"Throughout my career, the concept of the 'customer' has varied. In many cases, it has referred to the customer of the end product, while during other projects it has been the stakeholders with the most vested interest in the project's outcome.

Not long ago, I managed a project to implement new customer management software for the sales team so they would have more opportunities to cross-sell to existing customers. In this scenario, the Sales Director was the 'customer' who I aimed to satisfy. To do this, I continually checked in with him throughout the project, which paid off because early on we caught a problem: we were planning to roll out the new software during a busy selling period. After realizing this wasn't ideal, we worked together to pick another roll-out time.

In the end, the Sales Director was happy with the end result of the project, but only because we caught and fixed this error earlier on. If for some reason he hadn't been happy at the completion of the project, I would have met with him, listened, and put together an action plan to fix the issues. I always strive to leave the customer, whether they be external or a stakeholder, 100% satisfied and happy."

Describe your process for handling a disappointed client. Demonstrate your willingness to empathetically listen to your client's concerns and collaborate on an acceptable path forward. Emphasize how important your client's happiness with the process and end product are to you. Finally, be sure to mention any steps you regularly take to minimize the likelihood of this scenario occurring through proactive measures such as maintaining open lines of communication throughout a project.