...pectations are not met in theeyes of the client. The fundamental lesson that I learned is toset realistic expectations. If this is not possible it is notworth doing business with the client whether you are doingsales, marketing, or development work. Below are a number oflessons that I learned the hard way and that I implement everysingle day. While you may already be familiar with thesestrategies I am sure there are many that will benefit fromreview.Lesson 1 When things go wr...

...ong and the client knows call. Emaildoes not always translate circumstances well or feelings, thereis no voice inflection and a client usually places more value ona phone call. Discuss the situation and have solutions ready!Also have a time line ready for implementing the solutions andresolving the problems. Be sure you can deliver on the timeline,this will restore confidence. People in crises situations feelless stress when they know what to expect. When you execute thesolutions and the client is aware of this they will increasetheir confidence in you and relax more.Lesson 2: When things go wrong and the client doesn't know it isstill a good idea to let them know. This is not always the case,but in my experience, more often than not it resolves morepotential problems than it causes and shows your integrity. Ialways have solutions in place and address the problem before Italk. The majority of the time your client will find out aboutthe problem anyway. Lesson 3 Have solutions ready for the client when there areproblems, do not expect them to tell you what to do, offer themsolutions and ask for their thoughts. In my case clients havemost often said, "what do you think we should do?" This showsthe client that you have thought about the problem and have itunder control. Lesson 4 Do not promise what you cannot deliver. It is alwaysbetter to "under promise and over deliver" as they say. This iscritical in the above scenarios and always true with clients.Set realistic timelines and budgets and add a little padding soyou can absolutely deliver what you promised and then some. Thiswill pay off in spades. Clients will be more likely to refer youand more likely to use you in the future. Lesson 5 Add value to you and your business by bringing theclient ideas. For example you may suggest the following, "haveyou ever thought of using Google Adsense to add a revenue streamto your site? I noticed that your site is not in the OpenDirectory Project, have you considered submitting it? Do youhave a tracking system on your site? I have found this is a goodway to understand where people are going in your site and wherethey might be leaving, a tracking system may offer insights intonavigation problems which lead to audience attrition. Have youconsidered writing a white paper series?New pitches, marketing strategies, anything that is of valuethat will help move the client's business forward will beappreciated. I use this approach with all of my client's andeventually they begin asking me about portions of the businesswhere I am not currently involved. This may lead to additionaldollars in your contract and increased loyalty. The drawbackcomes when a client starts spending a lot of your time talkingabout new ideas. It is important to be careful with this one. Besure that the relationship is set up so everyone respects oneanother's time.When applied with tact these lessons will show help you minimizeconflict as it arises and add value to you in your client'seyes.