Today, I delivered a purpose-built automated spreadsheet to a client. The client is a major publisher and the job was very complex: importing daily expenses claim data, processing it in several stages to ascertain what type to assign to each claim, then producing six different reports, each containing multiple types of claim. Finally I had to save an output file containing the data and all six reports, as well as saving two of the reports separately.
I finished the final tweaks and tests this morning and sent it through to the client. By return, I received this testimonial:
“I don’t want to sound too gushing but I just want to tell you how brilliant you are!
- I try to give clear requirements
- You question them when they’re not clear to you
- Then you follow the requirements and give me what I asked for
- You test it before you send it to me
- … and you’re very understanding when I change my mind
Sounds perfectly sensible but there are not many people out there who can do this.”
Well, I must say I was flattered, but in truth the same comments pretty much applied to the client. His original requirements specification was superb, he responded very quickly to any questions I had, he was patient when my first attempts had errors, and he communicated brilliantly at all stages.
As always, communication is key!
