While there are many technical challenges to the design process, for a lot of freelance designers it’s not just the actual work, but more the interaction with clients, that is integral to maintaining their success.
The fact clients come from all kinds of industries and with all kinds of informed (and uninformed) opinions on your work is par for the course. But the reality is they also help put food on your table and credit on your phone, so it’s a good idea to learn to have great relationships with them.
Sure, we’ve all had a client who makes us want to mutter certain impolite words under our breath, but for the sake of your personal brand, maintaining a polite dialogue is crucial. Your professional reputation is forged over years of good work and cultivating contacts. You can tarnish that reputation with one misdemeanour.
Just as beneficial as positive word of mouth can be in securing clients, negative views about your working style can spread quickly, and be far more damaging to your career.
Maintaining good relationships with clients involves accepting you are working for someone who ultimately needs to be happy with your final designs, whether they reflect your preferences or not.
Here are five tips to help you manage client relationships while not losing your voice, backbone, or future prospects, in the process.
Tip 1 – Remember you’re the expert
A client will always be paying you for your manual skills of being able to produce a creative end product. But remember, they are also paying for your expertise as a designer.
Providing your professional perspective on a project isn’t being disruptive, it is taking ownership of the idea, and guiding the client in an area they may not be qualified in.
You need to assert yourself in a polite manner that demonstrates your knowledge and ability. Once they have issued the brief, it is your job to interpret it in a way that delivers a product that is on message, on trend, and on the money.
Your ideas can be varied, but ensure each is based on a solid reasoning which demonstrates an ability to develop a basic concept into something the client would have been unable to create themselves.
When presenting the final designs, you should show a belief in the rationale behind how they were conceived. Those uninitiated in the audience should be left in no doubt you are totally across the subject and they have got the right person on the job.
Even if you disagree with a client’s choice, never say they’re wrong or their design choice is bad. Give specific reasons why your preference may work better for their purposes, and suggest amendments which may make them more receptive to your chosen design.
Tip 2 – Remember they’re the boss
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Despite your best efforts to emphasize point one, there will come a time in your career when you will encounter a client who will inadvertently butcher your perfect designs and force you to sell a product you’d rather consign to the recycling bin.
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The difficulty with this is you really have to just let them go with it. At the end of the day, there may be many reasons why they stick to their choice – whether it’s policy, predetermined corporate branding, or general principles.
No no matter how well you explain why their choices aren’t great, they still get to make the decision based on their knowledge of their needs. You should trust they have a greater understanding of their audience, customers, and industry which will add a different perspective to their decision making.
Importantly, even if you’re not hot about a concept, make sure you give it the same love and attention as any other design. There is no point to your work if you do not take pride in it, even if the pride is just that you expertly executed a terrible idea.
The risk is your name will be indelibly linked to the design, and becomes a blotch on your portfolio. A client isn’t going to bear that in mind too much when judging their final choice.
However, you can take satisfaction from the fact the artwork is technically executed well, and ride on the back of the positive review you should get from the client having satisfied their demands as your ’employer’.
Tip 3 – Document everything
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When times are good, being a stickler for rules and contracts might seem boring or even annoying, but believe me – if times are bad, they will save your sanity. Handshakes and agreements made over a friendly chat are all too quickly forgotten once grievances arise.
Good documentation starts before a project ever begins. In your contract, you will specify the product a client is purchasing and quote your fee, which can be either based on an hourly rate or be a flat rate fee per project if that is what you prefer. Once agreements have been reached, make sure you stick to your terms of the agreement or flag if changes need to be made. If changes do come up, make sure to amend your contract accordingly and re-sign.
It’s also a good idea to get into the habit of creating incidental documentation – for example, if you meet a client over coffee to discuss draft concepts, send them an email afterwards containing key agreements reached on the day. If next week they deny ever choosing the design you have spent many hours tweaking and want you to fix up another on your own time, you can point them to a time-stamped, undeniable record.
This process also allows you to better set expectations. Although you want to remain as flexible as possible, clear documentation from the outset around what you can achieve in a certain timeframe means if the client starts ramping up the workload, you can temper their demands, or adjust your rates.
Tip 4 – Remember Conflict Resolution Tactics
There’s little doubt that one day you will come across a client who will just not be satisfied. There may be heated emotions, even raised voices. Whatever you do, try not to go there. Good communication is key to solving all design differences.
If you disagree with your client, always say so in a calm, respectful manner. Never place value judgements on their opinions, and frame all your points from the audience’s perspective, not your own. Never disagree without giving a good reason, and listen openly and honestly to what they have to say. Ask as many questions as you can – more often than not, disagreements are merely misunderstandings.
A problem arises when two parties on the client side offer conflicting information about the direction they see the project going.
What you must remember is it is not your job to resolve their conflict. It is down to the in-house team to come up with a coherent brief.
For your part, you can provide design ideas that reflect the opinions of both sides, which may help them determine the best way forward. You can also use your expertise to offer a combination of the best bits of each idea, to show how both can be accommodated.
You can then use the examples to impartially describe the pros and cons, rather than jumping on either side’s verbal argument.
Above all, remember (and remind them, if necessary) that you are both on the same team and you both want the same thing – a gorgeous, successful design.
Tip 5 – Meet the deadline
No matter how much of a creative genius you are, you’ll have a hell of a time trying to build a good reputation if you repeatedly miss your deadlines. Clients need to be able to rely on you if they’re going to commit their resources to hire you.
That said, you’re not always in control of your own destiny.
Even if you have scheduled to complete a task for a client within a certain time frame, and potentially around other professional commitments, you may fall foul of changing demands from their end.
It’s not unknown for a client to deliver last minute changes as you approach completion, which will scupper any perfectly planned schedule. Here, explain you will do your best to hit the original date, but you need to be clear your workflow was set to the initial delivery, and a dramatic shift should be compensated with additional time.
If you are simply asked to deliver a larger number of assets, do everything you can to get them to the client on the first agreed deadline. Nothing impresses more than over-delivery. It’s also a lot less stressful for you in the long term to not let projects over-run.
Once a project is ‘completed’, the client may still come back with alterations. If these have not been negotiated into the original contract, you are entitled to ask for an additional fee set a deadline that works for your schedule.
Don’t renegotiate too aggressively though, as after working so well together for the first delivery, you don’t want to sour the relationship.
Whatever scenario materialises close to deadline, communication is key, and usually a client who knows what’s happening is a happy client.
Round-up of client-designer relationship tips
Hopefully these ideas will help you keep your clients happy.
The key elements for a smooth relationship are communication, setting expectations, and quality delivery.
If all else fails, try to think of a tough client as a challenge to your design skills to make even this person happy. Who doesn’t love a good challenge?
Want More?
Managing the conversation between clients and designers is crucial to ensure the best creative outcomes. Check out these articles for more on how to forge a stronger working relationship.
Typical Problems With Client Proposals Presented To Designers
Five Great Tips For How Business Owners Can Work Well With A Designer
Top articles on managing the working relationship between designers and clients
Written by Divya Abe on Monday, May 22, 2017
Divya Abe is an expert graphic designer ready to share her knowledge with the crowd. Besides spending quality time on the internet she enjoys anything to do with cats. Get in touch via Google+.