Communicating with Clients

[Dave Buckley]

This isn’t so much of a direct question but I want to start a discussion.

 

How do you communicate to your clients how the project budget works so that they ‘get it’.

 

Because at the end of the day they can only have so much for their money right? Before they need to pay extra.

 

But how do you communicate that effectively to ensure projects stay on track and more importantly profitable.

 

I’m sure everyone has a different approach and i’m keen to here peoples thoughts.

 

I hear the same things so often regarding endless changes, information coming to light mid project that wasn’t available at the start, which ultimately results in people working on something much longer than initially intended and very often at a personal cost. And just general ‘scope creep’.

[Chris Harris]

Fabio Palvelli posted this a week ago...might help some.

 

[Dave Buckley]

Thanks. I was actually talking to Fabio last night about this very thing. I’m not really looking for help with it as such.

 

I just had to have a chat with a client about it recently which triggered the question. I had to communicate to him what that initial budget covers and why/when he should expect to be charged more. Whether I went about it the right way is anyones guess hence why i’m interested to hear general opinions and approaches from people

[James Vella]

I like to give my clients a very basic Overview and Terms & Conditions so its understandable:

 

Overview:

- You will be provided X images

- It will cost you X amount

- This is the timeline required for X amount of images

 

Terms & Conditions:

- Shorter deadlines require X amount of additional $

- You will be given X amount of Markups

- Markups do not include Design changes - if you request a blue round building and the design has changed to a red square building this is a design change and will be considered a variation to the $

- Any design changes that are altered after the work has began is considered a variation to the $

 

Usually this solves most of my issues and allows me to charge for information provided after the request. It also puts the onus on the client to ensure they provide you what they need without fluffing about thinking they can give it to you at a later point without affecting either the budget or the timeline (which also affects budget).

 

This is not a blanket rule, I am usually more lenient with longer term clients who I have established relationships (and know they pay well or promptly) or in situations where the design is the process, not essentially the final result. Its just a guide that helps establish some rules and seems to work for me.

[heni30]

Some clients are serial offenders; if they can get renderings at the design development stage they WILL take advantage of the situation and use you as a design tool. I've fired a couple of clients because of this, but as James has mentioned if rules are clearly stated in the beginning and brought up promptly when issues arise - the key word being communication - problems and misunderstandings will hopefully be kept to a minimum.

[Dave Buckley]

Some clients are serial offenders; if they can get renderings at the design development stage they WILL take advantage of the situation and use you as a design tool. I've fired a couple of clients because of this, but as James has mentioned if rules are clearly stated in the beginning and brought up promptly when issues arise - the key word being communication - problems and misunderstandings will hopefully be kept to a minimum.

 

100% and this is my point, I fully appreciate communication and clear understanding before you even turn your computer on is key. But how do you communicate it to them - James has pretty much nailed it with his approach and it's very similar to mine. Anybody have a different approach?

 

James - one thing you mention is design changes - let's say the client wants to make a design change, you still have budget/time left from the original budget. Do you give them the option? i.e. you can pay more now for that design change or we can take it out of existing budget but you're likely to get charged more later down the line?

[James Vella]

James - one thing you mention is design changes - let's say the client wants to make a design change, you still have budget/time left from the original budget. Do you give them the option? i.e. you can pay more now for that design change or we can take it out of existing budget but you're likely to get charged more later down the line?

 

Im not really sure what you mean by this, if you have budget left then why would they need to pay more later down the line?

 

I just try to simplify things as if I was the owner of a restaurant (and imagine the client writes down their order on paper for reference):

- Client orders a blueberry muffin, so they pay for what that is worth and they get their muffin.

- If now they change their mind and want a drink of coke instead, they can keep their muffin and I charge them for the drink (they pay for both).

- If they ordered a coke and I gave them a muffin by mistake, they pay for the coke, muffin is for free.

 

I always like to give them 2x markups for free so in that case there's always some leeway in regards to their order (I would refer to this as the remaining budget/time):

- Markup 1# Here is your blueberry muffin, Did you want Whipped Cream or Melted Chocolate on top? Lets say they choose Melted Chocolate

- Markup 2# In this situation I just put it on top without asking details, and provide it to them. But what they expected was the chocolate in the shape of a Smile on top, well thats ok, the chocolate cost me the least amount here its not like I have to make a new muffin, so ill take it back to the kitchen and make the chocolate into a smile on the muffin.

- Markup 3# Ok now we want whipped cream and chocolate, ok well no problem - the Cream is an extra $0.30, we dont change the muffin, the chocolate stays and we just add a bit of cream (because this is an addition to the original order with their 2 free markups)

 

Its true 3D is not always as clear cut as this but it can be if you take a little extra time and write down and track your changes 1 by 1, your wallet will thank you for it later and your clients will prepare themselves better (get the additional information so they dont have to pay for 3 orders when they could have just thought about what they really want at the start). Again, Im not a complete hard ass and some things I let slip if its in a grey area at the end of a project and has less potential to effect other areas (such as the Smile on with the Chocolate).

 

What is left from my budget if not for the clients use, this is generally to cover:

- Additional expenses required for a project that was not budgeted for ("ah shit my mistake")

- New Assets required for future jobs (clients want the work to get better not remain the same or get worse)

- R&D for new methods, again for better work

- Self reward - you managed to do all of this, your business model is working, your doing better than you were before (R&D/new assets working in your favor), give yourself a break and enjoy a week in the Bahamas.

Edited July 20, 2018 by redvella

[Dave Buckley]

Sure, what I meant was, you're 3 days into your 10 day budget. Client asks for something beyond the initial scope. Let's say it will take 2 days to incorporate that change into the work.

 

You can either bill them for the extra 2 days, or you can take it out of the remaining 7, leaving 5 days.

 

A lot of clients looks at it like this. This is fine, if you complete the rest of the project in those 5 days. But if you don't then they'll have to pay for anything beyond those 5 days (most likely).

 

So they either pay now for those changes or later.

 

I agree it's not quite that clear cut, and I'm like you, I'm lenient dependant on the severity/impact of the change. But I'll often pre warn the client, that 'they're eating into remaining budget' if I spend time working on that new request and it may impact what we can complete in the time frame.

[M V]

Have an iron clad contract - SIGNED - before starting the work. When scope creep begins to pop up its dirty little headcommunicate (on the phone is best as emails can be misread sometimes) that this is out of the original scope and will either cost X or we can use the time it takes and trim back other portions of the original agreement (e.g. take out a view or less revision changes (usually 2-3). I don't want them to think I am nickle and diming them, but at the same time, as mentioned earlier, some clients will take advantage of seeing their project in 3D and turn an illustration into a design exercise - which is fine, but that would turn into an hourly service. I have no problem helping a client envision their ideas, but I do need to be paid for my time. This is completely reasonable and any client that doesn't think that is going to be a bad client.

Edited July 20, 2018 by matthewvalero

[James Vella]

Sure, what I meant was, you're 3 days into your 10 day budget. Client asks for something beyond the initial scope. Let's say it will take 2 days to incorporate that change into the work.

 

You can either bill them for the extra 2 days, or you can take it out of the remaining 7, leaving 5 days.

 

A lot of clients looks at it like this. This is fine, if you complete the rest of the project in those 5 days. But if you don't then they'll have to pay for anything beyond those 5 days (most likely).

 

So they either pay now for those changes or later.

 

I agree it's not quite that clear cut, and I'm like you, I'm lenient dependant on the severity/impact of the change. But I'll often pre warn the client, that 'they're eating into remaining budget' if I spend time working on that new request and it may impact what we can complete in the time frame.

 

I understand you now. Yes then I agree with your method, letting them know ahead of time about the impact of the changes is great and I am sure they appreciate the information. Sounds like you got it pretty well sorted mate.

 

Regarding your original question about scope creep, in my opinion - you win some you lose some. Some clients (and projects) are worth it and some are not. Those that are I try to keep them well informed and hopefully a great relationship comes from this. If my bills are paid and Im doing what I enjoy then Im ok with the ups and downs.

 

Also, if I get a job that looks potentially like it could blow out or is not really my interest, I like to keep a network of colleagues who might be interested in taking the job on instead and outsource it to them and take a finders fee - of course I keep my colleague informed about my decisions so they are not given the short stick.

[Dave Buckley]

Regarding your original question about scope creep, in my opinion - you win some you lose some. Some clients (and projects) are worth it and some are not. Those that are I try to keep them well informed and hopefully a great relationship comes from this. If my bills are paid and Im doing what I enjoy then Im ok with the ups and downs.

 

Me too, exactly my attitude, but there's still a limit before I think they're taking liberties

[M V]

Me too, exactly my attitude, but there's still a limit before I think they're taking liberties

 

I'd say most clients in the design/construction field will be this way by nature. The best you can do is get some clauses in your contract up front to limit freebies, let some slide as good business, and if they are getting out of control try a phone call to mitigate it. If none of these are working with a certain client - cut them loose as they do not respect your time, work and professionalism.