The Perfect End: Consultancy Projects Should End With A New Beginning
Don't just send the invoice and wish the client well, take a little more time and effort to end the project on the best note possible. It might even lead to more work in the future.
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One way to end a consultancy project is to send the invoice, wish the client well, and be on your way.
That’s a surefire way to ensure the client rarely contacts you again.
This would be a shame because marketing to existing clients is the key to growth.
But sadly, it’s what most consultants do today.
A far better approach is to deliberately design an incredible end to the project that will lead everyone to feel good and open the door to future collaboration and referrals.
For a long time, I suspected there was a better way of doing this. After reaching out to many past clients, we designed a better system.
What Did Clients Want At The End Of The Project?
A few years ago, I contacted 10 former clients over two years to figure out what was most important to send them at the end of the project.
Remarkably, almost every former client said precisely the same thing.
Getting all the materials in one email (rather than drips and drabs). Clients didn’t want to go hunting through numerous deliverables sent in different emails over several months. Instead, they wanted one final package they could reference and share in the future. Even if they have received everything, they want one batch message at the end.
Having all the instructions and documentation to utilise the deliverables. In about half the responses, clients mentioned they wanted instructions or documentation for using/applying the deliverables we created included within the package we sent.
Receiving a prompt invoice with all the correct information to pay the client. Due to payments often being allocated to specific budgetary periods, clients need the invoice with all the correct information to be sent as quickly as possible. It is incredibly frustrating if the invoice is missing some key information (international bank details or PO number, etc.…). This often results in an invoice languishing unpaid until the next financial period.
Flexibility to answer additional questions. Clients almost always wanted the consultant to be flexible when answering ongoing questions and genuinely care about the project's results. If they needed any further support, they wanted the consultant to be open to providing it. But they also appreciated the broad rules of ‘out-of-scope' work.
This research wasn’t especially surprising, but it did validate much of our suspicions that we weren’t ending consultancy projects as well as we should.
What Should You Want At The End Of The Project?
It’s a lot easier to understand what consultants want at the end of a consultancy project. This usually includes.
To get paid promptly for the work without any surprises. Long delays in getting paid can be frustrating for an established consultant and ruinous for new consultants who depend on their income to pay bills. Consultants also don’t want to see any surprise deductions (shout out to one of the world’s largest organisations, which grants itself a 2% discount for paying on time).
To collect a testimonial. Every consultant wants a positive testimonial from the client they can use to attract future projects. Many, interestingly, fail to ask for them promptly.
To create a case study. Assuming the project goes well, they also want to collect a case study from the client they can use.
To attract future work from the client. Consultants want to keep themselves in the frame for future work and attract referrals from the client. When we talked about consultancy skills you need to master, building long-term relationships with clients was critical.
Designing The Perfect End To Consultancy Projects
With this in mind, we revamped our processes to design a better end to a consultancy projects as you see below.
Let’s go through each stage.
Before The Project Ends
Adapt your timeframe to suit the projects, but I suggest in the weeks before the official end date doing the following:
Send the invoice. I would suggest that you send the invoice as close as possible to the final deliverable and giving it up to a week to schedule the wrap-up call. You want to be like Disney here—separate the point of payment from the experience itself. Don’t make them wait on the invoice—ensure it is always sent on the exact day it will be sent. Schedule it in advance in QuickBooks if you need to.
Deliver the finalised set of deliveries. Package up and send the final set of deliverables - even if you’ve sent them across already. It’s good to send a final package. Make sure the titles or sections precisely match what’s in your consultancy contracts. Include all the instructions and documentation in one message so the client won’t have to search for it later.
The ‘End Week’ (E-0)
During the final week of the project, I’d suggest the following:
Agree on a schedule of contact. Set up your follow-up calls. Wait, this isn’t in your agreement? I don’t care - do it anyway. You should be in regular contact with every client you’ve ever worked with. This is critical - you should share new advice and thoughts with them long-term. Remember that marketing to former clients is the only way you will grow.
Set a deletion date for the client’s data. Since we’ve become ISO27001 certified, we’ve had to set a deletion date for any client data we receive. This is good practice even if you’re not required to do it. Don’t retain data you don’t need to. Set a calendar reminder for when you should delete the data. Anywhere from 12 to 36 months is typically ideal.
Provide follow-up options to improve their results. Once the project is close to completion, share some ideas or options for how to continue working together after the project is completed. You should know enough about them by now to be able to provide additional support. That might be training, ongoing coaching, or a more expansive or niche project.
Immediately After The Project Has Ended
The end of the project shouldn’t be the end of the relationship. I’d suggest the following:
Testimonials. Make sure you solicit testimonials at the near end of every project. Aim for when the relationship is strongest - not weeks after the project is complete. You will be amazed how frequently people don’t solicit testimonials they can display on their website and in proposals. Collect the testimonial towards the end (but before the end). Create super-proof of your methods.
Case study. Offer to create a case study of the project you can both share. Design the case study to be something the client can share with new staff members and build internal support and something you can share externally.
Free bonus. People tend to remember the beginning, high-point, and end of an experience. I often like to hold some benefit or add-on back and offer it to the client at the end as a bonus gift from us. This might be copies of our book, access to a training course, or some other reward they can use. The goal is to generate the maximum possible goodwill and ensure clients succeed in what they do. This is often a good benefit to reward clients who provide a testimonial or case study.
Weeks After The Project Has Finished
Over the long-term, there are additional things you can do.
Get feedback. You want feedback from clients on your services. A 1-minute survey works well here. You want to know how to improve your entire process from sales to delivery. This is how you defy stagnation.
Update internal documents: Update your internal documentation to reflect the lessons learned and the feedback you’ve received. Link to the example of the deliverables you’ve created, capture any lessons learned and include them on your roadmap. This will help you in the future and any future employees/contractors you might hire.
Check payment was received. You might be surprised when you start juggling multiple clients and different payment schedules and how easy it is for an invoice not to be paid due to problems with the client’s payment systems, a mistyped letter, or the client simply forgetting about it. Ensure you set a reminder for one week after the payment is due to check it has been received. If it hasn’t, then provide a calm nudge to the finance team before speaking to your contacts directly.
Invite them to become an ally. If the relationship with the client is especially strong, invite them to join your network of allies (or internal groups). Seek out their feedback and encourage the network to engage and ask questions directly of one another.
This sounds like a lot of steps to take. The key is to develop a system and follow it. Setting up the checklist with reminders for specific dates makes implementing it much easier.
p.s. You should also explore what to do when you begin a consultancy project.
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Thanks for reading
This is great stuff. The mistake many of us make, and I include myself here, is that we assume a job well done will speak for itself and that clients will remember and come back to us. So we leave it there. I think your system for continued engagement is spot on. As consultants, our job is to support our clients, and, as you say, this should continue long after a project ends.