Working with Clients - Watch out for Back-Seat Driving
“I really like [competitor]’s website. Can you do a test using a design like theirs?”
“I read in an article that [x] increases conversions. Can you set up that test please?”
Your client is all that matters - that’s true. It’s important that they have a sense of control in order to maintain a long-lasting relationship with mutual trust. But keep one thing in mind:
Your client hired you to begin with because they believe your expertise will help them achieve a certain goal that they wouldn’t be able to achieve without you.
At the end of the day, all that matters is the result - a higher conversion rate, more traffic, more followers, etc. Both you and your client want to hit the goals more than anything.
But they hired you because you know how_ _to best achieve that goal, not them.
It’s very common for clients to make requests. If they want their tests to match their site or use a certain style, for example, that’s reasonable. We’ll gladly accommodate any request that isn’t out of the scope of the project and won’t hurt our margins on that project.
In any engagement you are ultimately in the driving seat but it’s important that your client has a say in things, because your work shouldn’t go against their company’s vision or negatively affect other aspects of the business.
But be careful just how often you let that happen. You need to set expectations and ground-rules before you start the engagement, and to make sure it’s a good fit.
When I first got into this business 5 years ago, I often let the client steer the project’s direction too much, to the point where they basically were making most of the decisions as to how we will achieve the goal of an increased conversion. The problem with this is that eventually, the results were influenced by the client more than they were influenced by me. My expertise ends up having less and less influence on results, and I ended up simply being the guy that executed the client’s action plan.
It’s obvious why this is not good, but there’s something even worse that tends to happen. If the results are not good, it’s common that the client will blame** you **for the lack of results, even though it was mostly due to their ‘requests’ or changes to the project.
So remember - the client knows more about their business than you do - but that doesn’t mean that you should let them take the wheel completely. Listen to their opinions. Take them seriously. But if you disagree with something, make sure to be clear and blunt in your communication as to why you don’t think it’s a good idea based on your expertise. And make sure to be up front about your plan of execution, and justify every decision so that they believe in those decisions as much as you do. _If you _truly think the client is pushing you into a direction that can hurt results, don’t go out of your way to avoid debates and arguments. They are uncomfortable, but almost always end with a resolution, and often end up building more trust, as long as your are truly looking out for the best interest of your clients.
Just my two cents.
Would love to hear about some experiences you guys have had like this, or any thoughts on this in the comments!
