How to Make Clients Appreciate You
I am not saying, even if your try really hard, that all clients will appreciate you. If not then you might want to rethink the business relationship, but if you try then you are more likely to have continued business. Let’s face it, there are hundreds of firms and designers, they don’t have to be in the same state or even country. Why do they want to work with you? Talent? Yes, but again there are hundreds of talented designers out there. Many clients will leave and find another designer over very basic business principles that are not even design related.
If you break promises, miss deadlines or not deliver everything that was promised, you will be asked to see the door. Think about it, how would you feel? It’s that simple. Sometimes unexpected things go wrong, but the second you know that a deadline needs to be extended tell the client immediately, BEFORE the deadline. Explaining the issue and reassuring them you are doing everything you can. That way you have adjusted their expectations and they feel they are being kept in the loop. Don’t run and hide, dodging their calls, it’s unprofessional and cowardly.
Don’t lock yourself in a windowless room. The project make take four weeks and you won’t have anything to show until that last week, but at least send quick updates, “We just completed phase one, we are on schedule.” Otherwise in the client’s mind you are sitting their twiddling your fingers, not doing any work. They don’t know what is involved and that is why they hired you, but you must make them understand.
Answer the phone! Promptly respond to emails. You might now have the answer right away and you may need to get back to them, but at least they know you are reachable and will respond. Also taking that extra time to explain things in terms they can understand makes them feel more confident about the project and the money they are spending. Again dodging their calls or emails makes a client feel ignored and treated poorly.
You may dread these tasks, but they are imperative. It’s the nature of business. You may not consider yourself to be Customer Service, but you’re providing a service to a customer and part of that is communication. If you’re cold and unfriendly, then the client will be less inclined to want to work with you. You can even build up a more friendly relationship joking around (P.C. mind you) and talking about their kids, which will make your interactions more enjoyable as well. Bottom line it always good to feel appreciated, but you need to deserve it.
