ACCESS

Access is a client’s willingness to provide “face time” to discuss business challenges, opportunities, and initiatives. The optimal technique for gaining access is to be proactive. When first assigned to support a business unit, identify managers who are the strategic decision makers. Who are the managers driving the business and are responsible for getting results? It is these managers with whom you will want to form sustained client relationships—partnerships in which you invest time independent of any project work. Even though you may be involved in projects that originate from other managers, it is important to periodically meet with each of your sustained clients. You want to stay current with their business requirements, challenges, and strategic initiatives so that you will be in a position to consult with them as opportunities arise in the future.

Access to a Sustained Client

So how do you build access to potential sustained clients? Remember that clients are usually located in the mid- to upper levels of your organization. They have accountability for achieving business results and have authority to make things happen. Using these criteria, identify those individuals who should be your sustained clients. Typically, a performance consultant builds relationships with between five and ten sustained clients. You will spend substantive time with each client during the course of a year. That is why we encourage you to work from the concept that “less is more.” It is not possible to build a strong, partnering relationship, in which you evidence deep knowledge of the business, with thirty or forty individuals. This is one reason that most performance consultants are assigned to support one or more business units and not the entire enterprise. The exception would be if you work in a small company, where supporting the entire organization is possible.

When assigned to a new business unit, review the organizational chart identifying those people who have the position power to make things happen and have accountability for achieving business results. Next, learn more about the business unit, going “below” the organizational chart to gain insight regarding items such as these:

How are important decisions made within the business unit? Is a collaborative and consensus-seeking process used? Or a more unilateral process?

Who is at the table when the strategies and goals are being determined?

What recent initiatives have enabled the organization to be successful?

Who were the key players in deciding and implementing those initiatives?

Are there informal leaders who have strong influence on the strategic decisions that are made?

Who has the power of veto on strategic decisions?

Answers to these questions will provide you with insight as to which leaders are driving the business and have the power to get things done. You want to work with these individuals because they have the most to gain or lose from the success or failure of a strategic initiative, and they have authority to make things happen. A word of caution, however: Relationships are formed with people, not jobs. When a client is promoted or leaves the job for any reason, and a new person steps in, you must invest time in building a new relationship.

Once you have identified those individuals with whom you should have a sustained relationship, it becomes important to find ways to gain access to these people. You want to be on their radar screen, so that when there is a strategic opportunity, they will think of including you right from the start. An example of getting on the radar screen is Joan, who works within an L&D department. She designed and executed a measurement study of a major initiative within the organization. She invited several executives to attend the briefing where she discussed the results. This briefing provided exposure to several executives who were potential clients. Following the presentation, one of these executives was impressed to the point that the executive became a new client for Joan.

You may already have a relationship with some—perhaps all—of those individuals who qualify as sustained clients. But analyze the relationship by asking yourself, “Is my current relationship primarily based on providing solutions in a tactical manner, or is it truly a strategic, business-linked partnership?” If the answer is that you are mainly called upon after decisions are made, then it is important to change the nature of your relationship. Here are suggestions for gaining access to a person who should be a sustained client:

Ask the client for time to discuss business goals and challenges that the client is facing. The key is to focus the discussion on the “business of the business” and not on HR or other solutions. (In Chapter 5 we describe this type of proactive business discussion in more detail.)

Send articles from journals, industry magazines, and Internet sites that focus on items of importance to this client’s business. Include a note indicating why you believe the item has relevance for the client and a plan for a follow-up discussion of the item and its implications for the business.

Ask the client how you can increase your knowledge of the business. In essence, ask your client to become your coach.

Volunteer to serve on high-visibility projects and task teams that are important to this client.

Leverage current relationships with other managers to assist you in gaining access to the client.

Publicize your “wins.” Ask your clients to market the results to their peers.

Provide guidance to the client during a crisis. For example, if an opinion survey reveals distressing results, offer suggestions that might be used to close the gaps.

Offer to help on a project or business situation that is similar to another client’s in which you are currently involved.

Be alert to information from various parts of the organization that have impact on your client’s business unit. Send this information to your client, indicating that you would like to discuss it. Ask to attend the client’s staff meetings as an observer, so you gain greater insights into the business. When in these meetings, expand thinking of the group by asking thought-provoking questions.

Access to a Project Client

Let’s now look at how access to project clients differs from gaining access to sustained clients. Certainly, a major difference is that the enhanced level of contact with a project client is maintained only during the life of the project. What is the same are the criteria you use to determine your “true” client for the initiative. Project clients own the business results supported by the initiative. Unfortunately, with some frequency the person who initially contacts you regarding the project does not meet the client criteria. This person, whom we identify as the “contact,” has been delegated the responsibility for the activities within a specific project. The ultimate accountability for the project results, however, resides with someone else who is the true client.

Without direct access to the true client, it will be difficult for you to influence and guide the project implementation strategy. To gain access to the true client without alienating the contact requires that you work with—not around—the contact. For example, when there are questions about the business goals, suggest that you and the contact together meet with the client to discuss these issues. When the contact lacks authority or power to obtain resources, suggest that you and the contact go together to present the situation to the true client. When you have good relations with the contact, it becomes possible to be candid and direct, indicating concern about the limited access to and involvement of the true client. Bottom line: it is important to gain access to the true client for any project where the end goal is to effect a change in people’s performance and positively impact business results.