Efficient ways to communicate with clients (Full Version)

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_gail -> Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/10/2002 12:36:12)

To date, most of my clients live several hundred to several thousands of miles away from me. So we communicate via email and, when possible, by phone. Sometimes the amount of email back and forth can be numerous, lengthy and, as a result, time consuming.

Any tips as to how to be more efficient communicating with a client? For example, I provide the client with a several page questionnaire to fill out before I give a quote. Still, lots of emailing.

Is there an " art" to this that I have not yet discovered, or is it just a fact of web design life?

thanks, gail



Thomas Brunt -> RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/10/2002 15:28:34)

I no longer do full-blown projects, but I used to. " Phase 2" was always quite helpful for me in minimizing client communication issues. " Phase 2" is the place I would always strongly suggest we put any idea that was at all complex and not completely essential to the success of the project. " Phase 2" is a lovely imaginary project where you can put all kinds of wild stuff. I never had a client choose to go to phase 2 for a couple of reasons. 1 was that the client was making that decision while owning a site that met her/his original business objectives. The other reason was that Phase 2 gets billed on a time-and-materials basis where every phone converstion and email costs something.

I think a lot of web developers tend to shy away from making suggestions that will lower the total dollar value of the project. I think that' s usually a mistake for all concerned. The more complex a project is, the more unbilled time you will have revising work in which you did what the client said as opposed to what the client meant. You could wind up with a project where you made $2 per hour or less when you count your total hours. I' ve seen it happen. It' s bad enough that you do all that work for no money, but you also get tied up so that you' re not available to do other profitable projects when they come along.

A customer in a shoe store is always right. A client of a consultant is a client specifically because she/he lacks expertise in the area at hand. The client is often wrong. It' s the consultant' s job to show the client the light. Simplification is something you can effectively sell. It appears to make you less money, but it almost always makes you more.

I' ve heard some developers say that a particular client doesn' t want to be shown the light. I' ve dealt with a number of those, but I always stick to my guns. An unsuccessful project is not going to generate referrals no matter how nice the Web developer was to the client. A successful project is a great addition to your portfolio regardless of whether or not the client felt she/he was treated like royalty throughout the process.

t



abbeyvet -> RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/10/2002 15:57:02)

I would agree with a lot of what Tom says. I would usually respond to outlandish/excessive/crazy requests by saying that they were a great idea and we would look at them when the site was more mature - never gave it the name phase 2 but I think I will. [:D]

I set up a little mini site for each client. It is actually just a folder with a standard set of pages in it that I reproduce for copy and rename for each client and containing the following pages:

index
contact
terms
agreement_form
transactions
Sundry thank you and error pages.

Names should be self explanatory - the transactions page sets up links to a payment processor for the various stages.

In each of those pages I have " insert client name" at various points of the page and I just do a search and replace for them and there it is - a personalised minisite in minutes. Obviously the agreement needs a little editing to get the particulars of each project in and the payments will vary a bit and have to be set up. But really it takes only minutes.

Then I post all work in progress to that minisite and take comments using the form there. I used to have all the comments posted to a html page, and my replies also, which meant the entire correspondance was there for both of us to see but I stopped using FP forms so I don' t do that now.

I also tend to set deadlines - posted prominently on the main page, such as the date by which approval of the template is expected, copy to be delivered and so on. As they are reached they are ' ticked off' by being recolored in grey. Seems to focus the client rather than have them ' thinking' without a framework to think against.

One way or another there is going to be a fair volume of correspondance and it is going to take time to deal with. This really needs to be costed in to your quote.



Richard Dudley -> RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/11/2002 12:32:40)

Something that might make life a lot easier is the SharePoint Team Services included in FP 2002. You' ll need an SP-enabled host, but they are quite groovy, and include document libraries, discussiuon boards, contacts, links, etc.



_gail -> RE: RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/20/2002 17:18:28)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Richard Dudley

Something that might make life a lot easier is the SharePoint Team Services included in FP 2002.


Richard,

I have no idea what this is even with a read of FP2002 help files. Is it like PC Anywhere?

thanks, gail



Reflect -> RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/21/2002 8:01:03)

Left field view.

I have used Net Meeting for issues like this. I did a B2B site around a year ago for a lady in Texas. We set up, in advance, a meeting time once a week for one hour. We mutually agreed unless it was an emergency that no e-mail thoughts would be sent, only addressed in the meeting. Didn' t stop all the e-mails but they were far and few in-between. Both of us were on cable so it worked pretty nicley.

Brian



_gail -> RE: RE: Efficient ways to communicate with clients (9/21/2002 8:39:40)

quote:

ORIGINAL:

I have used Net Meeting for issues like this.


Brian, can you tell me a little more about this? It' s something I' ve always wanted to learn to use (primarily between family members) but not sure how to go about it except through ils servers. [:o] No thank you. My first experience was a shocker and haven' t really pursued using NM since then. I would never introduce a client, family member or friend to that world.

I' ve never tried msn.net though.

I think there is a way to meet using a unique ID found on each others computer. You can find that ID with Net Meeting, but not sure I fully understand how to connect.

Also, how effective is NM if your client is on a dial-up aka s-l-o-w connection?

thanks, gail






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