Client Focus - Competency

Definition: Client focus is the ability to understand, anticipate, and address client needs while maintaining responsiveness and accountability to ensure satisfaction. It involves delivering innovative and customized solutions, fostering strong relationships through active communication, and continuously improving services to enhance the client experience. A client-focused approach builds trust, ensures positive interactions, and demonstrates long-term commitment by consistently adapting to evolving expectations and providing high-quality service.

People Skills

Interpersonal Skills
Collaboration
Trustworthy
Responsible
Client Focus
Customer Focus
Empowering Others
Developing Others
Co-worker Development
Coaching
Partnering/Networking
Conflict Management
Negotiation
Teamwork
Recognition
Others

360-Feedback Assessments Measuring Client Focus:
Survey 1 (4-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 2 (4-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 3 (5-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 4 (5-point scale; radio buttons)
Survey 5 (4-point scale; words)
Survey 6 (4-point scale; words)
Survey 7 (5-point scale; competency comments; N/A)
Survey 8 (3-point scale; Agree/Disagree words; N/A)
Survey 9 (3-point scale; Strength/Development; N/A)
Survey 10 (Comment boxes only)
Survey 11 (Single rating per competency)
Survey 12 (Slide-bar scale)
Survey 13 (4-point scale; numbers; floating anchors)
Survey 14 (4-point scale; N/A)

Performance Assessments that include Client Focus:
Assessment 1 (5-point scale; IDP Comments)
Assessment 2 (3-point scale with Comments)
Assessment 3 (Manager Assessment; 360-Feedback)
Assessment 4 (3-point scale; Rating Limits)
Assessment 5 (3-point scale; Rating Limits)
Assessment 6 (5-point scale with Comments)
Assessment 7 (Comment Boxes Only; IDP)
Assessment 8 (Comment Boxes Only)
Assessment 9 (3-point scale with Letter Grade)
Assessment 10 (360-Feedback; Bonus/Merit Pay)
Assessment 11 (Core Values & Job Competencies)
Assessment 12 (4-point scale; 6 Comment Boxes)

Understands Client Needs

Understands Client Needs focuses on actively identifying, comprehending, and adapting to client requirements to ensure satisfaction. This dimension highlights recognizing core needs, staying informed about client products, ensuring team alignment, and maintaining responsiveness to evolving demands. It prioritizes awareness and adaptability, ensuring that solutions are developed based on a deep understanding of client expectations.

Adapts to changing client needs.
Makes sure team members understand the issues faced by the client.
Thoroughly understands the needs of the client.
Maintains up-to-date information regarding client products.
Understands what resources are needed to meet client needs.
Identifies the core needs of the client.
Understands the needs of the client.
Makes sure client needs are understood by the team members.
Is aware of the client's needs.
Identifies the most pressing needs of each client.

Anticipates Client Needs

Anticipates Client Needs emphasizes proactively foreseeing challenges, identifying potential obstacles, and resolving issues before they arise. This dimension centers on predicting upcoming needs, addressing concerns before they escalate, and preparing resources in advance to meet future requirements. It prioritizes foresight and preemptive action, ensuring that clients receive seamless service and solutions before they even recognize a need.

Anticipates problems that the client may encounter.
Anticipates potential obstacles to meeting client needs.
Anticipates and proactively resolves issues that the client may face.
Anticipates client needs.
Anticipates resources needed to meet the client needs.

Addresses Client Needs

Addresses Client Needs focuses on actively recognizing and resolving client concerns, prioritizing urgent issues, and taking a proactive approach to meeting expectations. This dimension highlights persistence in solving problems, identifying pressing needs, and ensuring that clients receive timely and effective support. It prioritizes problem-solving and responsiveness, ensuring that client requests and concerns are efficiently handled.

Satisfies client needs.
Is pro-active in dealing with clients and addressing their needs.
Is above average in addressing the needs of the clients.
Helps others in responding to client needs.
Consistently meets client's needs.
Persistent in solving client issues.
Prioritizes client issues to tackle the most pressing needs first.
Prioritizes the needs and preferences of the client.
Prioritizes client issues based on urgency.

Expectations

Expectations focuses on understanding, meeting, and exceeding client expectations by delivering high-quality work and ensuring satisfaction. This dimension highlights being aware of what clients need, ensuring their expectations are met or surpassed, producing work that aligns with their specifications, and taking responsibility for achieving excellence. It prioritizes proactive quality assurance, ensuring that clients receive exceptional service without needing to request adjustments.

Is aware of expectations from clients.
Is aware of what the client wants to receive.
Creates documents that meet the client's specifications.
Ensures clients' expectations are met or exceeded.
Exceeds expectations of the clients.
Consistently exceeds client expectations.
Accepts responsibility for ensuring client satisfaction.

Responsive

Responsive emphasizes quickly addressing client needs, adapting to changes, resolving complaints, and ensuring continuous engagement throughout the service process. This dimension centers on prompt follow-ups, availability, flexibility, and taking initiative when problems arise. It prioritizes agility and attentiveness, ensuring that clients feel heard and supported in real time.

Promptly responds to clients.
Is available to respond to client needs.
Follows up with any unanswered questions from the client.
Takes the initiative in solving difficult client issues.
Provides a responsive service that meets the needs of clients.
Responsive to client needs.
Addresses client complaints immediately.
Adapts to changes proposed by the client.
Responds to the needs of the client.
Attends to the client's needs in addition to the specific needs of the project.

Committed to Client

Committed to Client emphasizes long-term dedication to client success, fulfilling promises, and aligning actions with client interests and priorities. This dimension centers on ensuring that commitments are met, viewing client satisfaction as an ongoing priority, and making sure client needs are fully integrated into business goals. It prioritizes loyalty and follow-through, ensuring that clients feel valued and supported beyond immediate issue resolution.

Ensures client commitments and requirements are met or exceeded
Delivers on commitments made to clients.
Makes sure their interests are aligned with the client's interests.
Makes client's needs a top priority.
Ensures commitments made to clients are completed to the client's satisfaction.
Is committed to resolving client issues in a positive way.
Is committed to the success of the client.
Is committed to the client's success.
Puts client's needs first.
Fulfills commitments made to clients.
Views client satisfaction as an everyday priority.

Feedback

Feedback focuses on gathering, analyzing, and responding to client input to continuously improve services and meet expectations. This dimension highlights obtaining regular feedback, incorporating suggestions into improvements, ensuring client needs are met, and using feedback as a tool for refining the client experience. It prioritizes responsiveness and improvement, ensuring that clients feel heard and their concerns are addressed effectively.

Obtains feedback to ensure client needs are being met.
Uses feedback from the client to help improve the client's experience.
Regularly receives positive feedback from clients.
Gets feedback from the client on a weekly basis.
Has received good feedback from clients.
Gives feedback to the client regularly.
Responds to feedback from clients.

Innovative Solutions

Innovative Solutions focuses on developing new, forward-thinking products or services that push boundaries and introduce fresh approaches to meet client needs. This dimension highlights originality, breakthrough thinking, and pioneering solutions that may redefine industry standards or enhance efficiency in novel ways. It prioritizes creativity and advancement, ensuring that clients receive cutting-edge solutions that go beyond conventional offerings.

Creates innovative solutions for the clients.
Creates new and innovative products for clients.
Creates innovative solutions to meet client needs.
Tailors innovative products for each client.

Customizes Solutions

Customizes Solutions emphasizes tailoring products or services specifically to fit the unique requirements of each client. This dimension centers on adapting solutions to individual preferences, refining details to meet specific needs, and ensuring clients feel their requests are precisely addressed. It prioritizes personalization and adaptability, ensuring that every solution is uniquely suited to the client rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Helps clients feel they are receiving services tailored specifically to their needs.
Creates customized solutions for the client.
Tailors solutions to meet the specific needs of each client.
Builds products that meet the unique needs of each client.
Delivers customized solutions for each client.

Competent

Competent focuses on expertise, skill, and effectiveness in managing client projects, delivering quality products, and resolving client issues efficiently. This dimension highlights troubleshooting problems, ensuring high standards in products and services, and demonstrating proficiency in handling client cases. It prioritizes technical skill and reliability, ensuring clients receive competent and well-executed solutions.

Is competent in handling difficult clients.
Creates high quality products for the clients.
Manages client accounts with high degree of competence.
Effectively troubleshoots client issues.
Is competent in handling client cases.
Competent in managing client projects.
Delivers high quality products to the client.

Positive Interactions

Positive Interactions emphasizes building trust, maintaining respectful and professional engagement, and fostering long-term relationships through meaningful client interactions. This dimension centers on handling difficult situations with grace, acting with integrity, promoting trust, and ensuring that every client experience is supportive and beneficial. It prioritizes relationship-building and professionalism, ensuring that clients feel valued and respected in all interactions.

Looks for opportunities that have a positive impact on Clients.
Engages with clients on multiple levels.
Acts with integrity in all client interactions.
Treats clients with courtesy and respect.
Able to handle difficult clients.
Exhibits a positive attitude even when dealing with difficult clients.
Builds trust with the client.
Focuses on maintaining good relationships with clients.
Promotes, implements, maintains and enhances relationships with clients.

Services

Services focuses on providing high-quality, reliable, and consistent client service to ensure satisfaction and comfort. This dimension highlights maintaining excellence, ensuring consistency in service delivery, creating an environment where clients feel valued, and making sure their needs are met with professionalism. It prioritizes execution and reliability, ensuring that clients always receive a high level of service tailored to their expectations.

Focuses on providing excellent client service.
Creates an environment that enables clients to receive excellent service.
Ensures clients are comfortable with the services provided.
Is consistent in services provided to clients.
Provides a high level of service to clients.
Provides excellent service to clients.
Helps clients to feel satisfied with our work/services.

Communication

Communication focuses on actively exchanging information with clients, ensuring transparency, and keeping them informed throughout interactions and processes. This dimension highlights listening to client concerns, documenting interactions, maintaining honesty, and defining clear roles and expectations. It prioritizes clarity and responsiveness, ensuring that clients always feel heard, understood, and engaged through open dialogue.

Keeps the client informed of all progress.
Documents client interactions.
Is honest in all communication with the clients.
Actively listens to concerns from clients.
Transparent in all communications with the client.
Has excellent communication with clients.
Interacts with clients to define roles, expectations, and responsibilities.

Strong Relationships

Strong Relationships emphasizes building and maintaining meaningful, long-term connections with clients to foster trust and loyalty. This dimension centers on forming relationships, engaging regularly with clients, and creating a positive experience through ongoing interactions. It prioritizes trust-building and relationship management, ensuring that clients feel valued and supported beyond just the technical execution of services.

Maintains strong relationships with clients.
Forms strong client relationships
Meets with clients on a regular basis.
Builds long term relationships with clients.
Sets an example for excellent client relations.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement emphasizes enhancing and evolving client services through training, feedback, and innovation. This dimension centers on identifying areas for growth, implementing improvements, responding to client feedback, and refining services to maximize satisfaction over time. It prioritizes progress and adaptation, ensuring that services continue to evolve to meet changing client needs.

Uses client feedback to help improve products and services.
Identifies opportunities that will enhance the client's experience.
Uses feedback from clients to help improve services.
Provides training to others on how to improve client service.
Is focused on improving client services.

Focus

Focus emphasizes dedication to prioritizing client needs, shaping policies around their expectations, and fostering an environment where customer satisfaction is a core principle. This dimension centers on maintaining an unwavering commitment to client relationships, supporting client-oriented procedures, and ensuring departmental activities align with meeting customer requirements. It prioritizes long-term dedication and strategic alignment, ensuring that client-centric practices are deeply embedded in decision-making and operations.

Supports client focused policies and procedures.
Demonstrates a commitment to client focus.
Consistently demonstrates a client focus.
Their activities reflect a strong focus on the client relationship.
Focuses on the unique needs of each client.
Fosters an environment that supports strong client focus.
Focuses the department on meeting requirements of clients.