The 5 Ways to Manage Client Expectations

To keep up with our fast-paced clients, we use these guidelines to keep everyone happy.

The company where I work at prides itself as “a startup that helps startups.” Technically, we’re just a small company and we’d all say being small has its perks. It’s easy to create community with only 8 coworkers — big decisions are made together, we get to come to work in a t-shirt, and everyone contributes to our daily cookie indulgence.

However, one challenge of being small and working with start-ups is our client workflow. Most startups usually have extremely tight deadlines. They’re constantly hustling to get their products shipped, marketing published, and presentations out the door as fast as possible.

This accelerated workflow is necessary to keep up with the competition and gives them the agility to seize any opportunity—from press, to product, or even funding.

So, how do we keep up?

We stay agile by setting clear expectations that help sustain client relationships and employee satisfaction. Here’s my five tips to managing these expectations:

1. No 24-Hour turnaround. Ever.

Assuming you have multiple deadlines with multiple clients at any given time, there’s usually no room for new projects to be kicked-off and delivered in the same day! For that reason, you have to just push back when these requests are made and say “No.”

Even if your team is not overwhelmed with work, it is important to say no. If you give in, your clients will quickly underestimate your time’s worth and make a habit of these last-second requests.

So, what do you do if a client comes to you with a quick deadline? Take a second to analyze.

Can it be pushed back?

Is this task simple enough to be done internally by them?

Sometimes clients go in panic mode and don’t consider all their options. Think for them for a second and suggest options that may reduce the work or avoid it altogether. As long as it’s benefiting them, they usually come to agreement. (Cost reduction is a great benefit!)

2. Batch together revisions.

When revisions to the project scope or work are pouring in fluidly, it’s hard to ever gain ground on fulfilling project goals. Make a point that revisions must be batched for the sake of efficiency. This ensures steady pacing as deadlines approach.

Feel free to give input as well. Not all revisions are improvements. Communicating this will allow clients to fixate on important revisions rather than tiny changes here and there.

3. Make sure deliverables are clear and agreed upon by everyone.

Make sure to be clear of what was said by everyone and have a reference document that both sides agree upon so there are no surprises once deliverables start rolling in.

It’s helpful to keep track of every confirmation you make with your client. Sometimes things get lost or miscommunicated in emails. Meetings and calls can also add to potential mixups. So, having this reference is helpful to keep things clear.

4. Don’t answer e-mails or slack messages after hours.

Do not answer, ever. Stop it.

This is another situation where—by human nature—if you give an inch, people will take it a mile. I’ve seen this go both ways, too, so just don’t.

Make sure the client knows what hours you are available. Keep work and life separate by letting people know you only respond during a certain time of the day. No one wants a client call while relaxing after a busy day.

5. Deliver in the morning, not end-of-day.

Sending something EOD is never really a good idea. Why send them something when they’re just about to head home? If you’re going to send something EOD:

1. Do it at least one hour before, so the recipient has time to look at it.
2. Make sure the internal deadline is sooner, preferably a day in advance. Just in case your computer crashes, your programs stop working, or an employee has a quarter-life crisis. Don’t let this happen to you.

Send emails in the morning. That way you get to work with ease, wrap up the task and send it off with a smug, coffee-induced morning smile. Also, your client will be greeted with your email and you’ll be the reason for one of their first smiles of the day!

Lastly, adapt your workflow to fit your needs.

We love what we do and we love working with start-ups. Even as we grow into a world-dominating, design-dev-strategy agency, we’ll evolve our process to work best for working with the clients we love.

Tell us how you’ve handled the above scenarios before–leave a comment below! Don’t forget to subscribe to our publication for future design–development–strategy related content, and if you found this useful, please recommend it so others can find it too! Thanks!