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(Brent) #1
I can make
you happier...

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Clients from hell


clientsfromhell.net


I’m a 26-year-old male designer. I was
making some new branding for a new
client – who, for the record, was a 45-year-old
man. The work was all fairly straightforward –
things like business cards, comp slips and a
letterhead – but the client insisted we meet for
coffee before I started. He seemed polite and
his request was reasonable so I agreed to meet.
After we talked for 15 minutes about the
work, he started asking about my personal life:
Client: How long have you lived in the city?
Any wife or kids?
Me: I’ve lived here for three years. I used to
live around the countryside but there is not a lot
of work outside of cities. I don’t have a wife or
kids, but I do live with my boyfriend and we have
a dog and two cats.
Client: Exciting! Well if your partner is as
attractive as you then you’re both lucky men.
Me: That’s very kind of you to say. Thank you.

I tried to divert the conversation back to work
but he kept on bringing up gay topics and asking
about my personal life. After being there for 45
minutes, we finally got to the end of our meeting
and parted ways. I received an email from him
before I even got to my car.
Client: It was VERY nice meeting you, and I
really felt a good chemistry between us. If
you’re ever in the city again, I’d happily invite
you into my private room. I believe I could make
you feel things you’ve never felt before.
I did not reply to his email. I completed the
work and sent it to him in a timely manner, along
with an invoice. He paid promptly, adding a 50%
bonus but including a note:
Client: I can make you happier.

UNWANTED ADVANCES


CLIENTS FROM HELL

Exclusively for net: The latest in a series of anonymous
accounts of nightmare clients

We asked @netmag’s Twitter
followers for their tips on dealing
with feedback from non-designers.
@_csilverman offers the following
useful pointers.

FIND THE PROBLEM
The core, underlying question to be
asking isn’t “What details are they
asking me to change?” but “What
problem are they asking me to
fix?” My last boss – after years of
extensive back-and-forths with
clients – gave clients an exercise:
come up with a list of words
that represented what they
wanted. Then we’d work with them
until consistencies began to
emerge. We got really good results
from this.

GET TO THE HEART OF IT
Benefit of the doubt is huge:
overlook awkward language or
impractical suggestions and try to
decipher what they’re really
responding to. “Can we make the
entire header an animated GIF?” is
probably not a good idea – maybe
what they really want is a more
engaging design in general.

MIND YOUR EGO
I’m also working on ego control:
remembering that my work
reflects the client on a personal/
professional level. Push back on
damagingly bad ideas – stuff
that’s legitimately ugly, broken or
confusing – but remember that
what you think they should want
isn’t always true to what they
actually need.

HANDLE


FEEDBACK FROM


NON-DESIGNERS


HOW TO
Free download pdf