Sometimes you’re blessed with good clients but not always. This just means you have to adapt a bit and learn how to deal with all sorts
The Good Clients
Who are these good clients? Well they’re the ones who genuinely like you and trust you. They speak to you with honesty and no ulterior motives. You discuss the quotation and they genuinely tell you what they feel, there’s no ghosting or excuses. They understand your reasoning and tell you their side of the story. Sometimes they approve of your estimate happily with the knowledge that you will give them the best possible solution to their problem and the most creative outcome you can achieve in these days of templates and AI-generated same-stock.
A good client listens to you your reasons for a particular approach and why this or that is necessary, they agree, or they disagree but with good reason and then you settle on a path that both of you can walk on side by side singing a happy tune.
Approvals and feedback and resources you ask for come in quickly so that you stay on course to your target. You meet, have a coffee, take a look at the design, get some changes jotted down, and a smile on your clients’ face makes it all worthwhile. One or two more meetings like this and you’ll be ready with a site or digital product you can both be proud of. Oh how wonderful!
“To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.”
– Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Essayist
But, unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. It does happen, don’t get me wrong. But then life would be monotonous without some spice, some adrenalin, some back and forth to test your skills of dealing with the delightfully difficult that make the world an interesting place to live in.
The not so good clients
They’re the ones who are nit-picky, take ages to get back to you and when they do, don’t have good things to say and are generally very busy people who want you to do the work because they don’t have the time but they very much like micro-manage. They’ll say, “I don’t have the time for all this, you get it done,” and when you do get it done, they want it a different way. It’s kinda like those people who would rather do it themselves than delegate but don’t have the time to delegate so they give it to someone to do and then they’ll have the time to be angry with them for not doing it the way they wanted them to do it.
Now I’ve had a client like this and for my own sanity and self-esteem I had to say, “Maybe we shouldn’t take this roller-coaster ride any further.” I think we both could heave a sigh of relief. See the thing is that everyone is different as an individual and as a couple. Two people could be great individuals but when they come together they could be a total, bat-shit crazy, train-wreck! Yes I’ve been in a relationship like that. Business partnerships can be similar (but without the make-up sex to tide things over for a bit) and sometimes they just don’t work. You must try though and mistakes will happen from both sides. I think that finishing a good job, something you’ve both worked very hard on, is important to do, even if your ego needs to be set to one side for while.
Some clients take longer than others, some don’t know what they want, some don’t understand that if you micro-manage a creative mind then the outcome will not be very creative or unique. I always believe in being open about your side of the story and acknowledging when you’ve erred and also telling your client why their approach may not be the best with good reasoning behind your postulation. Sometimes you can be the ‘yes’ man, but for your peace of mind and the creative outcome you envision, a little bit of creative difference is worth it. Because at the end of the day, when your creation is brilliant, both sides will see the benefit of the challenges of creation.
And to be fair, we’re all a little different in many ways, so differences are bound to be encumbered but the satisfaction of it all is in overcoming the tribulations and being grateful for having people who make you think and see things differently, who test your patience, who hone your skills of explanation and reason, who give you the strength to stand up for your convictions and help you learn in what is a collaborative process.
~ Sailesh Ghelani
