If your employees have conditioned themselves to tolerate and even disregard your screaming, they've probably learned to not take it personally. After all, your hissy fits are about YOU, your huge ego, your insecurities, and your lack of desire to create win-win, mutually beneficial relationships.

If your company is successful in spite of way you treat your employees, just think about how much more successful you could be if your employees loved to come to work every day.

And finally, "What is your screaming costing you?" I'm talking about in terms of dollars and cents. Think in terms of unproductive employees, way your employees treat each other and customers, turnover, health benefits, and maybe even some employee sabotage.

The Bottom Line Is This...

Even military is undergoing a huge initiative to become more emotionally intelligent. The drill sergeants of tomorrow will be very different than drill sergeants of yesterday.

What could be different for you and your business if you stopped screaming and started treating people with respect and dignity? It's simply a choice you know.

Section 5) Expression of Value –This is description of improvement organisation will derive from your intervention. It is vital to emotionally involve buyer, so fees presented later appear as minor investments in comparison to value derived. Enumerate each piece of value in bullet points.

Section 6) Methodologies and Options –Here you present a variety of ways of implementing project. When you give options, you create a choice of yeses. It is no longer “whether or not to use you”, but which of your option to take. This is very important and is in your control. If you give options, you will have higher rate of acceptance than “take it or leave it” type proposals. The other part is psychological. When you give people choices, you empower them. You make them feel important and make them feel they are in control.

Section 7) Timing –This section tells client when to start and when to complete project. Both you and your client must know when to start, when to expect certain results and when to disengage.

Section 8) Joint Accountabilities –These are your and client’s responsibilities to ensure successful outcomes. Very often clients are not fully committed to project and end up sabotaging it in several ways. This part prevents that potential disaster. Simply state your own, your client’s and joint accountabilities.

Section 9) Terms and Conditions –This section deal with financial arrangements. This is first time your client sees your fees. This must be established in writing. Anything may change in organisation, and you want to protect yourself. Also, this is first time client sees investment options, and you want to maintain client’s head nodding in agreement.

Section 10) Acceptance –This is sign off section indicating approval of project. You have to have a signed agreement to enforce your rights. This is last section of proposal. Print out two copies and sign them. Then buyer signs them, you take your copy for your records and get started.

***** CLIENT IMPACT REPORT *****

The best way of obtaining testimonials or letters of reference is by calling it a “Client Impact Report”, and you would include it in your terms and conditions of doing business. This is basically deliverable clients are expected to produce on a regular basis and summarise it at end of project.

The problem with traditional way of getting testimonials is that after project is completed and clients are happy, they move on to dealing with next challenges in their lives, leaving you high and dry.

Therefore it is vitally important that producing this Client Impact Report becomes part of project, and you have right to suspend project until you receive it.

This is a document clients fill in every month, and at end of project this document becomes basis of testimonial and letter of reference clients give you printed on their letterheads.

Here are some sections you can include:

Section 1) What I Learnt – What did clients learn from working on project up to that specific date. This gives you a great indication of skills transmitted to clients and how they received those skills.

Section 2) What I Achieved – This is a summary of both quantitative and qualitative achievements.

Section 3) What I Appreciated – This is a summary of what clients appreciated in service.

Section 4) Suggestions for Improvement - This is a summary of how clients think they could bet even better value for their investments.

It is important that you open floodgates to seamless communication, so when there is an issue, both you and client can communicate it without waiting for next feedback form or survey.

***** PROJECT UPDATE LETTER *****

Very often you work with implementing teams but you do not meet buyers on a regular basis. Nevertheless, it is still vitally important to keep buyers up-to-date with their projects. If you can do this over breakfast or lunch with buyers, then your letter can be a summary of your discussion. However, if you cannot meet buyers regularly, this letter is even more important. There are two reasons for that:

1. You want to make certain that there are no surprises for buyers. Whatever happens, they should find out from you.

2. On every project there is bad news. Be bringer of bad new but sandwich them into good news, so you create a perspective for progress.

Your letters can be either electronic or hard copy. In either case, both you and buyer must keep a copy. So, when something happens, you can say “I told you about it in my email on this and this date.”

Some guidelines to consider:

* Keep them relatively short, like one page max.

* Use very progress metrics buyers gave your for proposal.

* Specify what actions clients must take next.

* Indicate date of next project update letter.

***** POOR PROGRESS WARNING LETTER *****

Yes, and there are times when things do not go according to plan, and just like with good news, bad news had better come from you too. After all, you are unbiased outsider, who is expected to say what needs to be said. You are paid to be a straightshooter.

Protecting clients – and their people of course - from their mistakes and shortcomings can be disastrous to you, and keeping it verbal can be easily distorted in future. So, make sure you put everything in writing.

This specific piece MUST be sent out on hard copy either by courier or registered mail, so buyer must sign for it, and it cannot go missing at gatekeeper’s desk or buyer’s email inbox. The buyer must receive this piece may come hell and high water or even if gipsy kids are falling from sky.

Some guidelines to consider:

* Be honest and say as it is

* Make it impersonal whenever possible (non-blaming tone)

* Make only deliberate actions personal (theft and sabotage for instance)

* Indicate impact on project

* Recommend actions to correct situation

* Indicate a time when you update buyer on correction

************ Action Plan ************

* Take a look at your engagements. Are your clients participating in their projects or just dictating you what to do?

* Are you regularly giving homework to your clients?

* Do you have a set of documents your clients are required to create during engagement.