Customer relationship fundamentals

Whether you are meeting a customer for the first time or the 100th, some fundamentals are constant, and we will cover these best practices and other pointers in this section. Here are some common blocking and tackling basics for every SE to consider.

To start with, you should always arrive early at the customer site. If you are having a remote meeting, you should always be the first person to join! Especially with remote calls, it is amazing what great information you can obtain if for five minutes before the call formally starts, one of the technical stakeholders pops on the call and you have a casual conversation, one on one. On the flip side, you may find yourself on back-to-back calls. If this is the case and a call is running over, notify the customer as well as your teammates of your tardiness. If you are going on site, getting there early allows you time to get through the gate guard, sign in at the front desk, and decompress a bit after...