Things Clients Never Confess to Me During our Project…
Sometimes I like to think back on some of the really interesting comments I’ve received from some of my best clients. Often these comments are shared during our project “post mortem discussion” in discussing what really worked and didn’t. I’ve kept a list of some of the most interesting feedback I’ve received over the years, and thought you might find it interesting and somewhat entertaining. As consultants, we’re not infallible with advice we give others; fortunately our clients see us as human, too!
Enjoy!
1. “You know that great candidate you introduced me to last week? Well, he was an idiot”.
2. “We had our management team meeting yesterday and we’ve concluded that we’re kind of screwed”.
3. “It finally hit me that revenue and cash are not the same thing. I really didn’t understand we were in the banking business. Customers provide “revenue”, Vendors provide “terms”. Employees want to be paid in cash”.
4. “My partner had a major life event. He’ll be leaving us but is happy to continue to contribute as a member of the board. By the way, I’m sure we’ll be OK”.
5. “Learned from tech guy you recommended that that “virtual” means that it can virtually disappear whenever it wants. Why are we doing this “cloud” thing again”?
6. “I finally followed through with your idea of “executive leadership” yesterday. At the last management meeting, our marketing person told me we were getting crushed in the market because we just weren’t “competitive”. I told her that we’re investing in our future, not our present”.
7. “We have 3 months of cash left in the bank. Adjusted for inflation. But, not adjusted for the fact that we have no idea if any of the deals we sold this quarter is ever going to pay us in a form that can be used to pay bills and payroll. Our landlord is clueless and doesn’t understand the importance of the work we’re doing”.
8. “Back in college, when you “audit” a course, it meant you just tried it out and see if you liked it. Why does “auditing financials” have to be so intense”?
10. “We’ve found new office space. To be consistent with the 3 year pro-forma we discussed at our last briefing, we’ll be signing a 10 year lease that matches the space needs based on those projected numbers. It’s nice when things just work out, isn’t it”?
11. “I woke up this morning with this really big idea. It’ll make the idea you suggested last week pale in comparison. The good news is that my friend says we can execute this one more quickly and easily than yours. This is going to BIG”!
Have a great day!
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