𝑰𝒕❜𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕. 𝑰𝒕❜𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒊𝒕❜𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅.
I'm currently working on two projects at work for clients and I was thinking about them both this morning after dealing with both of them and how very different they are in terms of their communication style and general work demeanour.
The one client is extremely critical and inspects absolutely everything with a fine tooth comb. I have had to go through four rounds of revisions up to this point and I expect there to be at least two or three more before this brief is signed off. It's not out of a lack of workmanship on my part. Originally, the brief that they sent me was extremely vague and didn't provide much "meat" or substance for me to work with. I had to provide my own example copy to prompt them where we needed to extrapolate or expand and I also think they felt rather overwhelmed at the beginning of the project. I broke it down into sections for them so that we could move it forward one step at a time to make them more comfortable and the process seem easier.
Once they grasped that concept, I could tell that their confidence was growing and they took more of the reigns from me in steering the steps. I do this slowly on purpose so that they feel empowered and can make decisions on their own without having to continually seek external input.
The other set of clients are completely the opposite and simply wanted me to drive the entire process from the start with no real brief being provided at all. I had to ask a variety of probing questions to flesh out the framework in my mind and then translate that into a proposal which I am not actually even sure if they read entirely. They simply want the project done and are not particularly fussy as they are more deadline driven than brief driven at the moment. The fact that I put a lot of thought and effort into my work means that I always do the first round of quality control myself before it gets passed to management and there are not very many changes that come from that (on average), so when the client receives the first round of work for approval, it tends to be close to the required standard anyway.
Even though I work for a relatively small company, they are well known by their previous clients and associates for good quality work standards and customer satisfaction. This takes effort, patience and attention to detail. My manager understands that and would prefer work to take slightly longer to ensure that we are delivering what the customer wants instead of giving them sub-par products that are on time. Meeting the deadline means very little if the product is inferior.
Working with a range of people who have different ideas and ways of interacting is a fascinating part of my job and I've learned so much in the process. It has helped me to be prepared for any type of product specification, various personality traits, communication types and I adjust my style of approach to best fit them. That way, I know that at the end of a project timeline they will leave happy and I will be satisfied too knowing that I produced top notch work.
I still believe in the old adage "Customer is King" and my company's customers have put their faith in a reputable team.
I find the same thing with my clients. I've got a whole range of expectations and abilities on their part. Some tell me what they want and then are hands off as they know I'll deliver. Others, it seems, don't know what they want and there lots of doing and redoing. There're also the in-betweeners.
It's when I get a new client that I'm "lost" until I understand their style.
Hi @greensandpinks Thanks for coming by and your comment. I agree - the clients who don't know what they want will either just go with your suggestions or there will be a lot of revision. I don't mind the revisions, but it can get a bit frustrating when they request changes many times and it holds the whole project back.
Yeah I’ve been noticing the different types of clients now that I’m on the other side of that customer relationship and it’s tricky sometimes! Some customers want to drive everything while others want you to do all the work and it’s finding out what type they are in the early hours of interaction that can help drive things forward.
I as well would like to prefer to deliver something solid for them instead of suboptimal and precisely on time. Management doesn’t always see it that way which is tough, but some of them haven’t been on the customer side of the equation so that’s certainly an element.
It's always a good idea to get to know people because their personality is going to come through in their expectations as well, especially in a work scenario where you are providing a service or product.
Management can be full of funk like that, my previous manager was an absolute nightmare with unrealistic expectations, but it was all about driving her own personal agenda, had nothing to do with customers. Luckily I am now in a much better suited position with better people. I know what you mean, if they get out of touch with the customer satisfaction side of things, then it tends to go pear shaped at times, but sounds like you are in good hands. I haven't read you complaining about them, so it can't be bad.
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