How to interact with clients

Being a great designer includes the component of being a great communicator. If you working with clients on your day to day job, you probably know by now that it is hard to keep a healthy dialog. Simple things often lead to misunderstandings or damaged relationships. If you are looking to improve the art of communicating with your clients, here is a list of things that can help you be a more effective designer.

1.Treat your clients like your friends
The important thing is to listen to your clients. More listening than talking is the key to a good relationship. You need to understand your client’s business and why it’s better than those they compete with. The essential part is that you take note while the client tells you about his project so that you won’t commit any mistake when your time to talk comes. So an important part of being a designer is to be a good listener.

2.Be patient when explaining
Before anything, you have to explain to your client why you are suggesting something like a piece of advice. And because your client may not know many things about design, you should be patient when explaining something to them. It is well known that clients will ask you to do something that you don’t really approve of. In this situation, you have to show them the pros and cons of their idea. Don’t choose to just do it the way they want it or the way you want it without an explanation. You have to show them that you just really want to help them understand the design process.

3. Ask questions
If you want your meeting with a client to be efficient, you have to prepare questions to ask. You should keep in mind that not many of your clients will be that open to share information with you. So you have to ask questions if you want to clarify things. If not, you will face misunderstandings. But don’t forget that your clients are also busy so don’t waste their time and your time. Ask everything you need to know and don’t waste time.

4.Keep the client informed
Even if the deal is closed, the communication with the client doesn’t have to stop. You have to keep your customer informed and give him updates on the progress of the project. This will prove that you can really focus on his project and the effort will surely be appreciated.

5.Always choose positive statements
You have to speak in a positive manner so that you lead your customer to the positive way. And if you have to tell something negative, compose the sentences in a positive way. This will help you grow a relationship based on confidence with your clients.

6.Use visual communication
The main problems when talking about design are miscommunication and misinterpretation. And this is so because words are subjective and can be interpreted in many ways depending on who says them and who hears them. The solution would be to replace verbal communication with visual communication. This way you will make it easier for your client to see the end result of the project. So instead of trying to explain to your clients what you will use next, show them an actual example so that they can see exactly what you’re talking about.

7. Think a clear path for your site
It is well known that when people enter your page, they don’t want to think how to figure it out. They want things to be simple and easily presented. So you have to be in control of the first thing they will look at, the second, the third and so on all the way down till they accomplish the goal you set. This way you will avoid unhappy clients.

8. Prove performance metrics
An important step in impressing business people is to create a report of how a design performs. You can make a spreadsheet where you can present some basic metrics. It doesn’t have to be very complicated or fancy but if you put extra effort, it will help you to distinguish from the other designers.