Strategies for Effectively Communicating with Clients

While listening to an episode of a great podcast I recently discovered called The Typecast with Katie Johnson and Ilana Griffo of Goodtype, they brought up the topic of how hard it can be as a designer to educate clients on your design decisions. As the designer, they should listen to our expertise and trust our process, right? Their guest, Lucy Eden, described this classic designer/client dynamic best:

“Working with clients and figuring out the balance between doing what they want and allowing them to take the lead but also being in the position of being the expert and guiding them.”

Now, it’s been a minute since I was in design school but, from what I remember, there was very little taught on how to talk about your work and your design process with your clients. That could be because, in 2017, life after design school typically meant you’d be working with a project or account manager who would be the one communicating with the client. Being an order taker was more or less the job description. Fast forward to 2024 and that is very much no longer the case. With more designers freelancing or starting a business, whether right out of school or self-taught, knowing how to effectively communicate with clients is a vital skill for obtaining and retaining business.

A good place to start cultivating this skill is with your portfolio. As tedious as that may seem I urge anyone who has a website or even posts work on social to write a summary (yes, a Case Study) of the process behind your work including the goals you established with the client, and how the outcome achieved those goals. This exercise will help you get comfortable describing your work without the pressure of speaking directly to someone. Experiment with different styles of writing and practice presenting your work using the summary you’ve just written. Does it sound like something you would say or does it sound like a robot wrote it (and I mean that literally)? This is also a good opportunity to find synonyms for words that are overused and ambiguous like “awesome,” “beautiful,” “cool,” and the dreaded “pop”. Keep these words in your arsenal for other case studies or when you’re speaking about your work to a client.

Next, it’s time to practice pitching your services. You’ll never be able to learn how to explain your design decisions to a client if there are no clients for you to explain things to. When someone reaches out saying “We would love to work with you on a project. Are you free for a call?” are you going to be able to talk about your services confidently or are you going to just dial in and hope they will lead 100% of the conversation? While they were the ones who reached out to you, you need to convince them that you are the person for the job. Anticipate a few questions they might ask and write out your response. What are your rates? How do you prefer to receive edits? What are the client management tools you use? Essentially, write a script for yourself to have on the side of your screen during the initial call. Worried that they will judge you for not having it memorized? This is 2024 - if anyone is judging you for being prepared then they are missing the memo of the moment: no one is perfect and we’re all just trying our best. However, with that being said, take the time to practice. Again, no one wants to be talking to a robot. They want someone who’s relatable and shows they are invested in helping them solve their problem. Within time, you’ll be able to ditch the script and confidently describe your process and services with ease.

You’re now ready to take everything you’ve been practicing and apply it when presenting your design options to your client. Remember, you’re no longer trying to convince your client that you are the designer for them - you’re trying to hype them up for the work you’ve done! Remind them that you are on their side and through your guidance and expertise, they’ll end up with a design they and their target audience will love. In the words of Amy and Jen Hood from their book Freelance and Business and Stuff“Always show how the work you did directly relates back to your approved mood boards and core project goal.” Similarly with pitching your services, try to anticipate any questions they might have beforehand and practice your response. Over time and with a few different clients under your belt, you’ll learn what questions commonly come up and be able to answer them without any prep. A quick tip is while you’re going through your design process, take notice of when you have to make a decision. At that moment, stop and think, “Why am I deciding to move in this direction?” Write down some notes (whether in the design file itself or on a scrap piece of paper) to refer back to in case this becomes a topic of concern later down the line with your client.

While I could write even more on this topic (and let me know if I should!) there is one key takeaway here: remember that while you are the expert, you are talking to someone who is investing time and money in you and your services. While they might not always be right, the client always has the right to ask questions and be reinforced in your reasoning. At the end of the day, they are the ones who have to stare at their design for the foreseeable future, not you! Your job is to help them be comfortable with the decisions you have made together out of a sea of thousands of other options. Be patient, be clear, and do what you can (within reason) to get your design to a place where your client can clearly see the value in what you’ve created.

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When You’re a Creative Who Doesn’t Feel like Creating

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Setting Boundaries with Clients