Client plans
We’ve been having a lot of client planning conversations recently. Proper ones. Not the “tick the box, file the document” kind. Tina was also asked a bunch of questions on client planning last week so we know it’s an area of interest.
This is the first in a short series on client planning, focused on one simple question: how do you build a plan that actually gets used, rather than quietly decomposing in a drawer?
It turns out the difference isn’t templates or frameworks. It’s behaviour.
Here are three things that matter. Enjoy.
#1. Ask the client
A client plan that isn’t co-developed with the client isn’t a plan. It’s an internal guesstimate at best.
Yes, that means actually engaging with an active client and asking the question.
What’s the worst that can happen? They say no.
If they do, you’ve learned something valuable very quickly. Either the timing’s wrong, the relationship isn’t there yet, or this isn’t the right client to be building a deep plan around. All useful outcomes.
Co-development means shaping objectives around how the client sees you today, while agreeing together where you want the relationship to grow next.
The plan should be realistic enough to be believable and aspirational enough to move the relationship forward. There’s no value in chasing work the client doesn’t think you’re capable of delivering. But there’s equally little value in standing still and hoping perceptions change on their own.
Good client plans create a shared glidepath:
This is where we are now. This is where we want to get to. And this is what needs to happen in between.
Ambition is healthy when it’s co-owned. Progress comes from earning the right to the next conversation, not forcing it.
Be brave, ask the question and work with clients who want to build something with you.
#2. There’s no “I” in “team”
One partner owning the plan with a long action list is not leadership. It’s a single point of failure.
Effective client plans spread responsibility across the entire client team, and that absolutely includes:
- Associates
- Trainees
- Business support professionals (BD, marketing, pricing, project management, finance)
But only if they’re given real responsibility.
That looks like:
- Associates running internal client team meetings
- Clear ownership of sectors, workstreams or service lines within the plan
- Business services leading on pricing strategy, pipeline tracking or client intelligence
This does more than get work done. It spreads the relationship across all levels of the client, reduces key-person risk and delivers succession planning and training in real time, not as a future aspiration.
#3. Build rhythm or accept the drawer
Even the best plan dies without momentum.
Client plans need short, frequent internal check-ins. Monthly at a minimum. Quarterly is already on borrowed time.
These aren’t reporting meetings. They’re accountability conversations. What moved? What didn’t? What’s stuck? Who’s doing what next? Everyone has to be accountable. No one gets to make excuses.
Rhythm creates pressure. Pressure creates action. No rhythm and the plan becomes a historical document remarkably quickly.
Chat to Tina by voice, when you’re between meetings, on the commute to/from work, or heading into something you’d rather avoid.
Final thought
Client plans shouldn’t be museum pieces. If they’re not being actively discussed, challenged and updated, they’re not plans. They’re paperwork.
Top tip – DON’T put them in a drawer. Make them visible (on whiteboard, side of your computer) so they act as a constant reminder.
Next week (part two): how to turn a client plan into a practical 90-day action cycle that survives fee pressure, diary chaos and real life.
We’re building a team of voice enabled AI assistants to support you with BD activities and allow you to spend more time being human. Interested? We’d love to chat.
