Communicating process is about letting others know where you are in the process of delivering requested information or in completing a task. Most never think about communicating process because they do not see the value in it. However, when you communicate the process, it lets those who are depending on you know that you are working on what they need and whether you are on target or running behind. This is true for both external clients and internal colleagues.

Let’s consider a few scenarios to tease out what communicating process looks like.

• You have a report due to a client in 3 days. You recognize you will not be able to deliver the report on time. What do you do?

1. Option 1 – do nothing and simply deliver the report whenever it is complete, even if it is a few days late.
2. Option 2 – call the client on the due date to let them know you will be a few days late delivering the report.
3. Options 3 – call the client now to let them know you are running behind on their report, but you have a plan to complete and deliver it 1 week late. You will call again if that plan changes.

Option 3 is the best option for communicating process. You have communicated to the client early that their report will be late, you have a plan to complete it, and you’ve shared the new due date when you expect to deliver.

• You gave an engineering estimate for a project. You receive bids and the lowest bid is 15% over your estimate. What do you do?

1. Option 1 – call or meet with your client to describe what has happened and your best answers as to why you think the lowest bid was 15% over your estimate. You also share what their best options are for moving forward.
2. Option 2 – email the bids to the client with your recommendation to award the project.
3. Option 3 – sit on it for a week before deciding to do anything.

Option 1 is the best option for communicating process. You let the client know not only what has happened but why you believe the low bid was so high and the options for moving forward.
 
In both scenarios, talking to the client frequently and with full disclosure is your best option. It is not always the most comfortable option, but it is best for the client. Leaving a client in the dark and wondering about what is going on is never a good idea. Communicating the process is your best practice for keeping clients engaged and informed, even when the news is bad.
 
Additionally, communicating process with your colleagues is a good idea. When someone internally is waiting for you to complete a task or deliver information, communicate your process. Keep each other informed as to your progress or lack thereof. If someone emails you a request, let them know you received it and what your plan is for delivering. ​

The best technical engineers are not always the engineers chosen for a project. This is because even project owners buy experience. And they do not all buy the same experience, similar to coffee drinkers who may buy convenience, vibe, or flavor.
 
So, the marketing goal is to learn what experiences our clients desire most and find ways to deliver that experience. To gather this information, we must ask. We must have regular conversations with our clients and learn to listen to their preferences. Some clients prefer regular interactions and quick responsiveness. Others prefer technical accuracy and detail. Still, others prefer delivery on time and within their budget.

We have several avenues of discovery for client experience data.

1. Client debriefs – having a sit-down chat with our clients asking them specific questions about their experience.
2. Client surveys – an occasional email that gives clients an opportunity for a brief response about their experience.
3. Client meetings – while working on the project, listen for clues in what the client says about their experience working with you. Take note of their preferences.
4. Client emails – how does a client interact with you? What are they consistently most concerned about?

Taken together, debriefs, surveys, meetings, and emails should tell us a story about what our clients experience and what they prefer. The next step is gathering that data in our CRM as a database full of client experience. ​

Lesson 70 from The AEC Professional's Guide!

When it comes to marketing content, we take lessons from the best-selling novelists. Did you know that best sellers of any genre have 4.5 letters-per-word or fewer? Most were fewer than 4.3. In fact, the lower it was, the better the seller. Said another way, you should use short words if you want people to read what you write. 

However, as engineers and design professionals, you were trained to write using large words and industry jargon. Like writing at an eighth- to tenth-grade level, using smaller words helps your readers. When you use gigantic audacious words in long run on sentences that produce in the reader the necessity to have to decipher the sentence more than a few times before conquering its subject matter, you become unintelligible. Or, when you use big words in long sentences it causes the reader to work too hard.  

Why say ‘utilize’ when you can say ‘use?’ Instead of ‘perform,’ use ‘do.’ Rather than ‘inception,’ use ‘start.’ Say ‘move’ instead of ‘relocate.’  

​As Mark Twain once said, “Why should I write ‘metropolis’ when I get paid the same for ‘city’?”