Client-Centered Strategy – An Inside Look at How I Run My Business
There’s a little post it note stuck to the bottom left side of my monitor that has been there for a long, long time. It’s a bit tattered, has a coffee splatter or two, and the right corner is peeling off. On it, scribbled in mechanical pencil, are three words: For The Clients. These three words are the north star for my entire business, shape everything we say and do, and serve as a constant “gut check” as I make decisions day in and day out.
WHAT IS CLIENT-CENTERED STRATEGY?
Client-centered strategy is a term that was born from my studio philosophy/mindset, which is that my business exists for my clients. It doesn’t sound that profound, but it’s a pretty radical perspective shift once you really start to think about it.
My business exists for my clients. I believe that it is my duty (and honor) to serve them as best I possibly can at all times, because that is exactly why I am here. My work is not about me, it is about them. Period. I am not here to design exactly what I want at all times. I am not here to create work that other designers like, but my clients don’t. I am here to help businesses leverage their incredible products and offerings through the power of visual branding.
We work in a strange industry. I sometimes jokingly refer to my job as “making things and then asking other people to tell me what they hate about them” because that is DEFINITELY what it can feel like at times!
Client tension seems to be the norm – dig through any Facebook group and you will find post after post after post of designers commiserating with each other about unruly clients. I have been there before, dozens of times over the past ten years. In fact I was so exhausted by the constant push/pull of the designer/client relationship that I almost stopped offering visual branding (where I seemed to run into this pain point the most) all together.
I went on this way for a couple of years before I had a major aha moment, started to implement a client-centered strategy, and my entire business transformed. Here are the four steps I took to reframe my mindset and move into a mindset that positions my client as the hero of my business.
1. Ask Yourself How You Can Be Better
I can remember the EXACT moment that everything changed for me. It was 2015, I was on a client call, and we were reviewing a document I had designed. The client was making a verbal list a few changes they wanted to see made and I could feel myself getting defensive and angry. A few minutes passed and I can literally remember having an aha moment that has shaped my business for the past five years. Instead of thinking about how frustrating these revision requests were, I told myself:
It is your responsibility to educate the client about the design decisions that were made
It is your responsibility to have a positive, optimistic attitude at all times when communicating with clients
It is your responsibility to listen to client concerns and pursue a solution, even if it isn’t exactly what you would do from a designer perspective
It is your responsibility to make them feel heard and understood
Have you been there before? Have you felt your blood boiling as a client made a comment like “these two fonts don’t go together” and in your head you are thinking “UMM I THINK I’D KNOW IF THEY DIDN’T GO TOGETHER. You own a medical device company so probably just stay in your lane.” It is SO easy to slip into this mindset, but the next time you feel this happening in yourself I challenge you to pause, take a deep breath (literally), and think about how you can approach the situation with a positive outlook and tone. Seek the good in every client interaction. Kill ‘em with kindness. Whatever you want to call it, this goes such a long way.
2. Leave Your Ego At the Door
The sooner you can set aside your ego, the sooner your life as a designer will improve. I treat my clients as the hero of my business story. I am NOT the hero, which means that while it does feel nice to know that they wanted to work with me specifically, this entire process is about them. Not me.
I have found that the hardest thing to overcome in this step is embracing the fact that nothing is personal. If a client hates a concept, they do not hate you. Your work is not a dumpster fire. They just hate that concept. One of hundreds that you will generate over the course of a year. It’s important to pour your heart into your work but you have to know where to draw the line. You are not your work.
As soon as you remove that emotional attachment, you will feel a huge weight off of your shoulders. You will find it’s easier to talk freely and maturely with clients about the entire design process across the board. Leave your ego behind when you walk into your studio or open your laptop each day. It will only muddy the waters of running a client-centered business.
3. Set Clear Expectations
Clients want you to tell them what to expect and what you expect of them. They crave structure. Clients cannot read your mind – they have no clue how this process works until you tell them. And if you don’t tell them, they’ll probably end up doing something that makes you frustrated/upset/irritated. See how this works? They can’t read your mind, so you need to give them structure. This gives BOTH of you peace of mind – you have detailed your needs and they have a better sense of what to expect. We make sure to communicate as much as possible to clarify things like:
Our expectations for how we will communicate (email or scheduled phone calls, no texting)
Deadlines for delivering concepts (on our end) and deadlines for receiving feedback
What type of feedback we would like to receive (we ask a specific set of questions to get constructive answers)
One of the best ways to get your client to trust you is to show them that you understand and have anticipated all of their concerns. Address them head on. Vocalize them. Set clear expectations and boundaries so that they feel respected and valued as a customer.
4. Clarify your End Goal
My goal as a designer is to create effective visual solutions that my clients love.
Let me really hammer this home – my goal is to make my clients happy. Period. If I am happy, but my client is not, I have failed.
I get a LOT of questions from designers about what to do when a client wants to pursue a direction or make a design change that you don’t agree with. Here is my approach.
First, I explain why I think that specific change might not be a good idea, using neutral, educational information (type that small won’t print well – type that large creates confusing hierarchy – that image style might not resonate with your ideal customer – that is too similar to this logo, etc.). This turns the scenario into a teaching moment and by not saying something like “I don’t like that idea,” or “I think what I have done will look better,” you are removing emotion from the conversation and empowering your client to make better design decisions in the future.
Then, if they are persistent, I make the change. Sometimes it looks terrible and they see that and want to revert back. Sometimes it looks terrible and they LOVE IT. So long as I have done my due diligence in educating them I HAVE TO LET GO.
This step combines almost everything I have mentioned thus far with the ultimate goal of serving your clients at all times.
takeaways – prompts
I love a good tangible takeaway, so if you’re feeling up for it, answer these in a journal, the corner of your planner, on a recycled piece of paper. You get the idea!
How can you improve your attitude towards clients? Can you think of a specific situation that you would have handled differently How can you improve your attitude or your client experience? How can you let go of any defensiveness that is holding you back and bring an open mind and heart to your business every day? What can you do to refocus your priorities and put your clients first? Can you think of a time in your business you handled something poorly and let your emotions take over? How would you handle it differently now?
How is the connection between yourself and your work? Do you think you are too closely intertwined? If so, what might you be able to do to create a bit of healthy separation between you and your work?
Do you have a list of expectations that you (gently) share with clients? What are your top priorities and how can you create a narrative around them that positions clients as the hero of your business?
What is your end goal? Write down a few reflections on your business, then combine them into one super reflection, or sit with them for a few days and really think about what feels right to you. What are your values? These are