Working in a design industry, you most likely did face many situations when it was hard to negotiate with the clients. Misunderstandings happen quite often, it is a totally normal thing, especially in such a feedback-driven industry. Unfortunately, any kind of disagreement with a client eats up a whole lot of time and, thus, income.
What are the ways of avoiding such situations? We would share our thoughts on how to build a business of branding agency so you can negotiate projects from the first time. The strategy is divided into three phases: before,during, and after the project. Let’s begin!
Phase One: Before the Project
Having a certain kind of general strategy is very important before you begin working on the project. This strategy must become your roadmap that will guide you through the first meetings and briefings. There are three main reasons why you need it:
- You never know who is going to be your client
- You need to be prepared for several scenarios
- You need to be confident at what you are doing
The list of steps is as follows:
1. Make a good impression (but don’t try too hard)
How, you will ask? Work! From the very beginning of the meeting. Concentrate on your subject, which is doing business, not trying to play masquerade and make yourself seem more likable. What you have to show is that you are capable of pulling off the task you are given. Provide estimates, statistics, or whatever number you are asked. You have to know answers to 99% of questions you might be asked that concern you and your sphere of work. If it helps, you might even compile some sort of first meeting FAQ for new clients and use it as your guide.
Concentrate on showing that you are a professional. Being a good buddy and joking around all the time might seem strange to some people, but it might also form a client’s rather negative opinion about your attitude to work. The way you are behaving at the briefing forms an image of how you will approach the project, so keep that in mind.
2. Ask questions
One of the most important tasks of you as a designer or project manager at your first client meeting is to get as much information about the project as possible. Many people might take a position “Uhm, I’d rather not ask them too many questions, I don’t want to seem annoying”, but it is totally wrong. If there is even a tiny chance that a certain piece of information might help you with your work, you have to request it.
It happens that sometimes clients who seemingly have no idea about what they want to get say that the design you came up with is “not what they wanted”. It means that the client did not care to share their ideas with you, while you did not care enough to ask. The result – lost time and money, and the chances that your client will return to you become slightly lower. So, whenever you have a question (or a dozen of them) – do not hesitate to ask. If there are some points that may appear critical in the future – make sure they are included in the contract. Better safe than sorry.
3. Understand what designer’s work is about
Many people think that if a client likes the design, it means that it is a good one. Well, it is not always true. Neither of you have to like the design personally for it to be good. In terms of marketing, design is here not to please your eyes but the eyes of the customers. It has to be catchy, it has to follow trends, it has to perform on the market. The main task of design is to resolve a certain business problem that your client has – mainly, it is about attracting new customers.
To make it less confusing, let me put it like this: if your client likes The Lord of the Rings, it might be funny to style your wedding salon banner or logo or whatever you’re creating for them accordingly. One ring to rule them all and stuff… it might seem as a really smart and good idea. However, you should ask yourself: how many people will get hooked with that? How many people know the subject? It might be cool for your client, but will the other people appreciate that? Will it be enough? To know the answer, let’s proceed with the next point.
4. Analyze market and risks
Sometimes it is impossible to predict the direction of market development, but you can always gather some information and build some predictions. Learn your target audience, its tastes and needs, and build your strategy based on that. Assess possible risks and develop strategies to avoid them – one of the ways is to learn from competitors. Information is the biggest game-changer in every type of work, and the design industry is not an exception.
Remember: it’s the client’s client you’re basically working for, and their opinion is the only one that matters. Do not let your personal opinions and preferences stand in a way of achieving success. Learn, analyze, and use every little tidbit of data you managed to gather to make the final product catch the audience’s attention.
5. Learn to adapt
Bear in mind that people are different and there are no two totally similar opinions. Clients will not react to your work identically, not all of them will approve it. Some just check it, nod, and say nothing, and some tend to ask you tons of questions about the tiniest details. Some will let you improvise, and some will set much more strict boundaries as for what you can and cannot do. Some clients are more pleasant to work with, and some are less.
The idea is to understand it and learn to adapt to any circumstances. We cannot always choose who we work with, and since the design sphere includes a lot of communication with different people, you have to be prepared. Again, bear in mind that you are doing business, and if, for some reason, your client gets too emotional and personal, your task is to restrict yourself. Find the right approach to everyone you’re working with – not only will it let them feel valued but also will make your life a lot easier.
Phase Two: During the Project
1. Stick to the roadmaps
Provided you went through the first phase successfully, you now have enough information to build a certain roadmap. Every stage of the project has to be thoroughly planned from its launch and to the final deadline. Usually, design agencies and creative teams have standard templates that they adapt to their clients’ needs. After such a roadmap is approved, your task is to stick to it.
Naturally, there might be some unpredictable problems in the process that can influence your work, but it should not kick you out of your schedule. Ability to follow the plan is one of the biggest credibility factors that indicate your professionalism. In case some serious troubles appear, make sure the client knows about them as soon as possible – hiding fallacies hoping to fix them silently can result in a total failure.
2. Collaboration is our everything
I believe I’ve already mentioned that the design industry is very feedback driven. A lot of it depends on successful collaboration of different parties – project managers, designers, reviewers, and so on. Depending on what you are working with, the number of stakeholders might vary. If you create a package, there might be a lot of legal back and forth since there’s specific information that has to be indicated there, it’s font size, and etc.
The more reviewers you have, the more problematic it is to collect feedback. Usually companies do it via email, which often results in delays and lost feedback. Workers tend to spend too much time checking out tons of letters in their inbox to find the exact one they need which is why it can easily go unnoticed. It is one of the biggest risks in terms of graphic design project management.
To deal with, you may want to use specialised software, mainly – visual assets proofing tools with a wide range of mark-up possibilities. The main points of these apps are simple: you create the project, upload the assets you need someone to check, invite them to the project, have them create annotations of various shapes and approve or reject the artwork. One of such instruments is Approval Studio. Such functionality allows you to organize your projects better, makes it easier to stick to the roadmap, and prevents loss of information, time, and finances.
Phase Three: After the Project
After you’ve completed the project, the client might request some information about it. It might include time spent on each of the tasks, comments after which all the edits are made, and etc. It is very problematic to gather this info manually from all the emails and messages, structurize it, and add it to one comprehensible document.
From the client’s side, an information request might be driven by different factors: they might be simply curious just as well as dissatisfied with some final edits they themselves requested and forgot about. To avoid any misunderstandings, it would be a good idea to bring this info on your own for a final presentation if you have one or send it to them as soon as the project is over. But how? Should you collect all the data while the project is still in progress, documented every new feedback?
You might, but there’s a simpler solution I’ve already mentioned above. Proofing software usually provides you with the ability to generate a report that contains any kind of statistical data your client might request. Not only will it simplify gathering the info but also make you look more professional and help you part with clients on good terms. Provided the project was successful, it will increase the chances to get a returning customer or a recommendation.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, every company has different strategies and ideas on how to build their business. Something is worth implementing and something cannot be right at all. The main point to draw from all the advice above – you have to plan everything and remember that making life easier for your customer you might as well make it easier for yourself. We hope that this will help you to avoid failures, work with pleasure, and negotiate all of your projects from the first time.