{"id":5374,"date":"2020-09-10T13:13:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T13:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/?p=5374"},"modified":"2020-09-04T13:21:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T13:21:12","slug":"tutorial-how-to-improve-your-communication-with-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/business\/tutorial-how-to-improve-your-communication-with-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"Tutorial: How to Improve Your Communication With Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you walk into a bakery, what\u2019s the first thing you want to know? Do you care that the bakery was started back in the \u201960s by the current owner\u2019s immigrant Grandma? Or that the head pastry chef\u2019s favorite dessert is a strawberry cheese Danish with the perfect blend of cheesiness, flakiness, and strawberry-ness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or how about that the tiles on the floor are hand-painted ceramic from a little town in southern Morocco? You\u2019re probably bored already, aren\u2019t you? Just shut up and give me my cupcakes, you might say; I\u2019m late for my nephew\u2019s birthday party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u00a0drown your clients in information\u00a0they don\u2019t need to know, they\u2019ll usually have a similar reaction. Your clients are just as busy as you are \u2013 they have goals for their businesses, and they simply\u00a0won\u2019t care about details\u00a0that aren\u2019t important to them, even if you think they should be. Such is the life of a freelancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following are three simple ways you can improve your communication and get down to the nitty-gritty with clients, so that you won\u2019t waste time assuming that they need to know things they don\u2019t, and instead focus on using that knowledge to benefit them without them having to strain their brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getting Specific About Your Services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s super important to always be specific about what you offer as a designer. I know it seems smart to try to reach as many customers as you possibly can, but in actuality, this is one the things that can really hinder your career progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a potential client asks about what kind of design services you offer, do you tell them something to the effect of \u201coh, a little bit of everything?\u201d If so, stop doing that ASAP. Do you really do every kind of design? Do you design buses, baby carriages, and tea kettles? No you don\u2019t \u2013 so there\u2019s no need to tell potential clients that you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t assume that they already know what you\u2019re all about \u2013 they won\u2019t unless you spell it out for them. This is the one time when providing more information is actually a blessing rather than a curse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now if you\u2019re thinking that people won\u2019t take you quite that literally, you\u2019re probably right. However, they won\u2019t really remember you as a standout choice for their project either. No one wants to hire the\u00a0bland, generic designer\u00a0who \u201cdoes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They want to locate the service provider who\u2019s perfect for their specific needs. Be specific about what kind of value you offer, and\u00a0quality clients<\/strong>\u00a0will be far more interested in your services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Be The Brains Of The Operation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do people a favor and think for them as frequently as humanely possible. They\u2019ll love you for it. Don\u2019t make assumptions about how much people know or what they want in a design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve probably heard of a book called\u00a0Don\u2019t Make Me Think<\/strong>, by Steven Krug<\/strong>. One of the basic premises of the book is that people have a limited reserve of mental energy, and the last thing they want to spend it on is figuring out how to use your website or information product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This basic principle extends far beyond just web design and usability; it creeps into every aspect of every product that has ever been designed for use by a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a reason Apple products are so universally loved and constantly talked about by design-conscious folks. It\u2019s not just because they\u2019re attractive to look at \u2013 the real beauty lies in how easy they are to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you force someone to work or expend valuable mental resources on the unnecessary, you risk destroying their \u201creservoir of goodwill\u201d and making them frustrated enough to leave and never come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marketing Out Of the Box<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another area where designers make broad assumptions is in their marketing strategies. Many designers assume that their potential clients are looking for someone who can give them a website, a logo, or a brand identity. But that isn\u2019t quite true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they\u2019re really looking for is someone who can think for them and come up with solutions to problems they don\u2019t even know they have. They\u2019re looking for someone who can take their business to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality clients don\u2019t simply want to be known as the \u201cgeneric law firm\u201d or the \u201cgeneric band\u201d or the \u201cgeneric dentist\u201d any more than you want to be known as the \u201cgeneric designer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your clients are eager to work with a designer who understands their need for prime market positioning \u2013 because that\u2019s what you want as well. If you have an intriguing personality or design style, you\u2019re not doing yourself or your clients any favors by suppressing it because you assume no one is interested in your quirkiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Market yourself\u00a0out of the box. Don\u2019t be generic \u2013 you\u2019re a unique designer, so make sure your clients can see that in everything you present to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By not making assumptions about what response you\u2019re most likely to get or what you think people want to, need to, or should know, you can turn your clients into true fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who feel as though you understand them will be genuinely excited about working with you, and will be eager to recommend you to anyone who will sit still long enough. Become a mind-reading rock star and no one in your niche will be able to resist you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you walk into a bakery, what\u2019s the first thing you want to know? Do you care that the bakery was started back in the \u201960s by the current owner\u2019s immigrant Grandma? Or that the head pastry chef\u2019s favorite dessert is a strawberry cheese Danish with the perfect blend of cheesiness, flakiness, and strawberry-ness? Or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[3,77,175,62],"tags":[79,73,78,110],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/communication-clients-01.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7FQPL-1oG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5378,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5374\/revisions\/5378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azoora.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}