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10 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your Clients Love You
As a freelancer, your role can often be that of a customer service professional as much as a designer. If you want to keep clients coming back for more, you must create a competitive advantage for yourself through building strong client relationships.
Below you’ll find ten ways to help you make your clients think of you as their absolute best option for design work.
1. Don’t Be On Time, Be Early
Many of your clients will have absolutely no idea what the design process involves. Normal people (non-designers) will frequently make completely impossible requests such as “I want an amazing and innovative website, but don’t spend more than a couple of hours on it.” Obviously, this tip does not apply to such clients. In fact, if someone ever says that to you, take it as a sign that the job may be more trouble than it’s worth.
However, if you’re working with someone who has actually paid for design work in the past, they’ll have a little more insight into what a realistic time table will look like. In these instances, work with your client to develop a timeline that you’re absolutely sure you can meet. Then, if you have the time, put in a little extra effort to deliver a day early. Odds are, this will make an amazing first impression with your clients as they will be comparing you to designers they have worked with in the past who probably never attempted to beat the due date and might have even struggled just to finish by the agreed upon deadline.
2. Communicate Clearly and Frequently
Communication is perhaps the single most important element in mastering the art of making your clients love you. When someone hires a designer and/or developer, they don’t want to hear a bunch of lofty tech speak. You might think speaking over their heads is a good way to impress them with your knowledge, but ultimately it can result in confusion, miscommunication and dissatisfaction in the overall project.
Always be sure to break things down to layman’s terms. When writing emails, use clear, concise phrasing void of slang and jargon. Any time you have a lot of information to convey or questions to ask, use bulleted lists to make it easy for the reader to comprehend and respond each point.
Also be sure to stay in touch. Clients absolutely hate it when they hire someone for a given project who then drops off the grid until the due date. If the project is significant, send quick status update emails from time to time ensuring that you are making progress and are on track to deliver on time.
3. Over Deliver
Another way to seriously impress your clients is to completely over deliver on what they asked you to do. For instance, if you agreed on delivering a single concept, deliver three and let them choose which they like the best. If you’ve been hired to just design a homepage, thrown in a bonus content page just to be thorough.
This tip comes with a couple warnings. First, make sure to stay within the time/budget limit. Don’t expect your clients to be pleasantly surprised if you charge for extra work that they neither expected nor authorized. Also, don’t shoot for quantity over quality. Put all of your effort into developing exactly what was agreed upon and making it as great as you possibly can. After this, if you’ve got some wiggle room in your timeline, put in some time increasing the wow-factor by throwing in some extra goodies.
4. Listen
This sounds simple right? Unfortunately, many designers and developers are embarrassingly weak in this area. We often jump to conclusions and think ahead on our own without taking the time to make sure we are in fact addressing the client’s primary goals and vision. This tendency inevitably leads to phone calls and emails from clients asking why you didn’t deliver what they asked you for.
The easy way out is to turn it around and blame your client for poor communication without considering that the fault may lie entirely with you. The higher road is to consider the possibility that you may need to spend more time focusing on just what it is your clients are telling you.
Keep a pad and paper handy and take lots of notes when reading through client emails or discussing direction over the phone. Then reiterate your impressions back to the client to make doubly sure you’re on the same page. Realizing that you’re actually “getting it” can relieve a lot of the stress from the client relating to the possibility of paying for work that will be inaccurate. This is a great way to improve your chances of returning customers for future projects.
5. Take an Active Interest in Their Success
One way that I’ve personally discovered to build a strong bond with clients is to think of every client relationship as a partnership where you have a direct interest in the success of the project. If your clients is passionate about their business and product/service, mirror that zeal in both your work and conversations. If it’s genuine, your clients will pick up on this fervor and begin to see as as a valuable asset.
Possible ways to show interest include communicating suggestions and ideas for how to increase success, asking about the results of important events and/or meetings, and simply saying that you really believe in the company’s business model and are excited to be working with them.
6. Appreciate the Work & Stop Griping!
Recently I’ve met quite a few out of work designers that can’t seem to catch a break. This causes me to become enraged with those that have plenty of work to pay the bills but show little to no appreciation for it. When you submit a design to a client, if they come back with significant changes that they are willing to pay for, don’t drag your feet and make them feel like it’s some big inconvenience for you. This is your job! Happily take the extra work and let them know you’re grateful for it.
If you make a client feel bad about giving you more work, trust me, they’ll stop doing it. And with so many out of work designers they’ll have no problem replacing you. Regardless of how many times you’ve been told you’re irreplaceable, never let your head grow to such a size that you actually start believing it’s true. The best thing you can do to keep your client believing in your value is to stay humble and work hard.
7. Answer Your Phone
If you’ve read my previous articles, you’ve probably heard me say this before. Making yourself available when a client wants to reach you is a great way to impress them with your work ethic. So many designers are prone to just let their voicemail do the talking but this leaves clients with a poor impression of your availability and work ethic.
This applies to not only phone calls but emails as well. Odds are, you are geeky enough that you have email access from just about anywhere via smartphone. No matter how your client is trying to get ahold of you, try making it a habit to respond quickly. If you don’t have time, be honest. Let them know you’re in the middle of something and will get back to them as soon as possible.
8. Present Your Work
One easy way to blow your clients away is to stop emailing them simple jpgs of whatever you’ve created. Instead, throw the jpgs on a nice background, toss in their company logo and spend a few minutes creating a quick writeup for each concept. Present your thought process and logic behind everything you create. You’d be surprised how few designers put in this extra effort and how impressed many clients will be with it.
Beyond simply making a good impression, this technique helps you sell your ideas to your clients. A simple static thumbnail leaves a lot of interpretation hanging in the balance. This could result in a complete misunderstanding of what you were trying to accomplish and ultimately an unchangeable dislike for your design. However, if they see that you’ve thought through the concept, they’re more likely to accept the design or at least make suggestions without destroying the integrity of the idea.
9. Learn to Take Criticism
This ties closely in with tip 6. One reason many designers gripe so much about requested changes is that they can’t handle the criticism. As designers, we have to walk a fine line between producing quality work that we can be proud of and actually giving clients what they want. Ultimately they want something that will be effective but often want to steer the design in a direction that you are certain will be ineffective. Your job is to analyze the client direction in an honest manner to determine if it results in an improvement, a decrease in quality, or has little influence on the effectiveness of the design.
Each circumstance requires a unique response. If the client gives you suggestions that will in fact make the end product better, commend them for the great idea. If what they want will have little effect on the overall design, happily provide it for them, even if you think it’s pointless. However, if you truly believe that the suggested changes will decrease the quality of the design, be honest and let them know. Remember to be conversational, not confrontational. Your goal should be to lead the client in such a manner that together you turn bad direction into good direction. Don’t simply tell them their suggestions won’t work, try to discover what underlying goal is driving the suggestions and present alternatives for how to meet that goal.
10. Come Through in a Bind
My final suggestion for how to make clients absolutely love you is to come through when they need you the most. If you work for a single client for long enough, you’re bound to receive a call sooner or later on Friday at 5pm regarding a project that needs to be done by Monday morning. If your client is nice enough they’ll probably say something like “let me know if this is impossible.” Everything in you will want to list a thousand excuses for why you can’t do it, but give some serious consideration to giving up your weekend to make it happen. As a freelancer or employee, you can decide how valuable you want to be. If the client knows that you are comfortable with the occasional fire drill, your value will increase significantly.
The Warning
Now that we’ve discussed ten ways to make your clients see you as the best designer on the planet, I want to be sure to say that most of these should be extremely selectively applied. There is absolutely no shortage of people out there who will take advantage of your dedication. Further, the danger of surpassing expectations is that you may increase expectations for next time.
Beating deadlines, over delivering, answering calls and emails at all hours of the day and night, and coming through in a bind are things that your client should know are optional actions you perform to make sure they’re completely satisfied with your service. These methods should be noticed and appreciated, not abused. Make this known to your client if complaints begin to arise about you taking a single weekend off or not delivering more while billing for less. Abusive clients are absolutely toxic and can ruin both your home and work life. My best advice is to prevent this at all costs. If you have a client that doesn’t fully appreciate the extra measures that you take for them, cease taking them and begin searching for replacement work if they become dissatisfied.
Conclusion
Now that I’ve shared my methods for retaining clients, use the comment section below to share what you do to build successful and lasting client relationships. Also be sure to tell us which of the above methods you think has the best chance of improving your standing with clients.
nice article :-)
Really nice tips. We agree on those. :)
Like it!!
p.s. Roll = Role :)
Yes, very good advice, I enjoyed reading this.
That was such a refreshing article. So many articles I’ve read recently have focused on designers setting boundaries with their clients and sticking to them hard and fast. This almost seems a little arrogant on the designers part (although I’ll admit I have been guilty of this on occasion). It’s nice to see a bit more of a balanced approach toward client-relations articles. Thank you!
Never lie to a client.
Great article!
I always try to over-deliver a bit where I can, but have also had a few clients that bordered on being abusive. This tends to make me hesitant to do so again.
I agree very much with many of your points, especially the one about responding promptly whenever possible. So many clients have mentioned how they appreciate this!
It’s all about great customer service! Thanks for the reminder.
~Ashley
Congratulations, you shine in these tips.
I will use them.
Thank you so much.
excellent information
i like!
A nice article. While I agree with most points, I think that #3, over delivering, should be used with a bit of caution. Personally, I tend to do it only for clients I already know, or those I _really_ need to impress – which isn’t that often. Scope creep’s a pain and unfortunately, abusive clients are more common than one would hope :P
But as long as both you and the client acknowledge that the extra work is pure goodwill and shouldn’t always be expected, go for it. In that case the odds are that you’ve landed “the perfect client” :)
true. all so true, specially for that nr. 3.
thx for putting them so simple and clear.
Not just designers, this is good advice to *any* kind of service provider. Thanks for the advice!
Spot on – relatively small changes makes all the difference to the client – and usually means you get some decent referrals further down the line!
-S
Great article!I like happy clients, if I need to do a little extra to get there…cool…but there is a limit to my generosity:)
Thanks for the article, I loved it.
I´ve been doing most of this and having mostly success. Things are going very good actually.
The only thing I dont do is answer my phone at 22:30 in the evening, some clients are a bit neurotic and tend to over react, I just wait replying to those until “office” hours.
I especially agree with the listening part, it´s a beautiful thing to give someone your full presence and attention. And that goes for everyone you meet, not just clients.
Thanks again
I do have to agree with points given, however I note with interest the number of comments related to abusive clients, and setting boundaries for clients. Clients are not easy to “house train” if ever, and expectations when you over deliver become expected and not perceived as goodwill, no matter how well you know your client.
In most instances it is worse if you know the client well, because of that relationship briefs become less descriptive and if you are not always intuitive to what the client needs or what the outcome should be – they often feel “disappointed” and the net result is that you have just about killed yourself to deliver – with no appreciation.
There is no hard and fast rule on this, go with your gut.
Most of it I already kinda did out of intuition I think. I was surprised by 8. present your work. Never thought of putting some extra time into the JPG. Which is a really clever idea! I think what really works for me is a good line between my work and my spare time. I noticed that when I had some time off im more motivated to go back to work.
Nice article!
Righteous, My thoughts exactly, well not that exact more like my wishful thinking… like I wish I can remember these dealing with a client.
Really nice article…Very very useful tips.thank you very much…
That isn’t very good advice.
It doesn’t matter if they love you or not. It’s just work.
All you should do is deliver what you say you are going to do. Don’t over promise. Don’t lie.
Definitely don’t overwork.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do a bad job. But if they only like what you do because you do more than you should be then everyone will expect that and after a while it WILL kill you.
Next article should be – How to pay your bills after your made your clients love you.
“The best thing you can do to keep your client believing in your value is to stay humble and work hard. ”
i actually find this sad .. where’s the dignity? i mean, are we just machines that work for money or are we human beings with a life of our own?
i think a web designer could be appreciated while staying at the same level as his clients
Great article! Customer service is definitely what makes the difference. With a little extra effort you can retain valuable clients and ensure that they ask for your services again :)
Good advice overall. Some honest and good points here. I do agree with some comments, it’s hard to know where to draw the line between overworking to please your clients and then what the client will always expect from then on.
Great tips. Be selective in utilization of these approaches is important. Otherwise the client can became spoiled.
Nice collection here! My biggest piece of advice to anybody starting a freelance career is, as you mention above, stay in communication regardless of the status of a job. If the job is going to be late, tell your client; don’t just fall off radar and hope they don’t notice!
I featured this as one of the three links for the day on my Design Thought blog:
http://designthoughtfortheday.blogspot.com/2010/03/03-22-twitter-is-dead-client-love-kill.html
All the best, Ted
Communication. That is the most important point of it all in my opinion. Nothing is worst than telling your client everything is falling apart and you have no time nor options left. Be sure to talk regularly to them, tell them how everything’s going, reassure them. Ask them questions about how the company’s doing. All of those are the most important.
But then again, like this article stated, there will always be clients who have no idea you’re human too and have a normal life outside of their business… learn to deal with those or soon enough you’ll realize you have no life anymore and you hate your job.
Interesting Round up.. It really worth The read.
I agree 100% on all of these tips. Thanks!
Great article! Excellent tips that will prove very useful. Thank you.
A truly inspiring post, keep it up :D
Awesome post – 6, 7 & 8 are easily overlooked, especially with the wonder of the internet. Good reminders.
“Further, the danger of surpassing expectations is that you may increase expectations for next time.”
This is so true!
I would have to agree with you! :)
True, true, keep up with the good work!
Nice article.
These apply to pretty much EVERY business.
Really great tips. Just be careful with those “abusive” clients. :P
Such a great article! So often it seems most articles about clients are making fun of clients and talking about how terrible they can be. I must admit I find this stuff very funny, especially things like clients from hell, but this article was refreshing. Some great ideas for putting more effort in and really trying to please the client. Good job.
Awesome! Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated and will be put to good use. Really big thanks!
I have a few vendors that I wish would read this.
I think that 2. Communicate is an ALL the time, MUST do thing. Aside from making the client happy, this also “covers your butt” so to speak. If I haven’t dropped the ball, and I’ve let the client know exactly what is needed and when it is needed, it makes it very difficult for them to blame me for lack of progress.
8. Present is a good practice that help clients take you seriously and shows you have actually put thought into what you have created. This adds value to the profession as a whole.
I also appreciate the “Warning.” Just because I happened to rework that entire layout between 7pm and midnight does not mean I should be EXPECTED to do so. Respect goes both ways.
Thank you for the article.
Suberb article. Thanks..!
Laura who wrote:
“That isn’t very good advice.
It doesn’t matter if they love you or not. It’s just work.”
And if you continue to view all of your clients as “just work,” it’s highly unlikely you’ll achieve or sustain a successful, fulfilling career. While it is important to deliver on time and not be taken for granted, client relationships are fundamental for your success. They may not necessarily need to “love you,” but without client recommendation you’d may as well kiss your freelance career goodbye.
Great article – thanks for sharing! :)
I am just getting started on a freelance career, which is a bit scary since I have spent the last 10 years getting comfy with the job and the benifits that come with it.
Your article was spot on with the clients. I realise that good clients really want to make you want to work hard and sometimes occasionally burn the midnight oil.
Very insightful and encouraging. Keep em coming
Andre
Very nice, ;) thanks
Great article. Most of the ethics you’ve outlined should be no-brainers for any freelancer, and I think the good ones out there are doing most of this without even realizing it.
Most of the clients that come to me reveal that their last designer/developer did the opposite of what you have listed here, and I’m always shocked to hear about their horrific (and costly) experiences.
fantastic tips… well worth the read…
thanks …
i like the article very much!!
it make more encouragement…!!
more bight to me!!
thanks alott
:)
Excellent tips to keep in mind when trying to attract business or make sure you keep the clients you already have.
Thanks for all the great feedback!
Great tips!
From my 20 years working at retail in sales and service, I live and breath the old saying, “The client is always right”.
I love the challege that difficult clients bring, win them over with superior service and quality work.
Great article. Not sure I’m 100% with you on the over deliver section. 3 times as much work on a set budget could get a bit out of hand but your completely right about applying this in some select cases. Thanks!
Great advice. Always good to review the basics; they can get lost when you’re up to your elbows in work. Being better with clients means you get to be choosier about the work you do.
These are great tips. I think finding the right balance between what is realistic and what a client expects is a sign of a good designer/business-person. For example, it may take a lot of work to deliver 2 extra proofs as you have suggested. Some other suggestions though require very little extra work and clients expect them (e.g. kindness, understanding, communication). So it’s important to strike a balance so you’re not burning yourself out and you’re meeting & exceeding their expectations as well.
Very nice post. You make great points I think every freelancer should follow.
I would add “showing that you are passionate” about your work and the field you are in.
Great post with some important factors!
I think it’s high time to compose a list with rules for clients. For instance, “10 ways for clients to make your designer or developer love you”:
First, a client must know design and developing matters.
Second, a client mustn’t call you until delivery.
Third, a client must pay more than you require.
Forth, a client must always say: “yes”, “it’s great!”, “Could you send me Invoice right now, please?”
And the like…
I do have to agree with points given, however I note with interest the number of comments related to abusive clients, and setting boundaries for clients. Clients are not easy to “house train” if ever, and expectations when you over deliver become expected and not perceived as goodwill, no matter how well you know your client.
In most instances it is worse if you know the client well, because of that relationship briefs become less descriptive and if you are not always intuitive to what the client needs or what the outcome should be – they often feel “disappointed” and the net result is that you have just about killed yourself to deliver – with no appreciation.
There is no hard and fast rule on this, go with your gut.
realy good reaad.
Very well written
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