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How to Go the Extra Mile with Your Clients in 2026
- Christian Steinert
- Dec 30, 2025
- 4 min read
Real experiences delivering exceptional value as a data consultant—no fluff
A few months ago, I wrote about a broken pipeline that cost my client days of downtime. Their financial reporting system broke, and I was directly responsible. I enhanced the client’s trust through 100% transparency and took action on a fix.
The low-code data pipeline solutions we use with this client are buggy (to say the least). Truthfully, there’s no foolproof way to guarantee these pipelines run 100% of the time. Things break, so we built a fallback solution to ensure that updated data can still be accessed if the tool goes down.
We didn’t just build a fallback solution though. There was no charge to the client for any of that time. Furthermore, we delivered it within a week of beginning the sprint. This truly delighted our client, and brings up an important practice when working with them: always strive to stay transparent and overdeliver.
In the last issue of 2025, I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the ways we’ve stood out as a data consulting firm—real experiences, no fluff. Selfishly, this is a showcase for Steinert Analytics as well.
Does this fully apply to data team leaders? Not from a consulting angle. However, there are lessons to be taken away when interfacing with business stakeholders as a data team. Ask yourself if you align to these practices when working through data projects.
I’d love to hear your feedback as well!
Just Follow Through
It’s not only with promised delivery. Follow through with the little things as well.
If we say we’ll update a Jira ticket with details each day, we do.
When a VP leans on us to coordinate a meeting, we do that timely.
Even non-professional things like lunch or dinner with our client—we show up on time!
The small commitments build trust just as much as the big ones. Consistency in the minor details demonstrates reliability when it really matters.
When Things Go Wrong
We stay transparent. Always communicate bottlenecks.
Focus on the solution path forward if an issue arises.
Leverage resources to resolve the issue (ie. Microsoft support contacts).
Provide status updates as we’re working on a fix.
When pipelines break or data goes stale, hiding from the problem never helps. Our clients appreciate knowing what’s happening and seeing us actively work toward resolution. Own the mistakes. Communicate the plan. Execute the fix.
Building the Relationship
Find time for casual conversation and humor.
Don’t make every interaction 100% business. Take time to get personal. Talk about the weekend. Add humor where appropriate. (I love sending funny gif reactions to comments in our Teams thread).
Stay practically optimistic. No one wants to hear negativity from a data team or consultant.
The technical work is table stakes. The relationship is what makes you memorable. We’re solving complex problems together—there’s room for humanity in that process.
Show Up Prepared
Outside of daily standups, have an agenda for working session meetings (business data modeling is a good example).
If a data governance meeting, ensure you have all metric logic documented and in front of you. Quick references go a long way instead of having to pull open your IDE to remember the logic.
Review meeting notes beforehand and come ready to contribute. Wasted time in meetings erodes trust faster than almost anything else.
Review Progress Frequently
We typically review progress in our sprint retros with clients bi-weekly. What’s going well? What’s going badly? What can we improve? What do we keep doing?
Have one-on-one conversations quarterly with main stakeholders. Ask for feedback to improve.
Regular retrospectives aren’t just project management ceremony—they’re opportunities to course-correct before small issues become big problems. And they show clients you genuinely care about improving.
Seek New Opportunities to Add Value
Baseline reporting and AI foundations for our clients is the core, but not enough. What more can we do with the data? What insights can we unlock?
Study the business through stakeholder interviews and external resources (ie. healthcare podcasts, domain-specific newsletters/articles).
Always be one step ahead on the long-term vision and roadmap you’re on with clients.
The best consultants don’t just execute the SOW—they proactively identify opportunities the client hasn’t even thought of yet. That’s how you become indispensable.
Thanks for a Wonderful 2025
I know this issue is less conventional than many of my other issues. I hope these callouts inspire you to level up the value delivered consistently as a data leader or consultant in 2026.
Truthfully, I’m beginning to shift my focus from weekly newsletters here towards my bi-weekly podcast—The Healthcare Growth Cycle Podcast—in 2026.
I’ll still target to launch 1-2 monthly newsletters on Substack next year, but it’s not as much of a focus. The goal is producing and delivering content to 10X Steinert Analytics. Substack is a brilliant medium for community building and top-of-funnel credibility for me, but I’m finding the mediums where I’m able to foster intentional relationships one-on-one with potential clients is different (ie. podcasting, events).
It’s been an absolute pleasure growing this newsletter to 220 subscribers this year. Your following and engagement means more than you know, and I can’t wait to continue delivering insights via the podcast, LinkedIn posting, and a few new articles here next year!
So thank you to this community for an EPIC 2025! I wish you the best New Year and rest of your Holidays!
Christian Steinert is the founder of Steinert Analytics, helping healthcare organizations turn data into actionable insights. Subscribe to Rooftop Insights for weekly perspectives on analytics and business intelligence in these industries.
Also - check out our free Healthcare Analytics Playbook eBook course here.
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