Listening to build stronger client relationships

As a finance professional, you bring deep technical expertise and insight to engagements, projects, and business cases. Yet this is only half of what they expect and need from you. During this session, you will understand why clients struggle to explain what they want the first, four simple, powerful, memorable questions to uncover what they want and the technique to increase your industry reputation. 

Understanding clients’ needs in complex, collaborative and constrained environments can be problematic if you listen for what they have said rather than what they think and mean.  

Active listeners notice what’s said, Deep listeners explore what isn’t said.  

By anticipating and avoiding frustrating and disjointed briefing meetings, misunderstandings, rework, rebrief, and overruns of scope, time, or budgets, you will build stronger relationships; your work will make a more sustainable impact and amplify your reputation.  

Listening takes place before, during and after the client brief.  

This session will enable you to: 

• Understand the importance of being a finance AND process expert 
• The four questions you should explore in every client meeting 
• Understand what the client heard rather than what you said.

Upon satisfactory completion of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Shorten your client meetings  
• Reduce rework and unpaid project scope creep  
• Increase the quality and impact of your work.