The Client Listening Elephant: getting partners to say yes and mean it!

Securing partner buy-in is essential when working in a partnership. Those familiar with partnership dynamics will understand the political manoeuvring and the effort required to obtain sign-off on new projects and initiatives. This article (the first of two) delves into these challenges within the realm of client listening, revealing intriguing sides of the issue and illustrating why a 'yes' isn't always a genuine agreement, and how to achieve true buy-in.

What do we need buy-in for?

When it comes to client listening, there are three key pieces of buy-in needed:

1.      Letting someone interview clients

2.      Putting clients forward

3.      Putting forward clients/former clients who are not happy.

The first hurdle is to enable someone external to the relationship to go and gather insights from a client. This might be as part of a formal programme, however it could just be ad hoc. This is hurdle number one. Without this buy-in, client listening cannot progress at all. It is often the focus of persuasive efforts, but it can mask complexity; it is not uncommon for partners as a collective to say yes to the concept of client listening, but then hide behind excuses when it comes to hurdle number two.

Hurdle number two is getting partners to say yes to putting their own clients forward;  the NIMBY of client listening. Anyone who has tried to get a client listening programme off the ground has experienced this, perhaps the most frustrating hurdle of them all; partners who say they love the idea of client listening, but then back away when it comes to putting their own clients forward. It is absolutely the right time for others, but just not right now for their own. Where this happens en masse, any client listening programme falls to progress.

The final hurdle is the biggest of them all. It is putting forward unhappy clients (or clients who were so unhappy they have taken business elsewhere). This also includes target companies who chose not to use the firm when it came to decision time.  Crossing this hurdle is crucial for the success of client listening. We use the insights gathered from client listening to make strategic decisions that enable growth. If firms only have insights from a positively biased sample, they will find themselves taking action with blinkers on.

The client listening elephant 

The growth that client listening can generate only comes when firms truly have a listening culture. The truth is, every firm claims to have a listening culture. Admitting otherwise would suggest they fall short of their desired image. However, cultivating a genuine listening culture is far from straightforward. What does it entail?

• Embracing Feedback Across The Board: Firms must foster an environment where feedback is welcomed and valued at all levels. For instance, many have pointed to how successful teams at Google openly share constructive criticism, leading to continuous improvement. It is not uncommon for 1:1 coaching conversations with professionals to veer towards feedback; either it is not given enough internally, or it is given in a way that is confused and unhelpful. If this is the baseline internally, stretching it to listening to clients can end up with feedback going unactioned when it comes back into the firm.

  
  

• Learning from Mistakes: Mistakes should be showcased as learning opportunities rather than hidden away. We often say that our most difficult clients and colleagues are our most valuable teachers.

  
  

Similarly, Amy Edmondson (credited with coming up with the concept of psychological safety by many) categorises three types of failure. Basic failures, which are simple, preventable mistakes in familiar situations; complex failures, which involve multiple causes in well-known settings; and intelligent failures, which are the "good" failures crucial for achieving our goals.  Edmondson argues that instead of avoiding failure at all costs, we should embrace intelligent failures, as they provide valuable insights and opportunities for growth.

How regularly does your firm engage in internal discussions about what has been learnt from a particular client or project? Some organisations do this daily. Professionals tend to be perfectionists and shy away from these discussions. Again, if this is the baseline internally, it can be very hard to open up these discussions with clients.

• Psychological Safety: Every individual needs to feel safe to voice concerns and ideas without fear of retribution. Edmondson's concept of failure builds on her research on psychological safety. We have written before about whether there can be true psychological safety were there are pockets, or individuals, who don’t feel safe. When we measure psychological safety in firms, the reality is that most are left wanting. Psychological safety can also vary widely across teams – so whilst the person who is championing client listening might have a good experience with a team that has high psychological safety, this does not necessarily mean that other teams in the same firm have the same building blocks.

  
  

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