5 Ways to Make Your Clients Happier

As designers we wear many hats, and one really important role is that of project manager. Most of us who work for smaller shops or as freelancers have some level of responsibility in handling client relationships. This isn’t something we are taught in school, so I’d like to share some tips I’ve gleaned over the years that will hopefully prove useful in your client relationships.

1. Attune to Your Client

Get into your client’s head-space. Become them. Try to understand their goals, desires, tastes and style of working. Know what they love and hate. Understand their preferences. To do that, you really have to listen. In interactions, take notice of their body language and tone. Try to understand their nonverbal communication. The more you interact with your client, the better sensitized you’ll be to what they are all about. Is anything unclear or confusing? Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, then listen, listen, listen.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

• Keep it Positive. Especially if you also have the role of being the primary point of contact for a client, it’s important to be positive. In the face of emergencies, issues, obstacles, or conflicts, positivity goes a long way toward diffusing stress and overcoming those difficult situations.
• Be Proactive. Never make clients chase you. Be on top of the timeline and be diligent at giving timely updates and responses.
• Always communicate your expectations
  • Confirm their expectations
  • Update your client on progress
  • Communicate concerns and issues; proactively handle them
  • Set milestones and give friendly reminders

3. Stick To Your Guns:

Is the client is asking for something that could actually be contrary to their best interests, takes the design off course or for which there is a better solution? Educate the client and make your argument. Chances are, if you articulate your argument well and back up your assertions, the client will carefully consider your recommendations and be open-minded.

4. Present with Purpose

When it’s time to present designs:

• Choreograph the Presentation Well. Control the environment. How you present the work can make all the difference. Prepare your presentation so that the client can see your work in the best possible light. Prepare your presentation by rehearsing what key points you need to convey. And when presenting, if you want to win them over, it is super important to show how your work connects to the client’s goals.
• Avoid presenting anything that you wouldn’t want the client to pick.
  It’s a thing called Murphy’s Law. Just don’t share something you wouldn’t be proud of presenting, because chances exist for the client to pick that one design you don’t like.

5. Guide — Don’t Force — Client Decisions

Don’t force anything on a client. Instead, do your best to help the client make an educated decision. Make recommendations and explain your work, but don’t expect them to agree on every point because design can be very subjective. Our job is to understand the client’s objectives and design to their goals while ensuring they feel good about the design. Their choice could very well be swayed by a gut feeling that isn’t easy for them to explain. So we need to let them arrive at that decision themselves while equipping them with the best possible knowledge and guidance to make that decision.

Go Forth and Make Your Clients Happy!

Cultivate your people skills. Focus on the client’s goals and bring them to success, even if its a winding path sometimes. Do everything you can to make your client look forward to interacting with you. Listen to them, understand where they’re coming from, appreciate their business expertise and feedback. And at the end of the day, work to facilitate a pleasant, professional experience for them.