How Do You Manage Communication With Clients Virtually?: Staying Connected in a Disconnected World

By Althea Ibutnande and Andreah Recuya

As Account Executives working in the bustling environment of client management, our tomorrow is always planned out – it is always sure because we know what to do and how to do it. But when the landscape drastically shifted because of the pandemic, everyone’s tomorrow became unsure, even ours.

Despite the uncertainty tomorrow will bring, we still need to do our job to help our clients in overcoming these changes and challenges. Part of our job is to build good working relationships with our clients, but now that people are working from home and businesses had to transition to digital innovations, how does one still connect with another despite being stuck in the four corners of your computer screen? It’s a different scenario when you communicate face-to-face than having to deal with it on-screen. This was the challenge we account executives had to overcome because of the limitations the pandemic brought with it.

Here we lay out some tips and tricks from what we’ve learned in the two years of working in a remote set-up but still making sure we deliver the next level experience for our clients.

1. Communicate to Connect, Not Connect to Communicate

In connecting with your clients, having the right support tools can help in communicating effectively and at the same time delivering the work efficiently. With the work-from-home setup, we’re surrounded by various meeting platforms, collaboration tools, and messenger apps that’s just a lot to take in. At the end of the day, the question we should be asking ourselves is, what’s the objective of my message, and how do I communicate it to my client in a way that they would understand? If there’s a misunderstanding, it’s not the software or the app, it’s the way you say it.

2. Make them feel you’re their Partner In Purpose

It starts with making a good impression and to making them feel that you’re truly their partner in purpose. You need to connect with them from the get go. Simple things would be to initiate small talk during first-time zoom calls. If you don’t know what to say, a simple “how are you?” can go a long way. You can even take the effort to open your camera and say hello. As a partner, you need to make them feel like you’re there with them, so break that virtual barrier and let them know you’re there to help.

3. Listen To Understand, Not To Respond

American Educator Stephen Covey emphasizes how the biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand but rather we listen to reply. In most zoom calls, some clients prefer not to show themselves on screen due to internet bandwidth issues, and this poses a challenge to understanding what they mean. Try and get a feel of not just their choice of words but also the tone in their voice and the context of their message. Aside from just listening to them, we should do more than just listen – we need to actively listen to what they are saying. So block out all possible distractions, even your phone. Take the time to focus and listen intently while pushing out the need to respond immediately. Afterwards, try repeating what they said in that way you have time to absorb the context and you’ll be able to understand what they mean before formulating your response.

4. Make Your Clients’ Goals Your Goals

Motivation and purpose make us pumped up to aim for the gold. Successful client management is heavily reliant on the success of our campaigns. And even in a virtual setup, the best way to do that is by making every project our own. More than just putting ourselves in our clients’ shoes, we must always remember to walk with them in identifying the challenges and run with them in figuring out the best solutions.  Having this mindset strengthens our commitment to our projects and gives us a larger perspective on the bigger issues that need to be addressed. At the end of the day, we don’t just want our clients to be happy. We want to make an impact, and we want to make our works matter.

5. To Take Care of Clients, You Must First Take Care of Yourself

Working in front of our screens for hours every day is just as tiring as going to our offices in the physical world. Some even say that the current work from home set-up is even more draining when there are no breaks in between meetings, no chit-chats with colleagues after a stressful brainstorm, and no Friday night-outs to look forward to after a successful pitch. We are much more prone to burnout and stress these days and so we must not forget to take care of ourselves. We can only manage our clients well if we are working with a healthy mind and body. Reward yourself every now and then by watching your favorite Netflix series, ordering your go-to food, or having an online bonding session with your friends! We should know when to pause to recharge, and gain back that energy to push our campaigns to success.

Looking for ways to strengthen our relationship with clients in the virtual world may be more challenging than in the physical setup. However, just because most of our interactions these days happen online doesn’t make it any less important. The focus should not be on comparing the ways of working from the past. Rather, it should be shifted on the way forward in these challenging times. The client management landscape may have changed drastically, but our role as our clients’ ultimate partner stays just the same and is now more important than ever. Our team of experts in client management are ready to help you with your needs. Let us help you stay connected! Talk to us at info@teamasia.com.