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Clear Communication

4:10 with Paul Boag

Clear communication is one of the most important parts of a designer's job. In this video, Paul offers advice on how best to communicate, even when the news for the client is bad.

If you want to keep your clients happy, talk to them. 0:00
That's such an important part of good customer services. Clear communication. 0:03
And it really is something you need to pay attention to. 0:09
I once saw a tweet from a very well-known and well-respected web designer 0:12
whose name shall remain nameless who said, "What does my client want from me? 0:16
For me to build them a website or for me to e-mail them?" 0:22
The truth is, a client wants both and you need to suck that up. 0:25
You need to communicate regularly with your clients 0:30
and you still need to be building them their website as well. 0:33
One of the most important aspects of communicating 0:38
with a client is to be regular. 0:41
Contact them every week irrespective of whether you've done anything. 0:43
Even if your call is just to say, "Hey, just to let you know. 0:48
I haven't been working on your project this week. 0:52
I've been working on another project, but it's absolutely fine. 0:54
I've got time scheduled in next week. 0:57
This is part of the plan, and I'm still going to be delivering on time." 0:59
They would prefer to hear from you even if you have nothing to say to them. 1:02
Because otherwise, they're going to wonder, 1:08
and you don't want clients wondering. 1:10
If they start wondering, they start worrying. 1:13
If they start worrying, then they start micromanaging. 1:16
And that is not something any of us want. 1:18
Another important factor with communication 1:23
is the medium through which you communicate. 1:25
Let's be honest. We're all geeks. 1:27
And as geeks, we love e-mail and we love IM and we love BaseCamp. 1:30
In fact, we love any medium which doesn't require us to actually talk to people. 1:36
And so the result of that is that client's get frustrated because they're not like us. 1:40
Some of them do like to actually talk to you on the phone. 1:48
So what you've got to do is use the medium that's most appropriate to them. 1:52
If they like using BaseCamp, hell, use BaseCamp. 1:56
If they like using e-mail, then yeah sure use e-mail. 1:59
But if not, then you need to be using what they like and not what you like. 2:02
With communication, always tell the truth even if the client does not want to hear it. 2:07
You're much better off limiting their expectations 2:14
so that you can later surpass them 2:17
than you are to essentially lie to the client. 2:19
The trouble is we don't intentionally lie to them, right? 2:23
Let's say there's a deadline that's coming up. 2:28
And we're beginning to wonder whether or not we're going to meet that deadline. 2:31
And we go, "It's okay. I'm going to make the time off. 2:36
I'm going to work over the weekend and I'll get it done 2:38
because I don't want to let this client down." 2:40
And so we work weekends and we still sleep in and deadline's getting closer. 2:42
And it's all getting full but no we're going to do it. 2:47
We'll work. We'll work through the night to get it done in time. 2:50
And then eventually, we fail. 2:53
And we've lied to the client. 2:56
We told them everything's going to be all right and it isn't. 2:58
We've given them a nasty surprise 3:00
and as I've said before, we don't want to surprise clients. 3:03
They don't like that. 3:07
So, if you're worried about meeting a deadline. 3:09
If you perceive that there might even possibly 3:13
be a problem with the project, tell the client. 3:15
You're better off telling them and lowering their expectations 3:19
and then everything turning out all right and the client goes away happy 3:22
than you are leaving them with a nasty surprise. 3:27
Meet with your clients often, will you? 3:29
Take the time to go and meet with them. When failing that, use the phone. 3:32
Make sure that you're engaging with them personally 3:37
because it will really help the communication 3:42
and the relationship between you and the client. 3:44
That said, when you do meet them or if you do have phone calls with them, 3:47
make sure you keep notes and records of what's been said too 3:51
and repeat that back to the client. 3:55
Having a written record is often very useful when things go wrong. 3:57
So communication is vitally important 4:00
and it should be considered a fundamental part of your job as a web designer. 4:04

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