🔴 Rethinking the Client Dynamic— Improve the process for a better experience

How do you feel about working with your clients? What are your pain points around doing client work? What challenges are you facing working with clients? Frustration. Scope creep. Scope change after approvals. Changing their mind. What if they don’t like your design? Taste different? Clients. Tastes. Ignorant.

In this episode we re-examine what it’s like to work with clients to see if there’s a better way.


04:24 How do you feel about working with your clients?
10:25 Common pain points about client relationships and projects
11:50 The clients not knowing what they want is a good thing
13:30 What is your creative formula?
21:44 Brain Dump – Clients who urgently need work done do this
23:15 Danger Sign #1: Don’t send your clients a questionnaire – Engage in dialog
26:20 Danger Sign #2: Beginning a project with unclear or abstract objectives
27:48 Danger Sign #3: The Ikea effect – Once you start putting hours into your work, you fall in love, and lose objectivity
29:33 Crash & Burn – After your presentation, your client gives you abstract feedback.
32:22 More design – Present again, client becomes an art director
34:50 Surrender – Finished work behind schedule, over budget and compromised work
36:50 Horror Story – Friends and Family Rates leading to referrals expecting same low rates
37:40 Put the options/choice in their hands to work with you at your true price range.
38:55 The Problem – Fuzzy Goals. Fuzzy Results.
40:27 Amateurs Vs Professionals : Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a process.
41:12 Think More, Say More, Work Less.
41:50 Start With Why – Translate Gut Feeling into words
43:19 Have a Defined Process. Create Defined Goals.
46:30 Our Defined Process / Creative Formula
47:25 What does your ideal partner look like for this engagement?
48:48 Take those words and prioritize them. Narrow them down.
50:09 Translate into images – Get on the same page
50:45 Get Agreement: Get buy in from the key decision maker
51:40 Rapid Prototype: quickly create a rough draft.
53:30 Refinement: creation phase – make it look beautiful
54:20 Deliver: Client is pleased but not surprised by the result.
55:09 Business Design Course
55:39 Learn to ask better questions
56:00 Go beyond the cosmetic
56:57 3 Golden Questions
58:35 Become a Sustaining Member
1:00:00 Mail Time
1:05:02 Words you should know
1:09:11 How does the c-suite respond to you taking control of the meeting/agenda?
1:12:10 If you are going to guess, estimate on the high side to cover unexpected costs.
1:15:22 Ask how a change or redesign will impact your bottom line / business
1:18:13 Q: How do you explain to a client if an ROI is difficult to calculate?
1:20:45 Never price the job, price the client.
1:28:40 Have 3-6 Months of runway so that you have a choice of what projects to take on.
1:32:07 Summary & Outro

Want to go deeper? Take the course: Business of Creativity/Design $69 http://academy.thefutur.com/p/the-business-of-creativity-and-design

Show References
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Branding Rebranding – Darren Taylor & Mark Schreiber
Start with why – Simon Sinek
Seth Godin, Ramit Sethi, Simon Sinek
Business Dictionary

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Credits:
Executive Producer– Chris Do
Host– Chris Do
Director– Erica Pead
Cinematography– Aaron Szekely, Mark Contreras
Editor– Erica Pead
Show Open– Roy Kang
Futur Theme Music – Adam Sanborne http://www.adamsanborne.com
Annotations & SEO – Isaiah Nwukor
Typefaces: Futura, Din
Futur theme song— Adam Sanborne

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