Jacob Maslow
Managing client expectations is one of the most important yet overlooked factors of running a successful construction project. From the first meeting to the final handover, clear communication, transparency, and proactivity are absolutely essential to avoiding misunderstandings, preventing delays, and delivering a result the client is truly happy with. Read on to understand each of these factors in more detail.
Align Your Operations with the Client’s Vision
You have absolutely no chance of ensuring you meet your client’s expectations if you don’t even know what your client’s expectations are! As such, at the very start of any project, go through the construction plans, planned materials, style choices, and every single other relevant feature of the build with the client to ensure you are absolutely crystal clear on what the client’s expectations are, and take the time to really talk to the client until you are unequivocably on the same page. In practice, that could involve reviewing detailed architectural renderings with the client, confirming finishes, colours, and layouts before ordering materials, and getting written approval on all design choices.
Following this, it’s completely crucial that your end result exactly matches what the client envisions… within reason, of course. Aside from ensuring there are no surprises or major changes once work begins, also put aside time to talk through with your client what cannot reasonably be ensured by your construction operations. For example, factors such as weather cannot be avoided and do threaten the timescale of your plans, and factors such as the walls of the new building settling into place means you cannot guarantee that there will be no cracks in the wall in the year following project completion.
If the client has any worries, either during the build or before works have begun, address their concern promptly and professionally, with every care. Ultimately, your role is to build the client’s dream, not your guess.
Clear and Realistic Project Timelines
This one is often overlooked, but setting clear, realistic project timelines upfront will make or break your relationship with your client. This means agreeing, at the very start of the project, on practical schedules for each stage of the project, taking into consideration what is actually achievable given the available resources and the potential for delays. As previously mentioned, weather can play havoc on project timelines, so being aware of projected weather conditions and the seasons the build will take place over will be crucial to understanding this. In practice, setting clear and realistic project timelines could involve breaking the project down into smaller, clearer milestones, allowing additional time for proper site clearance, allowing additional time for unavoidable delays, and getting client approval on the proposed timeline.
It will always be better to set a later deadline and exceed expectations by finishing early than to set an overly-optimistic deadline and ultimately come up short and be forced to push back the finish line. In essence, it’s essential to plan realistically to ensure the project is finished on time, rather than making a rough guess and ultimately disappointing the client when it turns out to have been wrong.
Transparent Cost Breakdowns
To build a relationship of trust with your client from day one, providing transparent cost breakdowns is absolutely essential. clearly showing exactly how the budget is being allocated will help the client to fully understand where their money is going, and why.
From the very beginning, break down the entire project cost into detailed line items such as labour, materials, permits, subcontractor fees, and any other relevant expenses. If there are high cost items, unexpected costs, or unusually expensive materials involved, be sure to explain precisely why they cost more and what benefits they bring to the project. Transparency here is absolutely essential.
In practice, transparent cost breakdowns could involve itemising every stage of the job, from demolition to finishing touches, separating out fixed costs from variable or estimated costs, flagging any potential additional charges well in advance, and providing written explanations for any high cost items or processes. It will also be critical to make a habit of updating the client promptly if anything changes that may affect costs, such as an increase in material prices or a necessary design change that adds labour. Ultimately, the key is to ensure the client understands what they’re paying for and accepts the reasons why they’re paying for it. Clarity, honesty, and professionalism are the key here.
Alvina Martino
