If you’re a freelancer, maybe you’re familiar with this scenario. A client hires you to do a job. You design (or write, or photograph, or code, or whatever it is you do) a masterpiece. It’s the Mona Lisa of freelance work. DaVinci and Michelangelo would’ve embraced each other, and thrown a party if they could have seen it.
Okay, maybe not. Still, I thought it was pretty good.
I send it whirling through cyberspace, and wait for the client to throw virtual roses at my feet. They email me back.
“I like it. It’s nice, and I know I said I wanted ABC, but now I think I’d like something completely different. Can you give me Tartan plaid background with purple dancing bunnies, instead. I’m not sure how to change the rest, but can you just, you know, spruce it up? I trust your sensibilities.”*
So what’s the best way to deal with this kind of challenge? Well, since I’m new at all this, I can’t say that I know the best way, but here’s how I handle it.
- Listen during the planning stages. When I’m consulting with a client, I try to figure out exactly what they want. I ask a lot of questions, and I listen to the answers. I know it sounds simple, but I figure the more detailed information I get up front, the more headaches I’ll save myself later.
- Set boundaries. In this case, I gave the client what they wanted, but that’s not what they wanted. That’s okay, but I let my clients know up front how much revising is included in my fee. Sometimes the line between revising, and doing something completely different is fuzzy, but if I feel I’m crossing that line, I let the client know that additional hours will be billed.
- Give my opinion. Part of my service to clients is telling them what I think. If a client wants purple dancing bunnies on a plaid background, I’m going to urge them to reconsider, and enumerate why I think it’s not a good choice (bunnies are sooo last year).
- Don’t get too attached. Once I’ve given my opinion, it’s time to keep my mouth shut. My client has the last word; I work for them. They’ve hired me to put together something that they like, that serves their needs. If that happens to be purple dancing bunnies, so be it. I can have a good cry after I deposit my paycheck.
So that’s my philosophy, so far, and it seems to work pretty well. Do you have a successful method of working with clients? Do tell.
*Absolutely fictitious example. I don’t blog about work, duh!
I’d suggest that you go with:
5. Change is inevitable. Roll with it.
Give your client the dancing purple bunnies if that is what they want to see. Llet them know upfront if this will cost them more money. Chances are you quoted them a price for your time based on one design, not two.
Once they have the two designs to review give them your two cents. What you like and dislike about each. Whether or not they HEAR you is out of your control. But giving them options can’t possibly hurt can it?
KathyHowe | July 19th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
You probably did this, but just in case: it’s always a good idea to send a summary email to your client where you outline briefly what was discussed in a meeting and specific design requests from your client. This is a good way for your client to see what they’ve asked for and if they disagree - they can let you know before you spend a lot of time on the actual design! It also makes it easier when you ask for additional compensation for a new design.
Victoria | July 19th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
This made me laugh, thanks for that. (And I am sure our tech team, if they read this, is printing it out and putting my photo next to it!) I have to say, I’ve probably been on the client side of design work 5 or 6 times and this is stressful from either side. Sometimes what happens is that I have a design idea in mind, the designer executes it, and seeing that executed design sparks a whole new idea in my mind that I am much more confident about because I’ve now seen something concrete. Boy, I am sure you’d hate that:)
The one thing that I think is absolutely key, as you say, is to outline what revisions are included and which ones are not, in the original estimate. I think this helps both parties work better together.
Nataly | July 19th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Victoria, that’s a great idea.
Nataly– I really don’t mind doing the revisions, it’s when I have to do something that I think is ugly that makes me weep. Actually improving the design is exciting, even if it does take a lot of extra time and effort.
sheryl | July 20th, 2007 at 2:24 am
[...] Sheryl’s blog often has me reaching for my pen these days to jot down responses. I actually have another response [...]
Work It, Mom! | A Community for Professional Moms | July 25th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Sheryl,
I would be happy to ask the designer who did my logo and brochures last year for a copy of the contract she did with me. She had a certain number of revisions built into the contract and the fees, and then I understood that if I still didn’t like it, the problem lay within ME and that I’d have to pay more for it. Heh heh.
Also, I like to say to the ceiling of my house, as I wave my red pen in the air, “It’s a PEN, not a WAND!”
jcreer | July 25th, 2007 at 1:44 am