Your way to the bank
I heard a quote today I liked: “We have to pick our fights on the way to the bank”. Too true. We can be idealistic about standards and design all we like; if a boss or a client wants something, he/she is expecting to get it.
Then again; most people really do not know what they want. They don’t know our business, they don’t know design, and they don’t really know how the Internet works. They just know they want to do better than their competitors.
The difference, in my opinion, between a good designer and a great designer lies in the ability to combine form and function in such a way that the result is not only pleasing to look at, but fulfils its objectives first and foremost. Often the thing standing between you and attaining this goal is the client.
It’s the stuff most of the content on Clientcopia.com is made of.
Know their stuff
Before you can even begin to successfully coach a client, you have to know what the client needs the site to do for them. So, talk, listen, listen more, and take notes. Research your client’s business and products. Think about how a website is going to make money for this client. Even if they didn’t specify wanting to make money off it, to entrepreneurs and businessmen making money is a given. If you can tell them your way is going to make them money, and how, you’ve won half the battle.
Key phrases:
- Saving money is making money
- Never invest in something without knowing beforehand what the return is going to be
- Money in the bank loses value, but money spent unwisely has lost all value
Show them you’ve got a business mindset and they won’t think you are some idealistic standardista trying to win design prizes on their dollar.
I just want you to do it like this…
A client will sometimes bring strong preconceived notions and ideas to the table. Often these are wrong. Flat out contradicting the client will get his/her hackles up and get you nowhere.
What to do about it:
Try to find out where the client got these ideas. From looking at other people’s websites? From outdated information? Just plain arrogance? Figure it out and counter, in a roundabout way, by winning the client over.
If a client was influenced by other websites; look at those websites with the client and ask what is good, and less good, about those sites. Try to keep what the client likes, and dump what he/she doesn’t. At least those are points you don’t have to debate.
Soften up the client by showing willing, and then pick apart the bad points one at a time and explain how you could do better. For example: If a client insists that the top part of a page is all one image: ask yourself (not the client, he/she won’t be able to tell you) why. It’s usually because they want a consistent look across platforms. Once you know what the underlying motive is, drop your bomb: I can do this. Only, I can do even better/cheaper, and no one will know it’s not all one image.
Turn the negative into a positive by agreeing with the client, then presenting your approach as the same, only taking it one step further.
Clients expect you to contradict them, pad your bill, invent work and in general rain on their parades. To them you are just like the plumbers and car mechanics of this world. So, become the exception. Become the person who doesn’t shoot down their ideas but runs with them and makes them better.
Key phrases:
- I can do this, but better.
- I know how to do this a lot cheaper.
I want it just like…
Clients often want exactly what the competition has. Their reasons are usually:
- The competitor seems to be doing ok, so it must be the way to do things.
- They don’t want to be left behind.
- They have to brief you something but they really don’t know what, so they steal ideas.
Again: your client does not know your business, you do. That’s why they hire you. Work with the client and after all of the above, show that you know what the client really needs. I often use the phrase “so, you told me what you want, now let’s figure out what you really need.”
Key phrases:
- So, you told me what you want, now let’s figure out what you really need.
- You don’t want to do as well as your competitor, you want to do better.
- Sure, it works. Running works for athletes, they usually make it to the finish. But only the fastest one wins.
- That was right when they built their site, we know better now.
- Ahead of the game, not out on a limb.
Don’t be the guy who dumps all over the competition and then wants to be “out there” and “cutting edge”. All businesses are “cutting edge” but behind closed doors they immensely distrust that phrase because they know that most really “cutting edge” ideas fail.
Emphasize that the state of the art has moved on, but you are using tried and tested techniques. They’ll be ahead of the game, but not out on a limb.
Standards are expensive
Managers, and most of your clients will be managers of some sort, are behind on the information-curve by default. By the time information trickles down to them through ‘that guy at the party’ and ‘what our network admin told me at the office meeting’ it’s old news to you. Or it should be.
This is why many managers still believe that standards, accessibility and usability are costly. And let’s face it; it even sounds like extra effort, right? Most proponents of standards make them sound like those costly extra options you can get for your car. So it shouldn’t surprise us that this is where managers try to cut costs.
What to do about it:
Open your pitch with “We work faster and cheaper because we abide by strict standards…” Work in the “less maintenance” argument. But lead with the benefits, not with the effort.
Key phrases:
- Like the way standardisation helped other industries to work faster and cheaper…
- You will never have to worry about the technical side; we work according to industry standards…
In closing
See how I worked the word “industry” in there? It makes it sound solid, as if it’s the norm. (Which it should be, and hopefully soon will be.) It makes it sound as if you are not proposing something you are the pioneer of but rather that you are following guidelines. If there’s one thing that instils trust, it’s guidelines and standards, written down and carried by an “industry”. If there’s one thing that gets managers on edge it’s a geek know-it-all wanting to do things their way. They know we like Mythbusters and they secretly think all we want to do is blow stuff up. To them, we are all closet hackers, too, and they want none of it.
Be one of them. Talk bottom-line, don’t talk ideals.
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