I’m a people pleaser, I love parties, I love presentations and I absolutely love welcoming people into my home, so exceptional client design delivery is something I really enjoy and probably one of the reasons I became a designer.
After leading Make it Clear for 14 years, I’ve worked with many different clients and an even greater number of projects. I’ve learned a lot, from the great, sometimes award-winning, projects and also from projects that didn’t go so well. I’ve outlined 6 key tips that I believe help our company to deliver exceptional design projects for clients.
Start a new email
You have just spent a week perfecting a world beating presentation and then when you’re sending it you tag it onto a 20 strong email chain. Not only are you devaluing the work you have done but you’re also increasing the likelihood of the client ignoring it.
Present your work (in person or on video call)
There is no feedback that is more honest than watching the clients face as you reveal their new campaign. Faces don’t lie and they can’t be covered up by a politely constructed email.
Present backwards
End consumers won’t have the benefit of having read your extensive design rationale. So why do we insist on explaining to the client the exact rationale for all our decisions before presenting the work? Let the work speak for itself and follow up with the why, if its any good they would have already got it.
Present something people can touch
Try and move away from the screen if you can, present concepts on boards or bind the presentation. I find clients love to handle work, physically sorting it and connecting to the creative without a bit of glass in the way.
Never deliver late
Trust is one of the most important things in business, if you say you’re going to deliver on Wednesday, deliver on Wednesday! Even better, deliver on Tuesday. Don’t kill the studio with unrealistic deadlines, instead factor in the early delivery when you’re building the schedule and if the delivery slips by a day you’re still delivering on time.
Be comfortable with silence
Shut up and let the client digest what you have said, give the client time to take a concept in, be comfortable in silence and give them time to digest their thoughts.
Thanks for reading, I hope this was helpful.
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