Last Updated on 29/08/2025
When it comes to project management, one aspect is often overlooked, and that is the element of the customer experience.
Rightly so, a lot of time is spent focusing on the required tasks of a project; the team, the cost and the timescales. However, it is all too easy to forget that, ultimately, the project’s goal is to provide a service to the customer.
Experts such as those at Parallel Project Training always say that a good project manager remembers that the sponsor is a customer, and that to be the best, they should be doing those things that might elsewhere be considered to be “customer service”.
With this in mind, let’s take an in-depth look at some of the services that a project manager can provide that will keep customers coming back.
a. Understand the goals and benefits
When a sponsor asks you to run a project, this is to deliver something that aligns with their overall goals. You need to make sure that you understand these goals.
This will help you create the perfect presentation that communicates more effectively with the sponsor, highlighting aspects that other project managers may overlook.
When you understand the exact reasoning behind what you have been asked to do, you are more likely to complete a project that ticks all of the sponsor’s boxes. Remember to ask questions and make sure you understand exactly what you are being asked. Using tools like the Project Staffing Tool can help you align resource allocation with the sponsor’s objectives, ensuring that the right team members are assigned to the right tasks for maximum efficiency.
b. Regular communication
The biggest takeaway from any project management course you take will be that communication is your most valuable tool as a project manager.
As a customer yourself, there is a good chance you will have had to chase things up when an order you were waiting for hasn’t arrived. Having to do this can often put you in a bad mood before you even reach someone.
Being informed of delays before you need to chase them offers a significantly better customer experience, and the same can be said when working on a project. Whether the information you have to impart is good or bad, regular updates with your sponsor are essential, and an AI voice agent can help streamline communication.
All communication must be professional and well-written, so use an email checker. This can also provide an opportunity to discuss any issues and explore alternative solutions.
Regular updates will help your sponsor feel like they are being kept informed and ensure that you maintain an open dialogue. Implementing specialized tools can significantly enhance overall project management, resulting in more streamlined processes and better alignment with customer expectations.
Utilizing project timeline software can further enhance transparency by providing real-time updates on project progress, ensuring sponsors are always informed.
To keep things transparent, and improve customer experience research, and ensure your sponsor stays in the loop, use modern AI project management tools such as those offered by Corcava, where all tasks, updates, and other project activities can be posted in one place. and you post all tasks, updates, and other project activities there, in one place.
Additionally, integrating a social media management tool like Planly can enhance communication and transparency by streamlining updates and fostering more collaborative engagement with stakeholders.
Having this transparency in task management and up-to-date communication will not only enhance the overall customer experience of your sponsor but also help you retain them, thereby improving their lifetime value.
c. Offer options
Project management is all about avoiding surprises. You need to be able to create a predictable delivery environment where you can not only bring your project under control but also anticipate those things that may go wrong. Much of this means not sitting on any issues.
You should work to resolve any issues that arise, but ensure that you are not keeping problems secret. A good project manager will share problems openly, allowing the team to engage in constructive conversations that help solve the issues.
When you simply report that there is a problem, and there is little more to it, this is not effective project management. It requires not only problem-solving but also excellent people management skills to guide the team in finding solutions and maintaining project momentum. Whilst there is no denying that it is better than not reporting it at all, it is also important to take action to address the problem.
When you consider this in terms of customer service, reporting something was wrong to a supplier and then nothing being done about it would not be the outcome you would look for; you would almost certainly want a solution or an alternative option.
This is the same in project management. All issues should be reported as soon as possible; however, you should also look at the problem and see if any solutions come to mind so that you can also suggest these when you refer the issue to your sponsor, in this way you are offering a much better service. Offer them options rather than presenting a problem and asking what they want to do about it.
d. Make things easy for them
The one thing you should do is make things easy for your customers. Great customer service is something that we have all, hopefully, experienced at least once and it is something that you want to shout from the rooftops about when it happens.
As a project manager, the right feedback from customers is a valuable asset that can not only provide a great sense of accomplishment for you and your team but also lead to more significant and successful construction projects in the future.
In the construction industry, effective fleet management plays a crucial role in project management, ensuring that vehicles and equipment are used efficiently to meet project timelines and satisfy customer expectations. Understanding the principles taught in a Project Management Course can greatly improve fleet management practices in construction.
In project management, it is a good idea to anticipate any questions that a sponsor may have, so you can have an answer ready for them. You can also use a how-to guide creator to make ready-to-use guides that can answer questions and serve as self-service resources to your teams, customers and sponsors.
It is about ensuring that your sponsor understands exactly what they can expect from you and also at what point during the project you may need something from them. It is all about making sure that there are no surprises along the way.
e. Put yourself in the place of your customer
At some point, it is essential to take a moment to consider what things you would want to know about if you were the project sponsor.
For the majority of projects, it isn’t difficult to identify the key deliverables or significant milestones that the customer may want to be updated on. If you can’t work them out, you can always ask. Your customers will be happy to tell you when they want to be updated on business communication and what is most important to them.
Reflect on the customer experiences that have made you happy, and consider those that have not. What aspects of these experiences contributed to their success? This is what you should aim to bring to your management style, and a customer experience survey can help you understand those factors.
As a project manager, there are a few things you can put in place to improve the customer experience, and it is these small details that can make a big impression on your customers.
