To me being accountable means being responsible for your actions and showing that you can follow through AND follow up. By being accountable, it builds trust 
between you and your client. Which will help your business relationship prosper. If that isn’t a good enough reason to be accountable I don’t know what is!
Accountability is a simple concept but sometimes it falls through the cracks. I know I’m guilty of missing a step from time to time.
To combat this I created a process for myself to make sure things get done the way they should and that I follow up with my client.
- Before I set a completion time for a task or job I check my schedule to make sure that I can do the task in a reasonable amount of time.
- If I can, I write down the task, when it needs to be done by and what I have to do.
- If I can delegate, I pass it off and set a reminder to follow up to make sure the works gets done.
- After it is done I follow up with the client.
It’s a simple process that works but for some clients it is the long way of creating accountability. When it comes to some projects, like building a website, it can take weeks or months to complete. There can be long periods of time where the client will have to wait for the design to get done or the content to be entered into the site. This wait time can seem to the client that you aren’t doing anything. They can grow impatient and start to bug you, which can lead to problems.
Depending on the client, you might want to setup weekly or bi-weekly (twice a week) calls or emails to let them know the status of the project. This keeps them in the loop and will show that you are getting stuff done.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if you are being accountable.
- Am I doing everything I was ask to do or said I would do?
- Am I doing the things I said I would do in a timely manner?
- Am I giving project updates in a timely manner?
- Am I following up in a timely manner?
- Is the work that I’m doing the best it could be?
In general accountability is a corner stone to any business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you can’t complete things for your clients, why would they continue to do business with you?
