1. Identify &
Document
Client Requirements

2. Exactly what does your client want from you
Exactly what does your client want from you? In this reading, you will learn about the skills that will help you accurately determine and analyze client requirements. You will learn skills such as how to document, in a systematic manner, information provided by clients. You will learn to devise, in consultation with clients, specifications for a job. You will also learn how to use active listening skills that would enable your client to speak freely about their requirements. You are going to learn how to ask questions that would help you elicit the information you need from clients — for example, questions that clarify, probe and help you to organize, sort and sift information.

3. Organisational guidelines
Organisational guidelines are the policies or procedures that are used to correctly perform a specific activity or operation within an organisation. Many small organisations do not have a formal set of guidelines, but larger companies and government organisations do.
Organisations often have a set of standards which are required to be adhered to when it comes to purchasing equipment. Standards allow organisations to:
Ensure that all equipment used within the organisation meets satisfactory levels of operation.
Ensure that the equipment used is compatible with other equipment in use.
Ensure that support staff are trained to service and maintain the equipment in use.
Budget for and plan the timely upgrade of equipment.

4. Purchasing items
Organisational guidelines for purchasing will vary from one organisation to another. You should always check with your immediate supervisor whether such a policy exists within the organisation. This policy may specify the following:
verification of funds available for purchasing an item
verification of the necessity to purchase an item
upper limit of amount of money permitted to be spent on a single purchase
inclusion of at least two quotations for a particular item
list of recommended or approved brands or suppliers of equipment
contracts — your organisation may have a contract with a supplier and such contracts often include discounts and service agreements.

5. Identifying client requirements — an overview
Whether you provide a service to internal or external clients, it is worth remembering and following the fundamental principle of client service:
If your service responds to clients needs and makes your client feel valued, you and your organisation will build and maintain a strong reputation.
The general steps to follow in identifying clients’ needs are summarised below. Note: not all these steps are performed every time.
1 Preparation
2 Understand the business goals. This would include knowing if any budget is applicable or if there are there plans for future expansion.
3 Understand the organisational guidelines. Ask questions to determine what organisational guidelines are to be adhered to.
4 Define the client’s requirements clearly. This will be done in conjunction with the next two steps and can involve interviewing, preparation of questionnaires or direct observation. Your questioning skills are very important at this stage and are discussed in detail in the next section.
5 Identify the roles of stakeholders — those people who have an interest in identifying the requirements. This can include end-users or customers, managers and other technical staff.
6 Identify sources of information
7 Investigation
8 Develop an understanding of the existing system
9 Investigate alternatives to the existing system
10 Document the client requirements.

6. Skills required for determining and analyzing client requirements
Below are some key skills you need when determining and analyzing client requirements.
active listening strategies
sort and sift information received from the client
effective questioning skills
direct observation
research a range of possibilities
communicate regularly with the client.
You should already have had practice at listening and questioning techniques. We’ll quickly review these techniques here.

7. Accurately determining client requirements
Some client requests and requirements are quite straightforward. Others, however, can be quite complicated — and will need a lot of thinking through on your part as well as your client’s.
You may have heard of technology purchased by an organisation that ends up being hardly used. Or equipment purchased (e.g. by isolated communities) that breaks down and then is left to rust because parts are not easy to get and the experts are all in the city. You may have heard of systems that are set up that fail to meet the organization's needs or soon get outdated.
In these cases, the client may not have had a clear idea of exactly what was required — and may have asked for something they thought they needed. Or the ‘expert’ or supplier may not have accurately determined or analyzed the client’s needs.

8. How to analyze client requirements
Suppose you’ve determined your client’s requirements. You’ve collected from the client the information that’s on the template we’ve just looked at. You’ll now look at that information and ask yourself questions such as:
Does the client know exactly what they want?
Is there anything I need to research to help the client make a more informed decision?
Would I be able to meet the client’s requirements?
In other words, you analyze what the client has said their requirements are.
You might then decide to carry out research on the subject. You might find that there are other ways of solving the problem than what you or the client had decided. Your research may involve anything from consulting other people in your organisation to reading up on the subject (e.g. on the Internet and in journals).
You might find a template such as the one below useful for noting down your analysis. Again, it’s a generic template that you could adapt or elaborate on.

9. Document the client’s requirements and report them to your supervisor
After analysis of the client’s requirements, you should fully document the client’s requirements and report them to your supervisor.
This document may take the forms, but would include the following:
background information such as company details
problems and issues that may have led to the client’s request
questions asked during your meeting with the client and their answers to those questions, as well as a list of any essential criteria
other options or possibilities of which the client may not have been aware
any information for the client that will help them understand what they’re getting into before you go ahead with the job (or project).
A covering memo should be attached, stating the purpose of your report and asking the supervisor for their acceptance of the report.