Project Hell: Don't Let Your Project Timeline Be Blown To Bits By These Common Problems
Master the art of polite firmness: Guide clients to success by balancing flexibility with firm boundaries, preventing delays, and keeping projects on track.
Hi, I’m Richard Millington. Please subscribe to my newsletter to discover our systems for scaling your consultancy practice to $1m+ in revenue.
One of the most challenging skills for new consultants to master is the art of ‘polite firmness’.
This is when you politely refuse a client's request without angering or upsetting the client. Wes Kao has discussed a similar topic of ‘finesse’ here.
Most new consultants are so nervous about upsetting a client that they agree to almost every request a client makes.
Need to delay a decision, push back a meeting, or change some approved deliverables?
“Sure…anything for you!”
Keeping the client happy is their overarching goal here. And that’s not a bad philosophy when you’re just starting your consulting journey. A little flexibility often goes a long way.
However, as you gain experience, you encounter superseding concepts. You begin to realise that prioritising the project's success is more important than the client's immediate happiness.
Often, you must pr…
