1. Transparent communication
Communication is one of the most important client management skills. Employees must be able to hold clear, professional conversations with clients at every stage of a project. People with this skill help ensure your team understands the customer’s needs, objectives, creative vision, timeline and other important information. They also keep all collaborators informed, which can reduce miscommunications, delays and bottlenecks.
Your client-facing employees also need to be transparent. Being honest with clients helps you set expectations, clarify project terms and explain the value your company brings.
How to hire for transparent communication skills
As you’re writing a job description, attract candidates with transparent communication skills by including these phrases:
- Responsible for client communication, team updates and coordinating between clients and project teams
- Requires active listening and collaboration
- Excels with written and verbal communication
- Displays respect, honesty and empathy
Assessing the skill
Use these methods to assess candidates’ communication skills:
- Evaluate interactions: Analyze how candidates speak and write during interactions with your company.
- Role-play: During an interview, ask candidates to participate in a sample client conversation to see how they respond.
- Scenarios: Present a detailed client scenario and ask how the interviewee would proceed.
- Writing samples: Request writing samples relevant to the open job, such as business emails, creative briefs or client updates.
Read more: Verbal Communication Skills: How To Interview for Them
Roles where this skill excels
Roles that often require transparent communication include:
- Project Manager: This role is the main point of contact for employees, executives and clients.
- Client Services Manager: Because this manager is responsible for maintaining client relationships, communication is essential.
- Customer Service Representative: Service employees must be able to communicate effectively in various situations.
2. Active listening
Active listening is a crucial skill for any employee who works with clients. Strong listeners can make clients feel heard, clarify goals and help you understand the vision for the project. They also ensure your team is working toward the right objectives.
When your employees listen carefully to clients and paraphrase the main concepts back to them, it can build trusting relationships and reduce the risk of miscommunications.
Listening is an essential skill for any employee who works with clients. It’s particularly important for people who are responsible for gathering instructions or feedback and relaying them accurately to the team.
How to hire for listening skills
To find candidates with listening skills, include the following keywords in your job description:
- Active listening
- Understanding and communicating clients’ needs
- Nonverbal communication skills
- Open-minded approach to client conversations
Assessing the skill
Ways to assess listening skills include:
- Ask detailed questions: Propose a scenario, and ask the candidate how they would respond. Note if they ask clarifying questions and how they integrate your main points into their answer.
- Mock client conversations: Pretend to be a client and see how well the candidate listens to your concerns or ideas.
- Audio assessment: Play the audio of a mock client phone message, and ask the candidate to note the main points and list potential follow-up questions.
Roles where this skill excels
Listening is often an essential skill for roles such as:
- Customer Service Manager: When an issue escalates to a manager, they must be able to listen to the client and read nonverbal cues, such as body language and tone of voice.
- Graphic Designers: Designers must be able to listen to clients’ ideas and correctly interpret them.
3. Conflict management
When your company is dealing with a major error, a disagreement or a simple misunderstanding, client-facing employees must resolve the conflict quickly. They should be able to evaluate the situation, identify pain points and negotiate a solution that’s acceptable for everyone involved.
Effective conflict management can preserve trust and goodwill. It’s one of the most valuable client relationship management skills. Conflict management typically transfers between roles and industries; a person skilled at resolving interpersonal issues can often apply that ability to any scenario.
How to hire for conflict management
As you’re writing a job description for a position that requires conflict management skills, you might request applicants who can:
- Develop an understanding of all sides of an issue
- Moderate disagreements between collaborators
- Facilitate discussions to solve problems
- Maintain a calm and professional tone during conflicts
- Suggest mutually beneficial solutions
Assessing the skill
Use these assessments to find out how candidates resolve conflict:
- Scenario responses: Propose a situation where your company is in conflict with a client, and ask how the candidate would find a solution.
- Communication assessment: Hold a mock phone call with a frustrated client, and note how the candidate isolates the problem, defuses tension and suggests a plan of action.
- Prior experience: Ask candidates about situations where they resolved a conflict in a professional setting.
Read more: Conflict Management Interview Questions
Roles where this skill excels
Roles that often require conflict management include:
- Account Executive: This person must be able to overcome conflicts related to client projects, budgets and contracts.
- Billing Specialist: People who handle invoices and bills may deal with disagreements regarding hours, deliverables or amounts.
4. Organization
Organization is often a must-have skill for employees in client management roles. The most effective professionals are highly detail-oriented and aware of every aspect of a project. They have a system for maintaining project records, so it’s possible to find a document or a set of notes quickly.
An organized professional is a valuable asset for your company, whether you operate in a creative or technical industry. Organized employees may be skilled at answering client questions quickly and keeping track of client requests in a timely manner.
How to hire for organizational client management skills
To attract candidates with organizational skills, consider adding these phrases to your job description:
- Demonstrates attention to detail
- Creates and maintains detailed records
- Can develop an effective organizational system
- Effective time management skills
- Can prioritize and delegate tasks
- Strong decision-making abilities
Assessing the skill
To assess organizational skills, you can:
- Ask questions: Ask organizational skills interview questions. For example, ask about candidates’ strategies for organizing projects and client relationships.
- Sample scenarios: Explain a complicated project and ask how the candidate would organize it.
- Organization experience: Ask how candidates have implemented organizational systems in the past.
Roles where this skill excels
Organizational skills can often benefit candidates in roles including:
- Account Manager: This person works closely with multiple clients and must maintain detailed records and notes.
- Art Director: Art directors often balance numerous clients simultaneously, and organization is a must.
5. Creativity
When a client makes an unusual or challenging request, employees often need to find creative solutions. For example, imagine that a client asks for work that exceeds the project budget. A creative employee might suggest an alternative solution or a way to reallocate resources to accommodate the request without changing the contract.
How to hire for creativity
“Creativity” is associated with artistic professions, which may deter job seekers in technical industries. Consider the examples similar to the phrases below in your job descriptions when describing various creative skills relevant to your organization or industry:
- Develop innovative approaches to client projects
- Use creative problem-solving to accomplish client objectives
- Allocate employees and resources to meet project goals
- Identify when a project requires an unusual solution
Assessing the skill
Ways to assess creativity include:
- Open-ended questions: During a creativity-focused interview, present a complicated or unusual client request. Ask how the candidate would solve it in a way that preserves the relationship.
- Project review: Show the candidate a challenging client proposal and your company’s solution. Ask how the person would approach the project differently.
- Personal accomplishments: Ask the candidate to tell you about a time they came up with a creative solution in a challenging situation.
Roles where this skill excels
Client-facing positions that typically require creativity include:
- Engineers: These professionals must come up with creative solutions to meet client needs.
- Software Developers: Developers often create completely new products that suit a client’s brief and objectives.
- CRM Managers: To maintain strong client relationships, CRM managers may need to work with teams to develop creative approaches.
