Something we as a designer or developer will come across many times, educate your client but don’t insult them! Now I am lucky I have a teacher for a wife so I have seen a few things that she does when talking to students or parents. First we must understand our client, most don’t know the web like we do. They may not spend every day and every hour online looking at new things and finding ways to make the web better. If they do then you will not have this problem!
Our client is our life, they pay the bills that help me pay my bills, and they are your money. So why do we sometimes get so mad over them creeping on scope and such? Well from our point of view they are trying to get all they can without paying for it, and from our point of view that is bugging us because they are making us work twice as hard for less pay. But take a look at this, what do you expect? They are a business owner and they got there by doing what needs to be done. That’s what makes the world go around! So how do we stop the dreaded scope creep, or even better how do I stop it?
Every client of mine receives a bill for every hour I work of the project, nothing goes unbilled. After meeting with the client and finding there needs I began work on a requirements document. The client will sign off on this document after reviewing it. Nothing out side of this document will be built, so per say the client calls asking for something that is not in the document. I handle this by looking over the document and seeing what category it will fit in with such as back-end, front-end and such. After that I will add this to the document, re quote the project with the added feature and send it off to the client. Once the client sends the ok, I will continue with the project. Something you will learn with most business owners is that they don’t mind paying for something as long as they know the cost upfront. You will run across some exceptions but for the most part you will have no big deals. As I said, nothing goes unbilled and the client knows the cost of the project the whole time.
Your client will then thank you in the end and know exactly what they are getting, with no questions about how long it will take and why it will take that long and what is the price? Also keeping an open dialog with your client, don’t shut them out after the first meeting! Offer suggestions on how thing could be done, why not? It’s your paycheck! Keeping in contact with your client will help with trust and letting you make the call in the end. Educate your client on the web, and how things move today. Listen to what your client is asking for, they may just want something simple that sounds hard to them. Did I say listen to your client? That part is key, in keeping a good business going. Your client will tell the truth about you, just ask them “How am I doing?”. Most will tell you, and you may be shocked!
Like I said educate your client keep in close contact with them, they will love the work you do for them and in turn you will have much more business by referral. One good client could land you a very big job. Like I said, your clients are your life, without them you have no money or a job for that matter!
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