The customer.  As a project manager, it’s our overall job to please the customer, right?  Without a successful project implementation, we’ve failed.  And the three main factors for determining project success are on time delivery, on budget delivery, and customer satisfaction (which is often tied, in part, to the other two factors).  So, yes, pleasing the customer is big.  But are we to do exactly what the customer wants?  Is that the proper way to go about pleasing the customer?  I say, ‘no.’



The customer perceives a problem



The customer comes to the vendor – your organization – or you if you’re an independent consulting looking to lead project engagements.  They come to you because they have a perception of a problem or important need.  However, they haven’t always done the upfront legwork to really know what their problem is.  And worse, they often come with a perceived solution and want YOU to implement it.  Do you do it?  Only if you never want to work for them again!



You must approach it in a very analytic manner.  You must assume that, while there is an issue that likely needs resolved, you aren’t certain yet exactly what that issue is (even though the customer thinks they have it pinpointed) and you can never fully trust that the customer has all the requirements laid out going into the engagement.  Never ever assume that is the case, no matter what the customer says.



So far, is the customer a help or a hindrance?  It’s hard to tell, but be wary.  At least they came to you and that’s a positive.



The experts



You, your team, your organization – you are the experts.  That’s why the customer with the problem or issue came to you.  So it’s more than ok to put the brakes on at the beginning of the project and demand that more planning and investigation takes place.  You may get pushback from the customer if they think that’s just a drain on their funds and they’re entitled to that thought.  You must step back and explain to them that your mission isn’t to deliver what they tell you to deliver.  It’s to deliver what their end users need.  It’s to deliver whatever it takes to solve their real need, the true solution to whatever is ailing them.  Remind them that you are the experts and it’s your job to ask questions – to find out what the real need is and what the real solution needs to be.



Help or hindrance?



It’s my overall opinion that on many engagements the customer can actually be a hindrance.  However, the good project manager turns them into a help.  Use the customer and all of their internal experts wisely to full define requirements, truly pinpoint the problem, identify all the risks, and help you manage the solution to a successful ending.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had customers come to me with a project that needs led telling me ‘here’s the problem and here’s the solution that we want you to implement.’  That should always be a red flag to you.  It’s your job to figure out the right questions to ask to get to the real root issue.  That’s what they’re paying you for – or paying your organization for.  That’s where the customer will truly see the value in the project management process and where you can start turning that frustrating customer into an asset on the project.