During your career as a designer, there will be certain times when clients will show less appreciation for the work you have done to them. In some instances, some clients will reject your work and even ask that you give them refunds. As a professional designer, these are normal occurrences, having in mind that design is a very subjective matter, where two people will always see the same thing differently.

What matters is your ability to win over the dejected client, and make them see and understand your vision so that they can approve your designs. This should not be a very difficult task if you have been in the industry for a while, but for the very new in design, here is what you should do when a client is not convinced with your design:

Confidence is important

In the face of rejection by a client, you must keep you head high with the full confidence knowing you are the professional and you’ve got things under control. Any sign of lack of confidence will only cement your client’s fears about your incompetence, and it will be very difficult to win them over again.

In all your explanation to the client, maintain your sharpness, speak with a strong but gentle voice, and make the client believe that you indeed know what you are talking about and that they are in safe hands when dealing with you. If you can prove to the client that you are confident, they will have faith in you and be convinced that you have what it takes to do the job.

Explain your thought process

A client is likely to disagree with your piece of work if they don’t understand how you did what you did. To overcome this, all you need to do is to explain to them your thought process in simple terms. You don’t have to go deep into the technicalities of the design to achieve this. The best approach is to refer to the project brief, and then tell the client what you did according to their initial requirements.

When you do this, you will be throwing the ball back to their court by showing them that you did exactly what they asked you to do. For instance, if they are worried about your choice of fonts and colors, refer them back to their target audience then justify your use of the various fonts and colors in the design.

Give them examples to back your arguments

The other way of convincing a client and making them believe in your design is to show them some of your past works that were applauded by other clients. If it is a design concept you can’t agree on, look for other great designs that used the same concept to show them that you are really on the right track, and there is no cause for alarm.

This will make you appear more legitimate and as someone who understands what he is doing. If they can have past references in this manner, it will be easy for them to trust you and accept your designs.

Give assurance and guarantees

Client rejections are likely to ensue whenever your skills and expertise is in doubt by the client. To overturn this, all you have to do is to prove that you are indeed a professional with the capability of producing a good design. You do this by giving them assurance that you will use all your skills, experience and expertise to do whatever it takes to deliver a great product. Also, open up to them and tell them that you will offer revisions until they are fully satisfied with the design. When they are assured of the services they will be getting from you, their chances of rejecting your design will be very low.

Offer them options – theirs and yours

In instances when you encounter very rigid clients who want you to implement their designs to the tee even if you know very well that it won’t be the correct thing to do, simply give in but offer them two options. Design what they want using their skewed concept then design your own, taking into account all the professional consideration they refused to take in, then show them both designs. In this case, they will feel in control and at the same you shall have shown them your vision, and it will be easier for them to adopt you design once they see their flaws.

Learn how to pick your battles wisely

You should remember that you will not always win such battles with clients. Know that you are being paid to do what the client wants. Offer your professional opinions diligently and respectfully and try as much as possible to please the client. But also know when to take a step back and let the clients have their way.

Keep our top tips for satisfying tough clients in mind to guide you further! 

The post What to Do When a Client Is Not Happy With Your Design appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Long lasting relationships with clients is the fuel your business needs to ensure longevity. By providing real-world value to their issues and meeting their demands prompting, effectively and affordably, you will have the keys to their hearts, not just making them repeat clients, but raving fans for your brand that will also be interested in seeing you grow so that they can continue to associate with your business. Here are some tips whic explains how to maintain clients

If forging lasting relationship with clients were something easy, then all business would now be enjoying the joy that comes with having huge base of loyal clients. Unfortunately, this is not the case as lots of business still struggle to attract customers, let alone enjoy good relationship with the few they already have. But this is not to allude that any business cannot have the ability to form such admirable bond with their clients.

All you have to realize is that it takes concerted effort, a significant amount of time and an ingenuity of tact to get your customers on your side. Presented here are a few tips to help you create a lasting relationship with your clients, irrespective of the business or the number of years you have been in operation.

Have proper and effective communication channels

Clients expect you to keep them informed at all times, and there is no such thing like over communicating. It is through communication that you give assurances to your clients, respond to their concerns, clear their doubts and make them trust you and your products. You, therefore, have to ensure that you have effective lines of communication that clients can use at any time they need to get in touch. Without this, having a lasting relationship with clients will remain a mirage.

Your goods or services must be of good quality

Ultimately, all the client is interested in is quality goods or services from you. This is the first thing you have to provide them with. Every other thing is a side show, and you won’t manage to forge lasting relationship with clients if your goods and services are not of superior quality.

Always be a useful resource

Clients need nothing from you other than what you have to offer to meet their various needs. The more value you can give to them, the more useful they will find you and consequently, you will not struggle to form a lasting relationship with clients.

You must be honest at all times

You will never have lasting relationship with clients unless there is honesty between both parties, especially starting with you. You should be truthful to the client at all times and never be tempted to lie so as to manipulate a sale or gain advantage of any kind. If you try to do this, and the client realizes you will not only lose them but also dent the image of your business if the details of your dishonesty see the light of the day.

It is imperative to meet deadlines

Clients appreciate timely delivery of services and also goods. It gives them value for their time and money hence, if you are interested in creating lasting relationship with clients, then you will have every reason to respect all the agreed deadlines.

Reward loyal people

People feel good when they are appreciated, and you show them that they mean something more to you. When you reward a client, you are telling them that it is not just about their money and your services alone, but you value the fact that they have chosen to work with you. The result will be a strong, lasting relationship with them.

World class customer experience

You should treat your customers like real people and not just numbers you need to grow your business. It is imperative that you become very polite and humble, always showing tender care and affection when interacting with them. Treat them the way you would like to be treated with you deal with other businesses.

Offer stable pricing structures

Having fluctuating prices for your goods and services is the fastest way to close shop. You need to have a stable pricing structure that is dependable enough for the customers to rely on if you want to create a lasting relationship with clients.

Positive body language

Communication is 20% verbal and 80% body language. You must thus be cognizant of your body language whenever you are communicating with the clients. Show them confidence and most importantly that you care. If they feel that you are speaking without any interest, they will also not have any interest to do business with you and you won’t manage to build that lasting relationship with clients.

Learn to say thank you

Apart from offering rewards to loyal clients, learn to thank them whenever you are done serving them or after you complete their projects. Simply say “Thank you” or send them a Thank You note thanking them for choosing to work with you. Without sounding desperate, tell them that it was an honor for you to serve them and you are ready for their next task.

Use these tips and you will find how easy it is to have lasting relationships with people in your business.

The post How To Maintain Clients appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Listen! Listen! Listen!

Listening is one of the most important elements of creating successful logo designs for your clients. In order to make sure that you can produce great work for a business it’s very important that you take the time to gather all of the information nd answers for some important questions to ask clients before logo design that you need to produce a successful logo design. Asking the right questions up front can save you countless hours of revision as well as make sure that your client gets a high converting logo that speaks directly to their target market.

Why did you create your business?

Asking a business owner why they are in business and how their organization formed can be a particularly important answer because it can help you to understand their vision and their corporate culture. Getting to the heart of what a business owner wants out of their business and why the company exists will help you to generate some quality logo ideas to help you build an image that will express why the company is in business from a visual perspective.

With your current resources what does your brand focus on?

If a business is just starting to expand it can be really difficult to create a focus for a particular brand. A good way to design a logo is to design it based off of the current specifications of a business. Organizations will often have a number of different goals for expansion but if a brand has an unfocused business direction it can lead to an extremely complicated logo that makes it difficult to showcase what the company does to fill a customer’s needs. Getting to the root of what a company owner wants their Brand to focus on can help you to identify various elements that you can focus on for the creation of the logo. To help a business owner to better communicate their needs for this question you could have them list down their top five goals and then rank each of the goals based off of the chance of achieving it with their current resources in the next year. By finding out the top goals of an utmost importance that are achievable you can focus in on the elements that will make up the current branding of the company.

What makes your company unique to your largest customers?

Large customers in any company have the option to turn to competitors in order to gain new advantages. Most companies will often have a number of large clients that keep them in business and help them to continue expanding. Thinking on the types of important strategic benefits that a company can actually provide for large clieat every designer should be asking their clients before even starting a designnts and their most loyal clients can help a company order to start understanding their target audiences and the various focal points and advantages that their service or company can offer to that target market. Answering how well an organization can meet the needs of its clients and with what resources will help you to define what makes a company unique. Understanding the unique selling point of a company can help you to add it into the branding.

Who is your target market?

Many early companies will often respond that everyone is their target market and that they are trying to target the widest possible net of people with their branding. The truth is that not everyone will love the logo that you come up with and although a company may want their branding to appeal to a wide audience it’s important that you focus in on some of the most loyal customers that the company has had thus far. By allowing the client to focus in on some of their most valuable customers and the demographics that they fall within its possible that you can start to understand the target market that you are preparing branding for. Overall, the logo and branding that you create should appeal to the target market mostly. A common rule in business that you may have heard is that 20% of a clients customers often contribute to 80% of their business. Marketing the branding to this 20% will ensure a steady stream of loyal clients through the branding that you create.

What is the big picture for your logo, branding & design?

Asking the client about some big picture concepts further logo can help you to gauge roughly the type of style that they are looking for. Think about the current business environment, their competitors, cultural trends, technology trends and new design solutions for a logo design. If you can consider all of these influences and bring them into a discussion about the big picture style for a logo or the places your client wants to use their logo you can start to picture your designs and how they will be effective for your client.

Keep these questions in mind and make sure that you avoid common logo design mistakes by reading through our Logo design mistake tips blog.

The post 5 Important Questions to Ask Clients Before Logo Design appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

If you are working in the design and development industry it’s very important to note that you will regularly face a number of very difficult clients. Difficult clients are part of owning your own business or working as a freelancer but they can also be one of the most trying aspects of any job. When it comes to satisfying a tough client there are some strategies that you can use to have a much easier time and to alleviate some of their concerns.

If you have ever had a client relationship or you simply can’t make a customer satisfied it’s important not to lose your motivation for work. Sticking to a particular strategy and using these top tips can help you deal with the most difficult people and to make sure that you can make it through any project with the potential to salvage a review and get paid the full amount. Keep these top tips in mind when trying to sort through conflicts with your toughest clients.

The power of listening:

Part of the reason your designs may continue to get rejected is because you aren’t hearing the clients needs successfully. Any designer needs to know the project indefinitely to provide a quality product. From a sales perspective you need to gather the information that you can and come across in understanding manner to your client as well. Even though it can be very tempting to yell at a difficult customer or lose your temper you have to let them express their needs. Listening builds trust and rapport and also makes sure that you can prepare to fill the needs of your client no matter how difficult.

Showcase empathy to the client:

If you are meeting with the client for a design make sure that you can demonstrate your empathy through genuine concern and eye contact. Make it clear that you understand our concerns and repeat back what they need. The same strategy can be used in e-mails by being sure to repeat some of the requirements back to your client to show that they are being listened to and understood.

Don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong:

Often if you are able to grant an agreement to difficult customer or admit when they accuse you of wrongdoing this will lead to an unexpected openness. With a bit of agreement it’s possible that you could work towards a future of positive negotiations by showing the client that they are right. Just like any other customer service position you need to remember that the customer is always right. When you are a freelancer or working one-on-one with a client you have to remember that they are your paycheck and sometimes admitting some fault can help you to dive into some deeper issues and show the customer that you are still very much on their side rather than being defensive.

Remember that it’s not a personal matter:

Dealing with an unsatisfied customer isn’t usually because the customer doesn’t like you directly. There are many designers did take criticism as a personal attack but it is important to note that her rejected design or a client that demands constant revisions is simply looking for the best work possible. Any designer needs to stick with the facts and not take any type of feedback as a slight against their ability or themselves. While artists put a piece of themselves into everything that they do it’s important to remember that with design satisfying the client is what gets you paid! Try not to take a tough client personally and remember to approach every client differently with regards to their requirements.

When all else fails take the hit:

If there is no way that you can work with a difficult client the amount of extra time that you have to spend working on their project and satisfying them is going to end up costing you money when compared to easier projects. Don’t be afraid to cut your losses if the extra stress of dealing with a particular client greatly outweighs the revenue that it brings into your company. This is a worst-case scenario that often doesn’t happen and you should by no means use cutting a customer loose as a viable option for a first step.

Have a specific plan:

A tough client is bound to get tougher when you simply provide them with estimations rather than exact measurements. When it comes to concerns for timeline, what your design team might be doing or updates on their project you need to have some exact answers or a specific plan in mind for what you might say to a client. Brushing the client off, giving them broad generalizations for time estimates or updates or having zero time to address their concerns can only make a difficult customer more irate.

Even when addressing complaints it’s important to ask for specific examples of what the client found wrong with your service so that you can improve not only their project but for the future of your services as well. Ask them specifically which problems need to be addressed to fix their situation or their design and then establish a plan and a timeline that has facts and figures behind it rather than generalizations. With this type of planning and listening you can alleviate a client’s concerns.

Keep these top tips in mind for dealing with difficult clients!

Learn about some important questions you can ask a client to make sure they get what they want, here!

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