Regular catch-up calls with clients can go a
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 5:25 am
Here we can close off any completed work, walk clients through any discoveries or complications on ongoing tasks, and enable clients to discuss priorities for the future, whether they’re very specific issues or general discussions around an idea or problem.
11am - Head down, focus time
After spending the best part of the morning on calls and ensuring communications are up to date, I like to book out some focus time between 11am and lunch time to get my head down and dive into Pardot.
This could be designing and documenting a solution number cambodia based on a client’s idea, however vague, or doing technical setup work in Pardot. Investing extra time into documentation, particularly visual documentation using images and flowcharts, ensures that clients have a clear picture of what their solution is going to look like. It can actually save time in the long run, as problems are anticipated sooner, and it negates the need for any redesign.
It’s really important to work in conjunction with a Project Manager and technical specialist to ensure work is being delivered on schedule, and by experts. As a consultant, I’m not necessarily the best technical resource we have - in fact I know I’m not! So I need to know ahead of time when it makes the most sense to bring in a technical specialist to deliver custom coding or advanced automation building. It’s a team effort.
1pm - Lunch
A spot of lunch, usually accompanied by doing a bit of upskilling or chewing the ear off another member of the team about an upcoming task. It’s good to take a screen break during this time so I return refreshed for the afternoon!
2pm - Workshop prep
Workshops are a great way for clients to get practical experience of Pardot tools, and gain wider understanding of best practice processes. So in addition to preparing any demo assets for the workshop, I spend time building a bank of resources that the client can go away and read, ideally suited to different types of learning style.
I’ll typically work with other members of the project team to split a workshop up into sections, depending on our expertise, and introduce discussion points so it feels more interactive and less like a presentation.
3pm - Workshop delivery
Workshops give clients a platform to ask questions or suggest ideas, where a consultant can not only offer insights but physically demonstrate how this works in practice. Again, it’s important this isn’t a mere training session but a collaborative opportunity to learn more, get hands-on experience, and build knowledge and confidence on any solutions.
One of the biggest challenges as a consultant is to communicate complicated processes in simple terms. Even within a three-person client team I can be dealing with varying experience levels, so will need to tailor my approach based on what angle they’re coming from, and what’s important to them. Naturally, an underrated skill is knowing when to just listen!
4pm - Kick-off call
A new client has appeared! We only get one first impression, and this will usually depend on our commercials team working with our delivery team to prepare everyone ahead of a new project.
Ideally, we’ll know exactly what’s in the project scope, the resource required, and the client’s overarching priorities by the time we get to a kick-off call, so then we can hit the ground running with talk of juicy reports and solutions. Otherwise, this is a good opportunity to get any concerns or questions out in the open so we can start off on the right foot. It’s also just nice to meet like-minded people who are working towards the same goal - marketing visibility, a smooth sales cycle, and happy customers!
4.45pm - Evening scrum
Accountability is everything when working in Pardot consulting. We are honest about our output and abilities, and upfront about getting additional support when it’s needed! In our evening scrum, the internal team can discuss anything that didn’t get delivered and needs to be pushed to tomorrow, or didn’t work as expected and should be looked at by another team member. This end-of-day check-in means we can finish work without anything hanging over, so we can be confident of moving forward tomorrow.
Naturally, the life of a consultant can be diverse and varied, so this is just one example to show the usual focus and support we provide. Each client’s business is different and may call for different approaches or ways of working.
Other tasks a consultant may be working on at any given time include:
Preparing marketing automation strategy
Building reports
Working with the technical specialists to create landing page, email and form templates
Ultimately, a consultant exists to bridge the gap between what Salesforce Pardot can do, and your dream marketing setup. If reading this article has convinced you that a consultant is the right way forward, feel free to send us a message and we can discuss the type of support you need.
11am - Head down, focus time
After spending the best part of the morning on calls and ensuring communications are up to date, I like to book out some focus time between 11am and lunch time to get my head down and dive into Pardot.
This could be designing and documenting a solution number cambodia based on a client’s idea, however vague, or doing technical setup work in Pardot. Investing extra time into documentation, particularly visual documentation using images and flowcharts, ensures that clients have a clear picture of what their solution is going to look like. It can actually save time in the long run, as problems are anticipated sooner, and it negates the need for any redesign.
It’s really important to work in conjunction with a Project Manager and technical specialist to ensure work is being delivered on schedule, and by experts. As a consultant, I’m not necessarily the best technical resource we have - in fact I know I’m not! So I need to know ahead of time when it makes the most sense to bring in a technical specialist to deliver custom coding or advanced automation building. It’s a team effort.
1pm - Lunch
A spot of lunch, usually accompanied by doing a bit of upskilling or chewing the ear off another member of the team about an upcoming task. It’s good to take a screen break during this time so I return refreshed for the afternoon!
2pm - Workshop prep
Workshops are a great way for clients to get practical experience of Pardot tools, and gain wider understanding of best practice processes. So in addition to preparing any demo assets for the workshop, I spend time building a bank of resources that the client can go away and read, ideally suited to different types of learning style.
I’ll typically work with other members of the project team to split a workshop up into sections, depending on our expertise, and introduce discussion points so it feels more interactive and less like a presentation.
3pm - Workshop delivery
Workshops give clients a platform to ask questions or suggest ideas, where a consultant can not only offer insights but physically demonstrate how this works in practice. Again, it’s important this isn’t a mere training session but a collaborative opportunity to learn more, get hands-on experience, and build knowledge and confidence on any solutions.
One of the biggest challenges as a consultant is to communicate complicated processes in simple terms. Even within a three-person client team I can be dealing with varying experience levels, so will need to tailor my approach based on what angle they’re coming from, and what’s important to them. Naturally, an underrated skill is knowing when to just listen!
4pm - Kick-off call
A new client has appeared! We only get one first impression, and this will usually depend on our commercials team working with our delivery team to prepare everyone ahead of a new project.
Ideally, we’ll know exactly what’s in the project scope, the resource required, and the client’s overarching priorities by the time we get to a kick-off call, so then we can hit the ground running with talk of juicy reports and solutions. Otherwise, this is a good opportunity to get any concerns or questions out in the open so we can start off on the right foot. It’s also just nice to meet like-minded people who are working towards the same goal - marketing visibility, a smooth sales cycle, and happy customers!
4.45pm - Evening scrum
Accountability is everything when working in Pardot consulting. We are honest about our output and abilities, and upfront about getting additional support when it’s needed! In our evening scrum, the internal team can discuss anything that didn’t get delivered and needs to be pushed to tomorrow, or didn’t work as expected and should be looked at by another team member. This end-of-day check-in means we can finish work without anything hanging over, so we can be confident of moving forward tomorrow.
Naturally, the life of a consultant can be diverse and varied, so this is just one example to show the usual focus and support we provide. Each client’s business is different and may call for different approaches or ways of working.
Other tasks a consultant may be working on at any given time include:
Preparing marketing automation strategy
Building reports
Working with the technical specialists to create landing page, email and form templates
Ultimately, a consultant exists to bridge the gap between what Salesforce Pardot can do, and your dream marketing setup. If reading this article has convinced you that a consultant is the right way forward, feel free to send us a message and we can discuss the type of support you need.