Keeping your client happy, answering his questions meeting his requirements can go a long way in building your reputation by word of mouth. Learn how to maintain a healthy relationship with a client.
It happens to every graphic designer. You have just got a design approval from the client and you deliver the project files to the concerned. Suddenly you get a call saying that there is a “slight correction” in the design. It could be a change of telephone number or address on the signboard, or the addition of another item in the hotel menu etc. This “small” change however, has an impact on all other design collaterals and they too need to be changed accordingly.
This incident gets repeated with the same client every fortnight, until you are fed up with the guy who is wasting your precious time with his free edits. So I’m sure, all you want to do is FIRE him; it happens to every designer afterall. So how do you deal with it?
Perfect your Role
Your role as a designer must be perfect. For E.g. if a client approaches you for a menu design, you need to know what type of a menu design is needed. Whether ethnic or modern design; then you must also agree on the colors and fonts to be used. Take into consideration, everything the client wants and incorporate the necessary ones into the design. Ask him questions about his product and services. Remember, that there is no such thing as perfect design; your client is the only one who will decide what he likes. So take him into confidence and involve him in the designing process. That way, he will know that his opinion is valued by the designer and his points have been taken into consideration. So he will obviously contradict you less and approve the design faster.
Get the Right Clients
You cannot be the right choice for all clients. Don’t force yourself to accept every project which comes your way. You can earn 75% of your revenue from 25% of your good clients. You need to build a reputation and get good clients. It is best for you and your clients, that you fire the bad ones who are taking away a major portion of your time with frequent edits and paying less. A handful of clients who gravitate to you because of your reputation and are willing to pay, are better than dozens of clients who pay less and prey on your time with frequent edits.
Proper Communication
During your contact with client or the design briefing, don’t use your technical words or designer language. Get down to the level of a layman and speak his language. That way the client will understand you better. He will open up and you can ask him questions. If your client says, “Change the background”, don’t just rush and change it. Understand why he wants the change, and what he wants to accomplish. He may not be knowing the technicalities and probably unaware that a change in background will hide the logo, which is also of the same color.
Always focus on the goals or design objective, rather than the process of designing. A designer must also leave his or her ego outside the office. A client doesn’t like to work with an overtly sensitive person.
When Things go out of Hand
A client may sometimes make an unreasonable demand. He may not be aware how much time it may require. For e.g, he may ask you for a “small” change in the logo. He will think it’s a small task, but only a designer knows that a change in logo means that all the brand collaterals need to be changed simultaneously – and that involves a lot of time. Explaining your time constraints to the client can be a hard task, especially if he is not budging and wants you to do it ‘no matter what’.
What you as a designer can do, is to maintain a positive attitude which is contagious; it will probably result in the client agreeing to pay you for the extra service. If not, you have just to FIRE the client.
Mistakes Happen
Mistakes do happen, after all – ‘To err is human’. However, once you do it admit the mistake humbly and rectify it. For e.g., if the client’s outdoor banner is designed by you and printed in your agency with the wrong telephone number (even after address proof has been provided), then admit it. In fact, even before the client notices, you can edit the mistake and get another banner printed, dispose the erroneous one and hand it over to the delivery team. Refusing to admit mistakes and giving away the wrong banner to the client without disclosing the error is unethical.
At the end of the day, clients help us earn our daily bread. We must maintain a healthy relationship with them. In graphic and website design company, client retention also plays an important role in building our reputation.
