It’s hard learning something new for the first time. Trust me, I’m trying to figure out how to navigate Tableau Prep without my head exploding. Your immediate confusion turns to anxiety; which turns to anger, and finally all that leads to abdication. All those emotions and moments are exactly what a client feels whenever they don’t “get it.” See, we're all on the same boat; we're all trying to understand each other.
So there’s the first step. You, your teammates, and your clients are part of the same cause. So in order to understand, you have to have to ask your clients any and every possible question about their data. Where did it come from, how was it compiled, has any new business moves affected this data, are there any miscellaneous information, what outcomes do you expect, and do you have any questions for me?
Wow that's a lot, right? Take a deep breath and calm down because this process will take time; don’t sweat it. So the second lesson/step is to prep the data. This step is like the wild west; the data is confusing, random, and possibly missing. Here is the most important thing to remember; all those worries can be cleared up by just communicating with the client. It might be intimidating at first, but the faster any concerns are cleared up the better.
The third step is to visualize the data. The name of the game is to make everything as simple as possible. Not only for the client, but for you as well. The point of visualization is to understand the data first and then make it pretty. So in the beginning find the trends, the connections, and most importantly the story. The story is what the client will take away from the presentation. Furthermore, this is where collaboration comes in. Work with your teammates to see if they have any gaps in their data or for them to peer review yours.
The final step is to present. Before your presentation, coordinate with your team. If you need to have a mini-Zoom call with your team, do it. No matter how big or small of a concern you have, address it. After all that, it’s time to present.
When presenting, I find it’s very helpful to know your presentation inside and out. Then at the moment of presentation have your concentration at 1000%. Thus, when any questions are thrown your way, you won’t be thrown off. Your nerves and anxiety won’t get in the way if you know your stuff!
So there you go, that’s more or less the client-consultant experience. Just remember communication and knowing what the data means are most important. What’s important is that there’s always something new to learn every time. That may seem intimidating, but it’s the best way to grow!