Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 Building strong client relationships and creating an amazing experience are top priorities for Metis Communications. Although best practices to create great client experiences span borders, there are a few additional processes you should implement when working with international contacts. You may find yourself brewing a pot of coffee extra early for status calls or pouring an evening cup for late night brainstorms. But through our experience with international clients, we’ve identified four key ways that can help work go as smooth as possible, ensuring a productive and enjoyable process for all involved. Lock down the logistics At the beginning of any client relationship, it’s important to discuss logistics. Start by determining the best protocol for scheduling meetings, software or project management tools they rely upon as well as preferred modes of communication such as email, phone calls or texts. Keep in mind your client organizations may have standardized on particular communication tools, like Skype Business, to conference with team members across the globe. Make it easy for them and adapt when possible. Establish time zone rules Working across different time zones and with executives who have busy travel schedules can make coordinating meetings difficult. To eliminate potential stress, determine whether meetings or deadlines will be set to their local time or yours. Once set, be sure to follow that standard going forward. Using sites such as Every Time Zone or Time Zone Converter, or adding new cities to the World Clock feature on your cell phone, can help you keep your time zones straight. Determine primary and secondary contacts Confirming who your primary and secondary contacts are is imperative when working with international clients. Often times a good PR opportunity will have a small window of time, and when you are already dealing with time zone differences, it can make scheduling interviews or providing quotes more challenging. Further, it can result in missed opportunities. Knowing who the best spokesperson is to contact during specific days or windows of times can help immensely and produce better results. Understand the work week and adapt Not all countries and companies work a traditional Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. week. Learn what your client’s typical week looks like and adjust accordingly. Keep in mind, European countries have a different work culture than most U.S. based companies. For example, the French government instituted a policy that allows employees to disconnect from work email while they’re not in the office in order to limit the amount of time that activity infringes upon their leisure time. It’s important to clearly understand your client’s typical work week and plan meetings and deadlines accordingly. The same holds true for holidays: Understand what’s coming or you might not be able to reach contacts when you need them most. Iron out parameters and expectations As always, it’s important to establish media relations goals and expectations at the start of any client relationship. However, when it comes to international clients, it may require additional conversation. You’ll need to determine if your media relations strategy should focus just on the U.S. or if it should span across a variety of countries or regions. If your client is a large international company, you may find yourself tag teaming media efforts with global communication teams or even other agencies based in a particular geography. Coming up with a clear media strategy and understanding from the start will help make execution easier and prevent opportunities or tasks from slipping through the cracks. Improve your global positioning Although working with international clients may require additional logistics or a change of communications methods, your team will grow through the experience. That’s good. After all, learning new skill-sets and developing an understanding of how international companies operate will enhance both your organization and staff. And improved “global positioning” could be just the ticket that leads to more and greater opportunities. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on Metis Blog and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage Author: Alan Draper Based in the United Kingdom, Business 2 Community editor Alan is part of the team that’s responsible for ensuring all the content on our site is accurate, relevant and up-to-date. In addition to editing, he is also a writer and an expert on the stock market. Alan has previously written … View full profile ›More by this author:Get Free Bitcoin and Earn Interest on Crypto with ZenGo5 Best Cryptos to Buy on the Dip in the May Crypto CrashEuroswap EDEX: Last TokenSale phase before listing – team announces the list of exchanges