OR/MS Today - December 2000 - Was It Something I Said?

December 2000

Was It Something I Said?

Wish List for Santa:
More Great Client(s)

By Vijay Mehrotra

Dear Santa,

Well, I'm back. Thanks for everything you've done for me over the past year. My family is happy and healthy. The economy is vibrant, and our business is doing well. We have many interesting projects and terrific new employees. I managed to buy a house and attend a World Series game in the past few months.

I've got the usual requests for next year, Santa — challenging and relevant projects, less stress, more laughter, higher revenues, stronger margins and harmony on all fronts. Beyond all of this, Santa, here's my Number 1 wish for the New Year: more Great Clients.

I understand that this requires more definition, and I am happy to provide it here. It turns out that a couple of months ago I had an experience that really helped crystallize my understanding of a Great Client. Until this recent epiphany, I was misguided. I thought that a Great Client was merely one who: (a) was both professional and friendly; (b) kept providing billable hours; and (c) paid our invoices on time. These are all great characteristics, Santa, but please think of them as necessary-but-not-sufficient conditions.

My recent experience has, for better or for worse, raised the bar and redefined for me how satisfying a short consulting engagement can be — if you have a Great Client on the other end. Since I'm not sure if you were watching or not, Santa (I always assume that you use intelligent sampling techniques to determine who's been naughty or nice), let me give you the breakdown.

BEFORE. My client began the engagement by providing a list that she wanted to work on with me. Beyond just the specific topics, she had a clear business understanding of why each item was significant for their business, and she was able to prioritize topics clearly as we defined the project's scope.

Once the scope and budget had been established, she was actively engaged in discussions via phone and e-mail, and in setting the agenda for the site visit. Calls were returned quickly, and decisions were made collaboratively, based on a combination of their needs and my professional opinion thereof, which was clearly considered and valued throughout the engagement.

She asked: (a) what they should do prior to my visit to prepare; (b) who should participate in which phases of the visit; and (c) what I wanted for lunch each day. Even more significant, she had the authority, the influence and the personal commitment to: ensure that the requested data was gathered and inspected prior to the visit, drive the process of developing specifications, and make sure that the right people were available at the right times during the site visit.

And they actually did it.

DURING. When I arrived at the site, everyone was in the room, waiting to work with me. The PC hardware, projector, network connection and whiteboard were set up. The room was filled with enthusiasm, from the manager who had planned the session to the IT guy who had been asked to participate at the last minute.

My client was responsible for defining and implementing a major re-design of her company's operations, and she wanted me to help develop a methodology to quantify the impact of different system configurations. When I first met her some years ago, she seemed like a classic case of a Helpless Client. (For us OR types, a Helpless Client makes a big deal about how complex this doggone math stuff is, and generally how miserable and disempowered she is in her current jobs. In the extreme case, she asks you for a job or a reference, putting you in a decidedly uncomfortable spot.)

Fortunately, my initial impression of her had been dead wrong. During this site visit, I quickly observed that she clearly understood why I was there and what I had to offer, and she was committed to having her staff learn from me. Consequently, the whole group was eager to work with me to understand the relevant inputs, outputs and methodology for defining experiments and comparing results.

By the time I left, we had developed a plan to conduct a series of structured experiments to evaluate several different options. In the process, we also identified some data inputs that needed further refinement and discussed industry best practices for dealing with certain types of cases, which enabled me to add more value.

Many clients tell you they want to learn — but mostly they end up having you come in and do it for them, regardless of whether they have provided you with the scope and budget for the project. This client was actually committed to learning how to be self-sufficient.

AFTER. At the conclusion of the visit, we worked together to define a series of Next Steps. This by itself is not unusual; every professional that I know — doctors, lawyers, consultants, electricians, plumbers, even professors — leave a set of to-do's in their wake. But this client actually did the assignment — correctly. The analysis was conducted, a major business decision was made, and best of all, the client took the time to share their results with me. And to thank me for helping them.

This type of "enabling" role is very satisfying — your expertise (mathematical and otherwise) is leveraged by people who have something at stake. Such experiences feed my unmet yearning to teach, deliver terrific value to clients and help change the way people think. It's all possible — when you have a Great Client. Please do what you can for me next year. All the best with your supply chain challenges,

Vijay

Vijay Mehrota (vijay@onward-net.com) is the CEO of Onward Inc., in Mountain View, Calif.

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