other providers (and risk the client’s disappointment in the outcome), I put my “consultant” hat on and dug deeper. I recall saying to the potential client, “Based on our discussion, I understand the desired effect, and that the CEO wants to be in front of a giant screen (like an Apple keynote presentation), but have you considered what will be on the screen? And have you considered whether or not you’ll need a budget for that content?”

It's just a PowerPoint

“It’s just a PowerPoint,” the client shared. We then discussed the desired outcome and the current content plan to identify gaps. As I explained to the client, “Without adapting the content to maximize the impact of the wall, you are missing out on the amazing potential of a large format video wall. To achieve the experience your CEO expects, you’ll want content developed and scaled specifically to this LED wall application, so you can fully utilize the space and get the “Steve Jobs” presentation feel that you want.”

As our discussion continued she began to understand that just scaling their PowerPoint to the large LED wall wouldn’t achieve the desired impact. Later, she shared that we were the only company that didn’t try to “sell” her, but instead approached her like a partner, made sure she understood the application and focused on the outcome.

Our Approach

As your partner, we have the courage to identify concerns and pitfalls in advance of the event to ensure we are not in the ‘danger zone’ where your expectations do not align with what is possible. It’s easy to give you the answers you want to hear, but we choose to work in concert with you to execute flawless events and raise the standard through innovation.

We focus on value throughout our planning process and hold all members of our team to that principle. Together, our team and the clients deliver powerful experiences.

At ON Services, we will always offer an effective and achievable project plan aligned with your messaging objectives, reflecting your budget, and we will tell you when they cannot align. #AlwaysON