7 tips for prospective client relations with designers
Clients are the fundamentals of what designers produce but views of the creative process vary between clients and designers. Projects are formed with clients’ ideas and designers’ direction. These tips are created to help prospective clients understand the workings of a designer to better understand the processes during a project.
First and foremost, a well-written contract is vital for the security of both parties. A reviewing session should be made to examine and clarify the contents.
The contract should inform the clients of the requirements for feedback, outline reasonable work and contact hours, reasonable response time for amendments, mention licensing rules and ownership of content, report project milestones, include the budget, overtime expenses and payment rules.
2. Set clear expectations
It’s great to set up and discuss expectations at the beginning of the design process. It’s a combined job to set clear targets that are achievable. This will determine the speed and smoothness of the overall process.
As the service provider, it is our responsibility to outline our capabilities to determine if they align with your needs. We inevitably need time to build a relationship with the client and to understand the workings of their business. We need to establish the company’s intended positioning along with their views of the industry. The longer we are paired with the client, the more comprehensive our knowledge becomes. Ultimately, the client will always be the expert and this is something we will always respect.
It’s great for the prospective client to understand the types of opportunities they want to attract. This helps us personalise your content and shape an appropriate campaign for you.
It needs to be understood that our results do not happen instantaneously. It also takes time and consistent effort to get a strong result for the client through our Public Relations, Social Media and Design services. We will take your expertise and knowledge and turn it into something appropriate for our media channels.
If the client is ever unsure of something, it’s worth flicking an email or giving the team a bell just to make sure everyone is on the same page. Setting up this expectation is critical for the success of the project.
3. Regular communication is key
There’s an assumption from the client that the most important communication during a project will occur at the initial and final stages. Communication at these points is critical but equally as important is consistent communication throughout the project.
A better outcome can be reached with regular communication. Ideas and intentions will be kept updated, avoiding confusion from either party. Without regular communication, it might be assumed that everything is going as planned when in reality it may be the opposite.
Both the designers and prospective clients should push for opinions and viewpoints from each other. Feedback and involvement at each stage of the project is crucial to remain on track. It’s better to continually ask questions, whether the issues are large or small, than to be confused about our processes. We will provide updates on design concepts, social media activity and coverage will be provided regularly.
4. Demonstrating our professionalism
It’s presupposed that our services are an extension of our client’s knowledge. Our design services can be mirrored in a basic format, which is why this false-perception is formed. Superiority during a project should be mutual from the professional expertise standpoint and a client standpoint of respect.
We are distinctive professionals through our proof of reasoning behind our strategy and design concepts. Our opinion is grounded in professional experience and research. If we advise a change of approach, our educated reasoning is backing up our suggestion. Hearing the rational behind our creative concepts and walking client’s though our major design decisions can show we are following trends in design concepts. We are aware what the media is looking for as we are in daily contact.
We are part of an attention sparse society and it’s getting harder and harder to maintain the public’s interest. With this in mind, a client’s designs and content need to be brief and succinct to capture the short attention span of the target market.
To achieve this, less content is more. A minimalistic approach is important to leave resonance with the viewer. They will be able to remember the information provided if they are not suffocated with content.
6. Create completion phases
Although it’s important to be aware of the project as a whole, breaking the project into parts makes the size of the project seem achievable.
Project milestones are a great way to keep track of overall deadlines as if forces to continue communication with regular updates.
7. Finalising project means just that
We have heard the final change in one project more than one time. When a project is finalized, this concept has to be accepted as the final product. It’s best to finalize everything once and for all before the website goes public.
Major or extremely minor changes both result in a substantial behind the scene altering process. This is why overtime expenses need to be considered. Building costs after a certain date helps to reinforce the final project date.
