How to talk to clients as a designer

Thy shall not have miscommunicated.

I will teach you how to talk, what to talk about and which nuances has to be considered.

Communication with clients is important and there are many do’s and don’ts. I will tell you my experience out of a hundred conversations with clients as a freelancer and I am sure the core ideas are also applicable in an agency setting. I had various international clients. Mainly from Europe and English-speaking countries

There are various rules, but it’s more about guidelines heavily depending on the type of client and the language used. As some languages have formal and informal ways of addressing topics (German and Russian in my case)

Formal or informal? How polite should I sound?

In general, you are on the safe side being overly polite and formal, but it gives you a very stuck-up aura. and quite frankly creative people tend to be more easy-going in their way of speech. It is best and easiest to let the client talk first to understand the “level” of communication he is comfortable with. Adjust to him - though consider, don’t let yourself too loose. The client isn’t your best buddy from high school and giving off a too-lose attitude makes you appear (case-by-case) not frivolous.

Polite or not Polite?

The benefits of not being courteous in speech.

BUT there might also be a hidden cost in sounding too stuck up. You might give the client the feeling of being another formal statistic for sale. Being friendly also loosens up the client, as sometimes they might be first-timers or not that versatile in formal conversation. It also takes pressure from them to sound “right" which they usually are not in the business world - giving them room to breathe and talk.

How do I figure out “the level of eloquence and formality” of a client?

These three factors are simple and reliable in most cases:

• Age: younger people tend to be more casual

• Type of business: The conversation with a massage lady will certainly sound different from a representative of a law firm.

• Ranking of the clients position a business: A department staff will probably have lower expectations of “respect-level” than a CEO. But of course considering on the size of a business. A CEO of among 3 people isn’t a big deal.

Any other aspects which help me to determine the “politeness-level”?

Yes - The culture of the person You are talking to and the language being used. I can tell you my American and Australian clients were noticeably more laid-back than my German clients. In fact, the German language has the use of formal personal pronouns with strangers especially in the business world independent of age. If You are talking to a Japanese or Korean client, you can understand what I mean.

Now about culture

I can tell you, it’s always nice for the clients if You in the early stages of a conversation mention or at least ask about a thing in their culture. Such as saying how you admire their language by having seen a movie from their country or some architecture just as an example. BUT do not say things you don’t mean just for the sake of the honesty of your own Character. In general, if You as a media designer and artist are not curious about things outside of Your environment, I deem you are not fit to be in the creative field. Anyway, you might aswell ask a question about the clients culture. It’s always interesting to hear a personal opinion about a public topic as they happen to be different from news media narrative.

What if I have a different opinion on a project than the client?
Can I say NO? And if YES, then how?

There will always be cases of disagreements. To diminish the cause of disagreement with your client, the responsibility lays first of all on You. You really need to try to understand these two questions from a client:

1. The What

The clients’ business should be Your deepest concern. You cannot create the right product for the client if You don’t know what he wants to buy. By what I mean by the purpose and desire he wants to have satisfied. Learn about the clients’ business field. Read on their website and ask them direct questions. They will always be happy to tell, as that gives them the feeling that you care - and you do actually care. Clients want to feel cared about their business. It is after all what they do for life with all kinds of hopes, fears, and struggles behind it. You cannot set up an advertisement for a serious law firm with a high reputation with the same mindset as for a cosmetic product. But this should be obvious. Also, it never hurts but helps tremendously to understand in DETAIL about the advertised object. If it is a product like a vacuum cleaner, ask what is special about the product which makes it stand out from the competition. Don’t feel shy to ask apparently amateur silly questions when the topic is something you have no idea about. It does not only help You to set up the right design but also for the client. Sometimes clients don’t know due to having a blind spot by the nature of their position. It helps them to reflect and understand what they really need and also shows them that you actually care. This question brings us to the…

2. The How

Clients sometimes believe the way they imagine something can be 1:1 be replicated in a design, but you and I as (supposedly) design experts do know better. Oftentimes times they show me references from different businesses and how they want their website, corporate design, or advertisement to look. A friend of mine has a construction company and asked me to create a logo for it and gave me a reference for a noir high luxury brand. Obviously, it just didn’t sit with me right and we didn’t get to an agreement as I designed as closely as possible to their idea without making it look outlandish (almost deceiving I would say). It really drained my creative juices. Anyway, you need to understand how the client expects an advertisement or aesthetic element (in most cases) to be used for their purpose. Explain to them calmly and considerate manner why something does not work what they want. It’s also nice if you tell an idea of the client is good when it is actually going in a good direction which you yourself would have picked. It never hurts to praise a little bit.

But seriously, what if disagreements happen?

Really explain well to the client why an idea works and why not. Saying “it just does not” makes you not even look like you yourself don’t understand it, but also you appear to be snobbish. Which also means picking the right words. Don’t use professional mambo-jambo which makes things you say sound more important than they are. Also in general don’t assume the person in front of you is stupid, they might see right through you. I don’t like bullshit, that is why I prefer being called a designer over a fancy artist. If a client does not understand a design-specific term that you need to use, explain it in a simple way. Always have the general paradigm that the communication has to be on the same level on both sides. If all this does not help, after making sure you are on the same level and the client is just stubborn about not wanting to go your way, there are 3 options.

Option A: You just bow to your client’s wish, even if it’s from your expertise the wrong decision. At the end of the day, you want to be paid as you have bills to pay. There is no shame in that.

Option B: Just say it does not work for you and are willing to cancel the whole gig, as you just don’t feel comfortable giving up your expert principles (often rightfully so) and undermining your high experience.

Option C: Create their solution and your solution. This means delivering a design the CLIENT wants and another design YOU want. If he sees then also Your idea in juxtaposition he might see what you tried to convey and then pick yours. I think this is the most diplomatic solution which also is the one with the most energy you have to spend on. Basically working twice as much.

Conclusion

Read it again if you haven’t understood fully my message. Compare what you have learned from my experience and compare it to yours. Do you see any similarities and if not how can you remind yourself of my conversation principles if you have the feeling there is a communication problem? I will in the future give more tips, but I think this is pretty good for starters.