Many Clients in the construction industry are either ill-advised, think they know the answers, or don’t know what they don’t know (very common). However, implementation begins with Clients. Clients are at the core of the process and their needs must be met by the industry, even if it relates to re-educating the Client.
There is a profound difference between the advisor who (so often) tells the Client what he ought to have, as distinct from the one who listens intently, absorbs the Client culture and requirements, and only then makes a reasoned proposal based on a set of options that address the Client’s requirements. Professionals in private practice, particularly those who have spent most of their career in that situation, should bear in mind that it would be difficult (if not impossible) for them to understand the corporate politics which so often determine how the employees of a large Client organisation behave, and in particular, make decisions.
The real challenge to the construction industry is the Client with massive buying power who has executed many projects in the past and, in a buyer’s market, introduces a degree of stretch into the industry’s performance which is unrealistic. The obvious example of this is the Client who, having taken months or even years to make up his mind whether to proceed or not, decides to proceed and wants to start on site “tomorrow”. This is often an approach taken by Clients in the Energy sector.