In my post last week I wrote about difficult clients and how their behaviour is often linked back to poor communication, weak process or a designer not leading the project properly from the start.
(You can read last week's post here if you missed it)
In response to the newsletter I had a designer email me with a client story you will all likely relate to.
She said she had taken on a client who she already knew was going to be difficult. He was a strong character, so from day one she decided to manage him properly and keep him informed at every stage.
So she:
- sent a welcome pack
- created an kick off document laying out the entire project
- sent weekly Friday update emails
- included his wife in all correspondence and meetings.
Basically, she did all the things I am always recommending you do.
But a few weeks into the project she sat down at a client meeting and he told her he was "so confused and in the dark" and had "no clue what's happening" or what to expect.
She was completely taken aback because from her side she had been more diligent with this client than normal and felt she was almost over communicating.
But after asking a few questions, she realised what had happened.
He had not opened a single email she had sent him!!! 🙄
Her takeaway was simple and she put it better than I could.
Client communication needs to be received to be helpful.
You would think that goes without saying but it doesn't.
The good thing about her story is that she had everything in writing so she was completely protected if a dispute ever came up and he actually paid for the whole project upfront and never once gave her a payment issue. So it wasn't all bad. But she still spent weeks believing she was on top of things while her client sat at home feeling completely lost.
What this story demonstrates is you can have the best welcome pack in the world and send the best weekly updates but if the client doesn't read any of it you've still got a communication problem.
So a communication system needs to do more than just issue information, it also has to make sure that the messages are being received and understood. This is particularly for information that affect decisions, money, timelines, scope or approvals. For that you need some kind of acknowledgement loop.
For example at the end of your Friday email you might add at the end:
“I know you are busy so please just reply CONFIRMED so I know you have received today's update.”
Or:
“We need your written approval on this by Friday. If we do not receive approval, the ordering timeline will move.”
Some clients are not trying to be difficult. They are just busy, disorganised, skim things, miss things or assume they can catch up later.
If you have an acknowledgement sentence, even for updates that are FYI only, it means that if you have an update that isn't acknowledged you can safely assume they aren't reading the emails.
That then means you can course correct (by getting on the phone or setting up a meeting) and make sure you are all on the same page about project communication moving forward.
The annoying thing about people is that they will use their own lack of attention against you (especially the challenging personality types!).
They won't read emails then say they weren't told or they'll ignore your process and say they were confused or miss an approval deadline and act shocked when you have to move timelines.
This is why you need your communication process to protect the project and protect you.
So here's what I wrote back to this designer:
1: You did everything right and sometimes you can't help a person who isn't going to help themselves! It's always still worth sending everything and sticking to your process because the written documentation is good for risk protection.
2: You need to build client responsibility into the system from the start. For example, at onboarding don't just email the welcome pack and hope they read it. Set up an in person kick off meeting and walk through how communication will work, where updates will come from (and when), how often they will get them, which emails will require action and what happens if they don't respond (normally timeline affected). All of this should also be in your contract.
3: If a client tells you they feel out of the loop then sit down and reset with them. Remind them that the Friday Email is how you communicate and keep them updated throughout the project. Ask whether there is anything beyond that they would find useful e.g. a text or WhatsApp message when approvals are needed. The trick is to make a small change that helps him feel looked after without rebuilding your entire system around someone who can't be bothered to open your emails!!
4: For clients who seem difficult from the start I would also make your process more structured, not less.
Examples:
- Instead of sending your Friday email with the subject line "This week's project update", use the subject line: “Action required by Friday: Stone approval needed”
- Instead of burying action items at the bottom of your updates, put them right at the top in a summary or TL;DR section.
- Instead of assuming they understood, ask them to confirm using the language I've suggested above.
- Instead of saying “let me know your thoughts”, say “please choose option A or B by Thursday so we can proceed with ordering.”
Your job is to make the client’s role easy for them and that's a big part of what they are paying you for.
But sometimes you do all of this and the client is still a nightmare and there's genuinely nothing you can do about that. Some clients are just the pits!! The only real defence is spotting them before you sign and avoiding the project altogether.
This designer did nothing wrong, in fact she did everything right!! But the lesson I would take away is that your communication process should not rely on the client being organised or even interested in the project (as we all know, many of the husbands in a project really don't care until something goes wrong or starts to cost too much!! I know that sounds sexist but we all know it's true!!).
Always assume your clients are busy, distracted, overwhelmed and likely to miss things. So:
- Keep sending your Friday updates
- Label the action you need in the subject line
- Set a deadline for responses to things you need from them
- Ask for confirmation when it matters
- If that's not working sit them down and ask them what else could help at their end
- Record everything in writing for your own protection
Projects are a partnership and the clients have a lot of money on the line. In order for the project to be successful they have to participate and be involved! Sometimes reminding the client of this can also be helpful :)
