Five Ways to Select and Keep the Right Clients

Over the years, both as a contractor and within an agency, I have had the opportunity to work with great and not-so-great clients.  Just like any relationship, selecting and working with the right clients is vital to the success of any project.  Here are five tips to help ensure that you are involved (and stay involved) in a healthy client relationship.

Personality is Important

It’s no fun to work with people that you don’t get along with.  During the proposal/pitch process, in addition to showing your potential client how wonderful you are, make sure that you are also evaluating what it might be like to work for the client.  Are they open and clear about their needs, their budget, their schedule?  Do they seem reasonable?  Do they respect your time?  Do they have a sense of humor?  If the client doesn’t seem like the kind of person that you’d like to spend an hour or two with, seriously reconsider how much you need the project.

Build & Foster Trust

Every healthy relationship is based on trust; it’s no different for a professional relationship with your clients.  Is your client being open and honest with you?  Are you being open and honest with your client?  Are both of you delivering on promises?  Trust is difficult to build but very easy to ruin.  If you cannot trust your client, or vice versa, it’s time to work hard to establish trust or walk away from the relationship.

Seth Godin talks about an easy way to build trust: show up on time, and respect others’ time:

The simplest test of trustworthiness for most people is whether or not you keep your promises, and the first promises you make are about time.

Clarify Everything

Yes… everything.  Do you and your client both agree on the functionality of a blog?  Do you see eye-to-eye on the definition of content?  Do the words “clean” and “modern” mean the same thing to you and your client?  This is not as easy as it sounds, but it’s important to remember.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions to clarify and define anything that may be ambiguous, and put it in writing.  Functional requirements documents are a great way to protect yourself and make sure that the client is going to get what they expect.

Don’t be afraid to revise an initial estimate, renegotiate or walk away from the project if you and your client’s original expectations no longer mesh.

Project or Partnership?

Have you been hired to complete a specific task on a specific project, or are you engaging in a partnership with a client?  These are very different roles which require different levels of information, client-management styles and relationships.  Partnerships are more collaborative in nature; they are more about adding value to a client’s overall business.  Clients who seek successful partnerships with outside agencies must be willing to share more information than they do with contractors hired to complete a specific task.

Communication

Clients and contractors who keep the lines of communication wide open have the best chance at achieving success.  Building relationships, clarifying expectations and building trust all rely on honest, clear and direct communication.  If you and your client aren’t communicating with each other, the project and the relationship are not succeeding.

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