Every once in a while, I rewatch an YouTube video from 2014 called The Expert (Short Comedy Sketch).
It’s titled a comedy but it’s actually scary how real it feels.
The actors are:
- Two people representing the client, who don’t really know what they want but act like they do and behave like the team should understand their needs
- A senior executive, who glosses over the details while reassuring the client the request is feasible
- A project manager, who expects the expert to deliver but then challenges him whenever he says something is not possible
- An expert, the seemingly only person in the room who understands what’s really going on
Sadly, being a Salesforce consultant can often make you feel like the expert in this sketch.
One of my favorite parts is
- Executive: “What exactly is stopping us from doing this?”
- Expert: “Geometry”
- Client: “Just ignore it”
The takeaway
How do you respond to outrageous requests from the client?
Are you upfront and tell them it’s not possible? Do you tell him it’s probably not possible but you’ll look into it further? Do you agree with everything they want and then figure out how to achieve it later?
Category:
Communication