The 5 questions to answer when presenting a problem to your Client

Not long ago, I was running some reports and noted something strange in the data.

With experience, we learn to identify potential issues at a glance.

If something feels odd, it is probably wrong (and this was the case).

As I was responsible for those reports, I was to inform my clients about this problem before correcting it.

Delivering bad news is always a challenge. No one likes to hear them.

So, let’s see an example of a correct and simple way to present your findings.

In my case, it was a program issue, but you can apply it to any product or service you deliver.

Client perspective

You may have heard that you need to focus on your audience whenever you are presenting.

As your audience is your client, the first step is understanding their needs.

Their need is clear: They want the product working.

But if it doesn’t, then they want to know 3 things:

• The impact
• The cost to solve it
• When it will work

After they have the above answers, and depending on the criticality of the case, they will also want to know:

• The root cause
• Why we haven’t detected it earlier
• How you can guarantee that this won’t happen again

Answering these questions should be your focus when you analyze the error and create the communication.

Your main goal is to transmit calm and trust to them, but you can’t do this by saying: “Relax” or “Trust me.” You need to show that you have things under control and are working toward the best solution.

Preparing information

If you internally found the issue, you may have time to investigate before communicating it. But if not, take your time anyway. This is the most crucial part.

Issue

Suppose your expense report considers reversed invoices as paid. So, the amounts are incorrect.

That is the issue and your starting point.

Impact

Next, check the impact. How many invoices are affected, and what’s the amount? In other words, how wrong are the reports?

They need the impact to decide the actions to take.

Proposed solution

Moving to the Proposed Solution. You should tell them:

1. How you think to solve it. For example, by changing the way the program identifies the reversed invoices.
2. When it will be solved.
3. How Much it will cost. The costs can be economic (e.g., man-days) or any other type (e.g., we must restore the last backup and will miss information).

That’s the “How, When, How Much” trilogy.

Additional data

Depending on the criticality of the case and your service/product, you should prepare some other relevant information:

• Root cause. Why did this happen? Was it because the process is new, was this an error in the program, or because we received incorrect information when we were doing the development?
• Why haven’t we detected it? Were tests incorrect? There wasn’t enough data?
• If it is critical, which actions will be taken to avoid this error in the future? In our example, it could be to meet with the invoice department to list every possible case or to request a notification whenever a new process is implemented so the report is re-tested.

Once you obtained this information, you can share the details with your client.

Presenting to the client

How you will do it depends on the issue and the preferred communication method. But it is essential to answer these questions with the information you collected:

• What is the issue
• What is the impact
• How will you solve it
• When will it be corrected
• What is the cost of solving it

Be direct and objective; don’t try to minimize or exaggerate the issue.

Remember that the problem is already there, and they will be angry about that.

However, presenting the impact will calm your client (even if it is big, they will know the limits).

Showing them you have a solution will help them think and take the next steps accordingly.

They may ask questions about the root cause and prevention in the future, so it is better to prepare some answers.

This should be solution-oriented communication, but not to blame anyone. If you see that it is taking that way, you can express that and propose having separate “blaming” sessions, but the priority now is to solve the issue.

Summary

Communicating a problem is never a pleasant task. But following the above steps will minimize your anxiety and stress and build a better relationship with your client.

Errors happen, and they want to know that you are someone they can trust.