Creative Killers
Pin ItIn doing creative work for over fifteen years, you run into all sorts of different types of people. You will have to apply your creativity to a wide variety of mediums and purposes over your life as a creative professional. So, it helps to know what types of clients will have you spending most of your time and money trying to please…at the expense of real growth in your firm. When you have to spend three times the amount of energy on a client who is not playing nice (for whatever reasons); it takes three times as much productivity out of your operations. That means…money.
That’s not to say that 99% of the clients I have worked for weren’t great. If you have any success, you know the type: Reasonable, professional human beings with an understanding that this is a team-process and they are members of that team. That’s how I would describe almost all my encounters with the scores of clients I have worked for. Most people understand that they are part of the team, but they hired you for your skills and will let you put them to the best use.
There are, however, the 1%. Let me introduce you to them and give you a way to combat each of them:
The enigma client: “I don’t know what I want but I know it when I see it”
The enigma client is a pain in the butt because they aren’t easy to please and can’t give you a good direction to go in. “It’s all up to you Sparky, make your best guess! Read my mind!” Clairvoyance is a common trait that you will have to develop if you want to work with this client.
Remedy: Most people aren’t trained in visual arts, communications, or in the field of expressing creative works. Their experience comes from consuming and responding to the works, not in creating them. So lighten up a little bit and guide them through the process. Get them to understand the proper terminology and concepts without being preachy-teachy and you won’t have this problem. Drop the jargon. No one knows what a “bleed” is but everyone knows you should leave a little on the edge so that the printer/cutter doesn’t hack off too much and make it look like crap. It’s hard to avoid industry language, but challenge yourself. And put yourself in the client’s shoes: They are scared shitless. This isn’t their bag, this is where they need help so don’t horrify your patient while they are on the table.
The duplicitous client: “I want what I don’t want”
The duplicitous client is always talking out of both sides of their mouth. They will tell you one thing, then take it back. Somewhere in their childhood they were hurt by a designer, and now they are going to take it out on you by getting you to start and stop while running around in circles.
Remedy: Step-by-step process that requires signed acknowledgement to proceed. A duplicitous client can’t claim that it wasn’t them who signed off on it. But, they have tried. It just never works. Once caught, they also tend to stop the games.
The meddler: “Forget what I just said and all the work you did getting me what I wanted. Now, I want it to change it yet again.”
The meddler is a poor unsatisfied and unconfident person. They let their fear dictate their fate and can’t make a decision…or worse don’t value your time and effort and feel righteousness in making a lot of changes. They will nickel and dime your operation to death and are horrible for moral. These seem the most benign but end up killing the host. They usually make a small request and you respond with “no problem I can fix it” and the next thing you know six months have passed and YOU are paying the balance in man-hours.
Remedy: Spelling out everything in detail BEFORE the contract is signed. Make sure it is reiterated often enough politely during the entire process. You should set a cap on the number of changes made in each stage. For instance, the beginning stages should expect a lot more change than the final one. You haven’t come up with anything when you start and you are refining at the end. Endless revisions will kill you…and your shop. Do NOT let the perfect become the enemy of the great. Repeat that line to the client, almost as a mantra.
The silent but deadly client: “I don’t like anything you are doing but I am not going to say anything about it when there is still time to change it.”
The SBD seemingly comes out of nowhere. They smile, nod…laugh at jokes. Seem to be a part of the process. Don’t have any questions, don’t have any suggestions to make changes. They appear hunky-dory. Until of course, they tell you how much they hate the work and feel that you aren’t professional because it isn’t what they wanted. And that they are done with you. At which point you can literally hear a record needle tear a hole in some vinyl.
Remedy: This is tough. There aren’t too many signals so it’s hard to know. You should be getting plenty of feedback both positive and negative from your client as you go through the creation process. But, if you aren’t getting anything…it’s kind of like that serial killer. You know, the one who was so normal and quiet but ended up having 27 hikers buried in the side yard? Yeah…so you need to make sure they are interacting. An open environment where they can voice displeasure is needed. And it sucks, but it’s up to you to get them to tear you a new one.
The copy-cat: “Just do it exactly like someone else did. You can do that, right?”
The copy cat has probably stole every idea they ever had from someone else. They are the guys that wear the Rilex watches and use clip art for logos. The demeanor reminds you of used-car-salesman and their lack of respect for thoughtful communication processes will test you.
Remedy: Make an analogy that they will understand, about how you could just copy one of their competitors. They just need to understand that creative work for the most part takes work and that it is worth something. They know that they already have something that they like…so it should not be hard to steer them in the right direction. All you have to do with the copy-cat is to WOW them. Once they see how much better it is, then they will get it.
The black hole: “Nothing you can do will satisfy my dark, empty soul”
The black hole is an asshole. There is nothing you can do to help save them.
Remedy: There are only a few times in life where you really have to step up in a way that defies convention: Fire the client. Some people are so rude, ridiculously arrogant, demanding and insufferable that you just have to stand on your principles and tell them to get the @#$% out. Attitude is what drives success, and they will spread cancer and discontent throughout the organization. If they are your biggest client, go find a new one. The Titanic was big once too, but it dragged everyone down with it. Now it’s the world’s largest metaphor for EPIC FAIL.
The glutton: “What more can you give me? It can’t be that hard to be creative…”
The glutton is that fat guy with the food on his chin who wheezes when he talks and is always there to insult you that you aren’t bringing him enough food. The glutton is never happy.
Remedy: There needs to be instilled in the process some list of expectations and parameters. NEVER let your client pressure your creative guy to do a little more. The expectation that work=money has to be set so that anything outside of what is agreed to may have an additional cost. That’s a conversation between management and the representative…but it must leave the creative professional out of the mix and not making the decision to “add value.” The glutton can “subtract value” from your bottom line, exhaust your employees, and put them into unnecessary conflict.
Bottom Line
Bottom line is, you have to do right by the client. They are paying you. Until you have your own stuff paying your own bills, well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Clients pay you for your skills and services, and you should do everything in your power to get that done. But you don’t have to accept abuse and you should know the warning signs. Because a bad client isn’t just bad for the bottom line, it’s a creativity killer.