Client Care

Question 1

Why is it important to you to set objectives?

Answer 1

Setting objectives gives me a clear direction of travel, and sets out what I want to achieve and how I will go about achieving it.

Question 2

Tell me about your duty of care towards your clients.

Answer 2

I recognise that I have a duty of care to all of my clients.

For example: If a client wishes to do something that would be impractical, or impossible, or doomed to certain failure, I owes the client a duty of care to inform him or her of that. To give the best customer care,

Question 3

How have you defined your scope of services within the limits of your competence and PI insurance?

Answer 3

Prior to accepting an instruction, I ensure I am fully aware of the clients requirements. If something is outside of my professional competence, or the insurance parameters held by the business I would advise the client of this and recommend either a colleague or other business who may be able to assist.

Question 4

How do you set fees?

Answer 4

Our fees are calculated by fully understanding the clients requirements, then calculating the cost to the business of delivering, including things like staff costs, overheads and disbursements. This is then marked up by a percentage to ensure reasonable profits are made.

Question 5

How have you used standard forms of appointment?

Answer 5

We have been appointed under the RICS Standard Form of Consultants Appointment. The Standard Appointment provides the basis for a contract between a client and a consultant, and
is suitable for use where a consultant is engaged on construction project-related commissions.

Question 6

What mechanisms are contained within an appointment document?

Answer 6

• Scope of services
• Payment terms
• Insurance provisions
• Complaints procedure

Question 7

What insurance requirements are you aware of (both legal and RICS)?

Answer 7

• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Public Liability Insurance
• Run off cover (RICS regulated firm requirement)

Question 8

How are stakeholders identified?

Answer 8

Stakeholders are a person or group with an interest or level of influence that can impact the project.

Question 9

How do you establish a stakeholders status within a project?

Answer 9

Establish their ability to make decisions that impact the project.

E.g. Employer who ultimately decides how the money is spent.

End user who may input on requirements for a finished project.

Question 10

Explain formal communication systems with clients and stakeholders you
are aware of?

Answer 10

Majority of formal communication is written, and involves the exchange of official information, I would typically use email as this provides an immediate delivery of information, and an auditable evidence trail.

Question 11

What KPIs might you agree with a client to monitor performance?

Answer 11

• Financial control of a project
• Ensuring cash flow is forecasted and delivered
• Customer satisfaction (e.g. limiting complaints of residents)
• H&S, no accidents or near misses

Question 12

How do you gather data during the inception stage of a project, including client briefings and site based information?

Answer 12

I hold client meetings and document the discussions allowing the scope to develop. Formalising into a final written brief.

I request any previous information held by the client including asbestos informaiton, H&S files etc.

I check sources such as the planning portal and protected area checks.

Question 13

Explain what BS EN ISO 9004 relates to.

Answer 13

ISO 9004 is a document that can accompany the ISO 9001. It’s designed to provide guidance to any organization on ways to make their quality management system more successful.

Question 14

What is the definition of a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)?

Answer 14

Key performance indicators (KPIs) refer to a set of quantifiable measurements used to gauge overall long-term performance.

Question 15

Tell me about an example of how you have provided good client care?

Answer 15

Serco - measured surveys.

• When approached to provide circa 180 measured surveys
• I established what the clients requirements were, which was to provide record drawings showing compliant room sizes of their HMO’s.
• After our fee proposal and terms of business had been signed and returned I undertook a pilot survey, and issued this to the client to sign off, ensuring that their brief had been captured and they were happy with the standard.
• Following this we completed the remainder of the surveys. Client was happy and we secured repeat business as a result.

Question 16

Tell me about an example of when you have provided a high standard of service to a client.

Answer 16

Liverpool - School New Build

• Acting as EA. I ensured that I provided a high standard of service to the client.

I answered all client queries promptly and ensured that the client understood the process and progress as they were not construction minded.

I ensured they were kept up to date with fortnightly progress reports.

Following completion of the project I issued a feedback questionnaire to ensure any lessons learned could be incorporated into future projects.

Question 17

How have you dealt with an unrealistic client deadline?

Answer 17

Dudley WC

A client was asked for tender documents to be produced for a WC refurbishment within 3 days of our initial site visit.

I ensured that I managed the clients expectations by fully explaining the processes we had to go through including, design, specification and quality assurance before the tender documents could be released.

I proposed an outline programme, which was realistic and accounted for all steps required.

The client accepted and appreciated this and the project proceeded.

Question 18

Tell me about the approach you have taken when dealing with a nontechnical lay client.

Answer 18

When dealing with a nontechnical client. I always ensure that I do not take for granted things and processes that are common place in the industry.

I avoid the use of jargon or technical terms and always have a debrief with my client following meeting to answer any questions and ensure they are happy with was was discussed and agreed.

Question 19

Tell me about the approach you have taken when dealing with a client with a high level of property knowledge.

Answer 19

I find that clients with a high level of property knowledge want to be more involved in the whole process.

I ensure that my technical clients are involved in meetings and decisions. And I am careful not to patronise them by over explaining things.

Question 20

How have you established a client’s objectives?

Answer 20

I always take the time to understand my clients aims and objectives of a project or piece of work.

I organise an initial meeting following an enquiry to discuss the work in detail and their reasons and context for undertaking it. Following this, I either minute or summarise the conversation back to the client to check my understanding.

Question 21

How have you confirmed a client’s brief?

Answer 21

When putting together a fee proposal, I include a section which relates to the clients brief and my understanding of the services we are to provide.

We do not commence with an instruction until this has been signed and acknowledged by the client.

If the project is of a suitable size, I will produce a formal written brief to be approved by my client.

Question 22

How have you established a scope of services?

Answer 22

We have a standard scope of service for many service offerings at my company. I issue this to my clients and we have a discussion around any project specific additions that may be required. Following this, this scope of service is included in the fee proposal which is signed and returned by the client.

Question 23

How have you calculated fees for professional services?

Answer 23

I calculated fees on a time basis, by working out the cost to the business of delivering the work, which includes all staff costs, overheads and disbursements. This figure then gets uplifted to account for the profit margin.

Question 24

How have you compiled an appointment document?

Question 25

How have you set up communication systems with a client and stakeholders?

Answer 25

I always ensure I am using the most effective form of communication for the situation. I ensure that all my clients have my contact information which includes my email address and mobile phone number. Depending on nature and urgency of the communication I would use either phone or email to contact or be contacted.

Question 26

How have you issued reports to a client?

Answer 26

I have dealt with issuing numerous different types of reports to clients. Whatever the scenario I always ensure the report has passed through the required QA process prior to issue. My company has an internal portal called workspace, which if there are a large volume of reports for a specific project, the client can be given access to a specific project folder to view and download these. If it is a one off report, I will typically issue this via email.

Question 27

How have you dealt with a complaint?

Answer 27

I have dealt with a complaint from an NHS client. I was overseeing a series of fire surveys to hospitals, the client got in touch to complain that he thought findings had been missed. I acknowledged receipt and let him know the next steps for investigation and resolution, which was to review the survey contents. I concluded that is was likely the surveyor had not surveyed rooms, due to them being in use or locked etc but not indicated this on the report. I responded to the client that we would be willing to re-attend while surveying a nearby premises and survey these missed sections. The client was satisfied with this resolution, and we proceeded on that basis. Going forward I ensured a specific no-access section was included in the limitations section on the report.

Question 28

How have you measured KPIs?

Answer 28

Managing a passive fire project to general needs flats. Clients KPI's included no tenants complaints. When procuring the project I included in the tender documents that the contractor should include for a dedicated resident liaison officer to deal with tenants queries and or complaints. I ensured I was in regular communication with the RLO to ensure this was managed well, and included this on the agenda at each progress meeting to ensure the client was briefed on feedback received. No formal complaints were received, as the tenants had a dedicated person to speak to and any feedback was promptly addressed to ensure a successful project was delivered.

Question 29

How did you establish a fee for the measured surveys?

Answer 29

To calculate the fee for the measured surveys, I broke the properties down into property types e.g. 3 bedroom house, 4 bedroom house. Each type of property was allocated a fixed fee based on a time allowance to complete the measured survey, including allowances for reasonable disbursements. This was presented to the client transparently on our fee proposal.

Question 30

How did you formalise the fee for the measured surveys?

Answer 30

I produced a formal written fee proposal, which detailed our scope of service and fee breakdown amongst other key clauses. This document is signed by the client before we proceed with the instruction.

Question 31

How did you ensure the fee covered the work undertaken on the measured surveys?

Answer 31

I have undertaken this type of work before, and from past experience I estimated a time allowance required to carry out the work. I also reviewed the locations of the properties and ensured adequate allowances for disbursements was made.

Question 32

How did you meet your client’s requirements on the measured survey project?

Answer 32

One of my clients main requirements was to detail the number of bedrooms in each property, and the m2 sizes of these to ensure they are compliant. The software we used to produce the measured surveys added this information, along with all other requirements (lighting, sockets, switches locations etc). We undertook a pilot sample of 10 surveys to ensure the client was happy with the output before proceeding with the main project.

Question 33

How did you manage a large volume instruction?

Answer 33

I used a mixture of in-house surveyors and freelance associates to complete the site work. I ensured that every survey was QA'd from a desktop perspective and 10% were checked on site to ensure the quality was as required. I ensured regular update meetings were in place with the client. I used our in-house document sharing portal Workspace to share the output with the client.

Question 34

How have you analysed the data gathered through the client briefing process and formulated a detailed client brief?

Answer 34

During the inception of a school refurbishment, I visited the school to meet the client and walk the site with the client, talking and viewing the proposed area of work which was the refurbishment of a toilet block. I ensured I minuted our conversation, which included key design outputs including no. of toilets / sinks / hand dryers etc. From this I formulated the client brief, which included the key design outputs required from the space which was included in our fee proposal which is signed by the client before we proceed with the instruction.