Freelancefolder

Your Clients: Dealing With Drivers And Passengers

Posted August 15, 2007 in Business 6 Comments »

A recent web design client of mine made a statement that really stuck with me. The project is just now starting up, and (about a previous designer they worked with) they said:

With our old designer, we were really the ones telling him what to do. And that’s no good, because we don’t know anything. We need someone who is going to tell us what to do.

Needless to say, I smiled because that’s exactly what I do. But that’s beside the point.

The lesson to learn from this client’s statement is that, in general, your clients will give you the steering wheel if you

1. show you want it,
2. request that you have it, and
3. nudge them until they move over.

You may have to do that last step a few times, actually.

There are two clients you may end up faced with. The first, the Passenger will be wanting you to take the wheel (whether they say so or not) and the second, the Driver will think they are driving very well (let’s call them Drivers).

When you are faced with Passengers the decision is yours. They don’t want to make the big decisions, probably in part because they don’t want to have to make any big decisions. They also don’t know as much as you do and they know that. These clients are great to have (like the one I mentioned above) and you should be very grateful to have them. There are a few things you should know about this type of client, however.

Passenger Client Characteristics

• They will have no plan or schedule for the project. And you shouldn’t expect them to. They are coming to you with open hands (and hopefully some money, right?) and you will need to tell them what plan is best. For web designers, I would highly suggest Web Redesign 2.0 — Workflow that Works by Kelly Goto and Emily Cotler. I’ve found it very useful, and it should give you a great place to start.
• They will be silent, but can potentially be deadly. Maybe a little dramatic, but the fact remains: often you won’t hear from these clients until they are frustrated. So if you don’t hear from them for a few days and then, when you do, it’s them saying “Why haven’t you called me?“, don’t be surprised. This is their style. The complacent client is great, but they need to be carefully monitored. That’s the tradeoff you have, I suppose.
• It might be a pain getting any vision out of them. Put some time into worksheets and exercises they can go through to come up with some creative vision for the project. If the Drivers won’t let you be creative, the Passengers won’t give you enough structure to be creative with.

I think the characteristics of the Driver are pretty well understood. We’ve all dealt with one at some point or another. But, just for the sake of completeness, here are some ways you can deal with (and possibly even correct) the Driver client.

Dealing with Driver Clients

• When creative disagreements come up, carefully and calmly explain your experience in that area. In other words, s/he hired you for a reason. Gently remind them of that.
• Have creative decisions and plans signed by the Driver. It’s amazing what happens when someone’s name is on paper. Odds are you’ll have fewer problems if you can show that they already agreed to that decision. You can also use this to fight feature creep, a condition where a few more features creep in one at a time. Having a signed agreement for the project can keep out a lot of things that, in the end, you don’t want to have to deal with.
• Make suggestions with strong arguments backing them up. If you ever feel your grip slipping with the project, take a step back and come back later with a solid suggestion to make, but make sure you have great reasons for the suggestion. This can help turn the Driver’s head from their ideas to yours, which can only help the project along.

Now, the fun part. I’m interested in some client stories. No specifics please, let’s be somewhat professional here. But, if you can, share some stories, both good and bad. Consider one another colleagues, and any help we can provide one another is that much better for the group.

Who’s first?

Ryan

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Ryan Imel is a freelance designer and writer out of the Midwest (USA). He runs a marketing/communications group called Aspiring Indie. Ryan also runs the Theme Playground where you can find lots of great tools and information about blogging and WordPress.

About the author: Ryan Imel is a freelance designer out of the Midwest (USA). He runs a marketing/communications group called Aspiring Indie. Ryan also runs the Theme Playground where you can find lots of great tools and information about blogging and wordpress.