Rockstar Client and Vendor Communication

Does your role as a project manager require regular communication with clients or vendors? Or are you newly finding yourself working with professionals external to your organization? 

I worked directly with outside clients for the first year and a half of my career, and with many types of vendors in my project leadership positions since—from authors and printers to web developers and research firms. I’ve honed the same set of strategies over those 9+ years to work with both groups. The goal is to build positive, trusting relationships while maintaining some control and flexibility that you can leverage for the benefit of your company (and yourself).

Here are my rules of thumb for rockstar communication with your projects’ clients and vendors.

Maintain a positive tone

I don’t think most people who come across with a negative or neutral tone mean to do so—but that is the point: some of us need to build the habit of setting a positive tone on purpose. Don’t let the other person’s energy define yours. Instead, make the decision that you’re going to create a positive environment in all communication with a client or vendor.

I can think of two good ways to make sure you make a positive impression from the beginning:

1. Meet a vendor or client for the first time in person (video or voice call can work too), where you have the tools of tone and body language to bring your enthusiasm.
2. If you must start the relationship via text-based communication like email or instant messaging, you can still use your words to communicate positive expectations about the direction of the project. For example, I break with conventional wisdom in regards to exclamation points in a business email—I use a lot of them! I believe they convey positive energy, and they don’t feel over the top when used in tandem with the other communication strategies below.

Pay attention to how many words you’re using

Speaking of tone, there is an element of communication conveyed in a place people don’t often notice: the amount of words you use. This can be true when you’re speaking, but it is especially important in writing.

On the one hand, too few words will come across as curt and negative. Most of us have felt this in a one-word text message or a one-sentence email reply. We get the person’s verbal message, but are left wondering if they’re mad or if there’s something else important they’re not saying. This can be avoided with just a little more energy on your part. Take the time to include greeting words, closing words, and/or another human comment in your message. Through this minimal effort, you take the valuable step of acknowledging your recipient as a fellow person.

On the other hand (and I think this is more often overlooked), too many words sets the tone that whatever you’re talking about is a big deal, and makes it feel emotional and complicated. What you could say in one paragraph feels like a big deal if you explain it in two paragraphs (and a really big deal if you say it in three). I’m not suggesting you cut all context from your emails—context is often helpful! But try to get to the point as directly as you can, and ask yourself what context is actually helpful to the other person, versus you just wanting to get something off your chest. 

If you have a hard time boiling your emails down to the elements that truly provide value to your client or vendor, I would suggest trying one of the following:

• Write the email in whatever way is natural to you, then go back and edit.
• Ask a trusted coworker to suggest edits on your email draft.
• If you realize your email is wordy because you ARE feeling emotional about a situation with your client, verbally process the situation with a trusted coworker or friend to get the emotional elements off your chest. This will make it easier to be selective about which emotions, if any, you share with the client.

Set expectations

By ‘set expectations,’ I mean: 

• Make it clear what the vendor can or can’t expect from you and your company, and 
• Make it clear what you’re looking for from them.

This can be challenging if you’re new, but even after your first experience with a vendor, you’ll have a lot to draw on to set expectations for your second experience. Your procurement department, and/or other staff at your company who have worked with vendors, also probably have a lot of suggestions you could use as a starting point.

I like to set expectations about things like:

• Who from my company will be involved in the project at what points, and what each person’s role is
• What policies we have that we’ll need the vendor to comply with
• What deadlines we’re up against that we’ll need the vendor’s support in meeting
• What timelines are realistic for any work the client or vendor is expecting from us
• What we can or can’t pay for (with a vendor), or what work or deliverables we can or can’t provide (with a client)

With every client or vendor, you’ll probably encounter a new type of situation you’ll wish you’d set expectations about earlier. That’s okay. You can always pause and update expectations in the middle of the project via honest and respectful dialogue. And then you’ll have a new area to set expectations about from the beginning next time.

Promise as little as possible

Have you heard the advice, “Under-promise but over-deliver”? Especially with a client, this is exactly what you’ll want to do. For example, with project timelines, I’d recommend only promising timelines you’re 90% sure you can achieve. Don’t fall for the temptation to give someone a time estimate you’re 55% sure you can meet, just because you don’t want to disappoint or frustrate someone with your estimate. Having to update the timeline later—while sometimes necessary—will be more disappointing or frustrating to the client than being given a longer timeline upfront than they hoped for. 

If we’re talking about a vendor, you’re not the one delivering for the most part, but your company will likely have some review and approval points, and some information or assets you’ll need to get to the vendor so they can do their job. Keep the percentages above in mind when you communicate about these pieces.

“Under-promise but over-deliver” also applies to what work or deliverables your company can provide. I find percentages less helpful here. Instead, I think more in terms of whether I’ve verified we have the ability to do what’s requested. Do I know if our motion graphics person has time to work on this project? Do I know if our developer has the skills to create this feature? If I haven’t already had a conversation about it with the affected people, I won’t promise it.

Along these lines, whether for timelines, feasibility of requests, or something else, you should never be afraid to let your client or vendor know you need time to get back to them. You’re more likely to over-promise if you respond to a request immediately. There’s no shame in taking some time to answer a question, consult coworkers, and come back to a vendor or client with an answer you’re more likely to be able to stick to. Everyone will respect you for this process in the end.

Communication with clients and vendors, as with anyone, is a process we’re always learning, and experience is a great teacher. But these rules of thumb should help put you ahead of the curve.