 HOW TO REALLY PARTNER WITH YOUR CLIENT

 lasting partnerships.
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 1. Collaborative discovery

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 One way of including the client more is to blur the lines between agency and client, and
collaborate with them as much as possible, right from the start.
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 “We treat our clients as partners — we don’t like being called vendors because we see it as a
truly collabotive partnership where we are both mutually invested,”.
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 a very efficient way to get everybody on the same page.”
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 “We want our clients to see us as an extension of their team, not as an outside partner,”
he explains.
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 To achieve this, the Ueno team tries as possible to work in the same physical locations,
communicate daily, and use the same communication tools as their clients do.

 “We also make sure we do non-work things together, we get to know them as individuals,
building trust and friendship along the way,”
 “Let them ask questions, ponder the different solutions, sketch, try things out, and iterate,” she
suggests. “The traditional pitch process — you go away and design things to unveil — doesn't
work well for this because your process is opaque to your clients. I'm a big believer in
learning by doing, and nothing has worked better for client bonding than getting into a
room full of whiteboards and post-its together.”
 Evgenia adds that another useful tool is to practice documenting assumptions and product
questions.
 Let them ask questions, ponder the different solutions, sketch, try things out, and iterate.
 Evgenia Grinblo, UX lead at Future Workshops
 “The ability to make an assumption and set it aside, without letting it block you from creativity,
allows clients to practice being comfortable with the unknown, which is what design is all
about.”
 “I take a strong stance that my teams never ‘educate’ our clients,” she argues.
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 like ‘collaborate’ sets the tone of superior positioning. Our clients are intelligent adults,
we share our knowledge with them, they share theirs with us. Our respective knowledge is an
exchange. Their strengths are not in our business, nor ours in their business, but one of

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 the most damaging precursors to any client relationship is the assumption that we must
‘educate’ them.”
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 “Not only should you be educating your client, you should strive to understand the issue
that led to them seeking you out, the results they desire, and how they expect to meet
them,” he recommends. “This gives you an opportunity to communicate how your work will
help them achieve those desired results.”

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 Trust, of course, is the foundation of a great client/agency relationship.  
 At the beginning, that trust must be earned on both sides, and that’s similar to the beginning
stages of any relationship with a new person, Evgenia Grinblo explains.
 “You must overcome gaps in terminology, expectations, and different past experiences,” she
warns. “Clients may not be used to your process or understand its benefits, and you may feel
like their questions about your way of working aim to criticize rather than learn. In the
beginning, there's a mix of excitement for a new partnership mixed with an equal amount of
lack of trust.”

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 “We want clients to feel absolutely safe in challenging us, asking questions, and requesting our
input,” clarifies director Dan McIvor. “But at the same time, we want to be free to express
when we think clients are missing an opportunity. You need trust for this to work well, and the
process of building trust usually starts off with discussing little things and then moving on to
larger opportunities.”
 Another way to build trust is to align expectations, which is also crucial for a good
business relationship.
 “A client usually hires you because you have experience or expertise that they lack,” explains
Bryce Bladon. “Typically, they may not understand what, exactly, they need from you or how
it can help them. They may have been burned by a freelancer in your field before, and as a
result, they’re suspicious of anyone practicing your craft — a bias that’s rooted in both
ignorance (of your craft) and experience.”
 Bryce adds that by taking the time to work out a client’s issue and the results that matter to
them, you can align expectations.
 “Likewise, if you’re taking the time to educate your clients on how your work addresses issues
and achieves meaningful results, their expectations are appropriately framed by what’s
possible,” he says. “People can be cagey about their ignorance, their budget, and their needs.
Taking the time to understand and address these issues not only aligns expectations, it builds
trust.”

 You might also like: 4 Quick Ways to Build Trust With a New Client.

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 3. Communication

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 One of the main challenges of a successful relationship with a client is communication.  You
need to get to a mutual understanding of what it is you are actually making. That, as Haraldur
Thorleifsson points out, is the first step in a successful project, but also sometimes one of the
hardest.
 Jaimee Newberry recommends to always listen first.
 “Then ask the right questions up front to learn where your customer is at, and what problems
they’re trying to solve,” she suggests. “Most of the time we think we’re communicating fine,
but most of the time we need to communicate ten times more than we are. Breakdown occurs
when clarity of vision is lost. Nine out of 10 times, any frustrations on either side occur
because we aren’t communicating with our clients enough.”
 Nine out of 10 times, any frustrations on either side occur because we aren’t communicating
with our clients enough.
 Jaimee Newberry, co-founder and CEO of Picture This Clothing

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 Newberry adds that if you communicate openly and discuss things up front, the client will
understand that projects will almost always require change from a concrete plan. They’ll also
realize that it’s okay to disagree with each other, as long as you can have a healthy dialogue
and come out with an understanding.
 User experience designer and strategist Gail Swanson agrees. Good communication starts right
at the beginning of any project.
 “People should do themselves a favor and prep for kickoffs by designing questions rather than
creating a deep post-sales approach deck,” she explains. “Make the most of that moment by
starting a conversation that produces shared understanding.”
 4. Customer lifetime value

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

 Whether you’re a freelancer or run a studio, it’s also important to focus on customer lifetime
value.
 “Your first project with a new client is the beginning of a new relationship, and thinking about
that relationship as a long-term opportunity will serve you well,” recommends writer, designer,
and speaker Christopher Murphy. “Rather than constantly focusing on finding new clients,
focus on looking after the clients you have.”

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 Rather than constantly focusing on finding new clients, focus on looking after the clients you
have.
 Christopher Murphy, writer, designer & speaker
 The majority of Christopher’s work comes from a small number of clients, broadly following
the Pareto Principle.
 “Eighty percent of my income comes from 20 percent of my clients,” he explains. “I focus on
ensuring the 20 percent are nurtured and looked after, and that has led — over the course of my
25-year career — to lots of happy clients and a steady income stream.”
 So, as it transpires, the best way to turn a client relationship into a long-lasting partnership is to
break down walls and start seeing the client as exactly that: a mutual partner.
 Try to find a shared understanding by discovering your common goals. What are you trying to
achieve? How will you know when you’ve achieved it? What would each of you like to
contribute?

 You might also like: Infographic: How To Build Long-Term Client Relationships.

 Change the way you build client relationships

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 “We can’t force people to see our perspective. But we do have a choice. It’s not compromise.
We’re not giving up our values, we’re putting them into practice by finding solutions that work
for everyone.”
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