Your team is being bypassed by a client. How can you regain control and lead effectively?

To regain control and lead effectively when bypassed by a client, initiate a candid conversation to understand their concerns and actively listen to rebuild trust. Clearly define roles, enhance communication, and present a concrete action plan to address issues, ensuring consistent follow-up and adaptation based on feedback. Empower your team to align with client needs and demonstrate commitment to adding long-term value.

Gather Information: Talk to the client to understand why they're going around you. Reasons might include dissatisfaction with communication, lack of responsiveness, or a desire for a faster resolution. Talk to your colleagues to see if they've experienced similar situations with this client. Identify Your Role: Re-establish your role as the primary point of contact. Emphasize the benefits of having a central point of communication for project coordination and information flow.

Here's how to regain control and lead effectively: 1. Client Meeting: Request a direct meeting with the client to understand why they're bypassing your team. 2. Address Concerns: Acknowledge their frustrations and actively listen to their reasons for going elsewhere. 3. Reiterate Value: Clearly showcase your team's expertise and value proposition. Highlight past successes relevant to their current needs. 4. Propose Solutions: Offer specific solutions to address their concerns and demonstrate your commitment to improvement. 5. Open Communication: Emphasize open communication channels and establish clear points of contact within your team. By following these steps, you can rebuild trust, demonstrate your team's value, and regain control.

Conduct an internal assessment to identify any potential weaknesses or areas for improvement within your team. Use this evaluation to implement targeted training or process enhancements that can directly address the client's concerns.

In my experience if a client is going around the team it means you have a customer service problem. You've not focused on giving them the best, and most responsive service. This could also be coupled with a team that are unable to resolve certain issues due to skill set. As leaders we always make ourselves available, so we will have to here while we continue to assess. But consider, if your availability the problem? Do you need to define a new escalation path in order to encourage the client to always work with your team first?

Schedule a Meeting: Request a meeting with the client to discuss the situation openly and professionally. Express your desire to understand their concerns and work towards a solution. Acknowledge and Address Concerns: Listen actively to the client's feedback. Acknowledge their frustrations and apologize if there have been any communication breakdowns. Address their specific concerns directly. If it's a communication issue, propose solutions like setting clear communication channels and expectations for response times.

Establish a schedule for regular check-ins with the client to review progress and address any new concerns promptly. These meetings provide an opportunity to reinforce the improvements made and ensure that the client feels continuously supported.

In another situation, a client repeatedly contacted individual team members with minor requests. I scheduled a meeting with the client and key team members, clearly outlining our communication channels and expectations. Instead of a formal meeting, we organized a team-building activity with the client. This helped build rapport and fostered a sense of collaboration.

Acknowledge Concerns: Start by showing that you understand and value the client's concerns. This builds trust and opens the door for constructive dialogue. Explain the Protocols: Clearly outline the existing processes and protocols. Use simple, jargon-free language to ensure the client fully grasps the procedures. Highlight Benefits: Emphasize the advantages of these processes, such as ensuring quality, improving efficiency, and maintaining accountability. Explain how these benefits directly impact the success of the project. Relate to Client’s Goals: Connect the protocols to the client’s specific goals and concerns. Show how adhering to the processes will help achieve their desired results.

Acknowledge the client's desire for adjustments and propose slight modifications within the existing framework that can address their concerns without compromising the overall process.

Is the process defined and clear? Is the client aware of it, can you communicate it in the next relevant meeting with them? Is your tooling effective? Does it allow customers to request more focus/escalate within the tool if progress is deemed slow or perhaps the impact is larger than initially observed. Does your team respond proactively so the client doesn't need to chase? Your SLAs should back this up.

Once, a client bypassed my team to get a quicker turnaround on a task. I reiterated our project timeline and explained how rushing could compromise quality. I created a visual project roadmap highlighting key milestones and dependencies. This made it clear how bypassing the process could lead to delays.

Empowering your team is crucial for effective leadership, fostering ownership, and creativity, allowing them to take control over client relationships, respond quickly, and foster initiative. • Clarify roles and responsibilities: Discuss team's scope with client. • Foster transparent communication: Regular check-ins and direct client-team communication. • Demonstrate expertise: Highlight team's specialized knowledge and skills. • Align with organizational priorities: Ensure team's work aligns with organizational goals. • Address concerns constructively: Listen to client's concerns and work towards mutually acceptable solutions. • Empower team: Provide necessary resources, autonomy, and support. • Recognize and reward team's efforts.

When a client tried to dictate design choices to my team, I encouraged them to explain their rationale confidently, backed by research and best practices. I organized a workshop where the team could showcase their expertise and the value they bring to the project.

Define Communication Channels: Clearly define preferred communication methods (email, project management tools, phone calls) and set expectations for response times. Encourage the client to direct all project-related communication through you. Maintain Ownership: Gently but firmly redirect any communication that bypasses you back to yourself. Explain that centralized communication helps avoid confusion and ensures everyone is on the same page.

In a past project, miscommunication led a client to bypass my team. I implemented a weekly status report detailing progress, next steps, and any potential roadblocks. I created a shared Slack channel for real-time communication, ensuring everyone was on the same page and minimizing the need for side conversations.

Know and use your competitive advantage. You should always know why your company should be the organization of choice. If you are uncertain there is work to be done. Also, put you best talents forward. Utilize the diverse talents to brainstorm strategies on how to propel the company forward.

Highlight the expertise and value that your team brings to the table. Showcase past successes and how your team can uniquely solve the client’s challenges. Present innovative solutions or improvements that directly address the client's needs and objectives.

Following-up is one of the most critical aspects of regaining control or re-establishing your team's credibility in the eyes of the client. Maintain consistency in delivering on your promises. Reliable performance will help regain the client’s confidence. Monitor the situation closely and remain responsive to any additional feedback or concerns the client may have.

Train your team to focus on customer satisfaction as a priority, and then the resolution of the client issue. You can do this by reminding them of problems clients face, try and ask your team to put themselves in the clients shoes and what they would do if they were the client. Once your team understand and empathise with the client trust should slowly start to build and direct engagement with the team should grow.

Build relationships: Invest time in building strong relationships with your clients. Understand their needs, concerns, and preferred communication styles. Set clear expectations: Establish clear roles and responsibilities for both your team and the client. Outline communication channels and protocols. Document everything: Keep detailed records of all client interactions, including emails, meetings, and phone calls. This can help resolve disputes and misunderstandings. Be proactive: Don't wait for problems to arise. Anticipate potential issues and address them before they escalate. Lead by example: Demonstrate professionalism, respect, and effective communication in all your interactions.