The art of customer experience: Client engagement

Trent whilst I enjoyed your article. There is one part I do morally not like. I won't name the pricing providers but I really disapprove of some them .

I always let my client take the letter of engagement away with them even if they have already said yes. I absolutely hate when someone asks me to sign something in front of them, especially on a detail document like a letter of engagement .

You.cannot read any document in detail in that pressure . I have never lost decent clients by doing this, it has filtered out clients who will be annoying and trying to get work done for nothing .

It is not right to force someone to sign something without giving them the opportunity to think . If they trust you without pressure they will come back.

I like the article too. I whole heartedly agree with Sarah about being forced to sign engagement letters or similar documents electronically. It may be quick but it is a little forceful.

I like to close the deal on the day. I see no point in getting a client to sign an engagement letter and then immediately cancel when they get back home or to the office. I hate this when I'm doing business.

I'm a one-man company that works from home. I try to get my client's name and address before the meeting with the intention of having printed and edited in Word, from my firm's templates, an engagement letter. Most of my services are are standard services.

I think that it is also very important that the person that signs and prepares the engagement letter on behalf of the company fully understand the ramifications of the letter and any related terms and conditions. They should not be simply entering words to fit boxes unless they understand what they are doing. My previous firm always insisted that I partner signed the document in ink having had the opportunity to read what was being contractually agreed. Surely this is more important than fancy iPads on the day.

I do ask the client to sign the engagement letter on the day though I and them both have a paper copy. I asked for the signature for practical reasons to avoid the time and cost of posting engagement letters after the meeting back and forth and to ensure that I actually get a signed copy of my file and don't waste time chasing up after the meeting. I am always open with my clients and say that they can cancel at any stage and the reason why I have mentioned above why I get a signature on the day. I make it quite clear to the client. No one is being forced 'to sign up'.

To me a lot is written recently about the cloud. It is a method of operation and a service it is not a be all and end all.

I worked in a City Centre firm, Hentons in Leeds, where it was all about being modern, using the latest mobile computer (not a laptop but some sort of round computer) to give a presentation to clients. The actual working environment was not so pretty, with paper and boxes of records everywhere. The trouble was that the computer had a strange keyboard and mouse and was very difficult to use. It was nothing like the laptop that I had on my desk and used everyday. As a result of trying to impress the clients I gave a poor presentation and could not easily move around documents on the modern IT.

I do not think that I have met a client that objects to anybody taking notes in a way that is most appropriate to them. I see my clients taking notes on paper and on computers (some people are excellent typists) and so long as they can take the notes down efficiently and accurately than I do not see the problem.

I wholeheartedly agree with using modern technology where it is practical and saves time and achieves useful objectives. We are all individuals and even in modern firms we do not have to be forced in to straight jackets.

Also agree with Sarah and Paul - I always send engagement letters with t&c's after successful new client meetings and this has never been an issue - I to do not like being asked to sign up in a first meeting to anything, so I would not ask or expect my new clients to do that while I am in the same room as them as it never gives them a chance to really read the very important document!

Recently I've been telling my clients not to get so caught up with 'hype' and I feel pricing software falls into the category, I admit I was impressed by the idea and thought at first, yes I need that to. However listening to firms real experiences who have lost clients by using these tick a box platforms, helped me realise that it's not something I need to be swept up in right at the moment (or perhaps ever especially where I have a current process that works, that allows me to personalise my quotes as I see fit) and was a good reminder of the advice I give to clients about not just getting something, because everyone appears to be getting it to!

Hi guys. Interesting article and I wholeheartedly agree with not pressurising the client and having to sign up there and then on the spot.

However being someone that embraces cloud software where it can increase efficiencies I do use digital signature software through Adobe. I would never go back to a manual signature but this is beside the point.

I have spent hours upon hours looking into some of the commercial pricing programs out there and decided to cut a long story short they weren't for me.

However I have fully embraced the philosophy behind this and have actually created my own system to suit our firm.

I have a saved workbook in Excel which is made to look very pretty and professional and have one for a sole trader and one for a company.

I go through a few tabs which asks some basic questions on their turnover, payroll the bookkeeping etc and based on this it arrives at a summary of the services and the pricing.

I have to say this is going down very well and has actually increased my margins because it makes the pricing far more transparent.

If anyone wants to know more about this feel free to PM me.

Steve