Game of Clients

GAMECLIENIS When you play the Game of Clients, you win or you ... well, probably lose money – and certainly lose your patience. If life with clients were like "Game of Thrones," it might look something like this: HOUSE INDECISION HOUSE BUDGET "THE FISCAL YEAR IS COMING" "WE DO NOT KNOW" With a plan based solely on how much everything will cost, expect constant frustration and incessant bean-counting. Be sure to guard against scope-creeping - don't give anything away for free. And be ready to hear "Is this going to cost more?" Be prepared to guide this client through every single aspect of a project and gently hold their hands during every decision-making all of which over and over again. process, will drag on longer than a seven-year summer (at least it'll feel that way). HOUSE INTRUSION HOUSE DELAYS "HEAR ME AT FOUR "GROWING (IN THE MORNING, BECAUSE I'M GONNA CALL YOU WHENEVER I WANT )!" LONG" You started this client's project six months ago Set clear expectations about the availability of everyone on the team and don't allow any exceptions. If you answer a call on your mobile phone from this client at 7 p.m. on a Friday, you'll open the floodgates to calls during holidays, early mornings and you still don't have enough information from them to begin work. Get used to it; once you send them the work, you'll be waiting a long time to get any feedback. You didn't want to get paid, did you? even vacations. HOUSE UNKNOWN HOUSE BROKE "READ "BIG DREAMS, OUR MINDS!" NO MONEY" You might consider bringing a powerful warg along to your meetings with this client, as they won't be able articulate what they want; they'll just expect you to "get it." Commonly heard phrases: "I'll know it when I see it," “Did you read the branding guidelines?" and "This isn't really what we had in Don't expect any satchels of gold coins with this client. They'd pay in chickens if they could, and they'll expect far more expensive work than they're willing to pay for. mind." HOUSE HOPEFUL HOUSE COMMITTEE "NEVER FINAL. "STRENGTH IN NEVER QUICK." NUMBERS" Two heads are better than Hey, didn't they just ask for "quick, final" edits a couple of days ago, and a couple of days before that? Yes, that's because they one, right? Then seven or eight heads must be even better! You'll need everyone don't own a dictionary, so they don't know what either of those words mean. to wear name tags to keep track of all the stakeholders on this project, and, if you're lucky, one or two of them will have the same opinion about the work. HOUSE EXPERT HOUSE TIME "THE BELL "OUR WAY TOLLS" IS BETTER" Deadline? No, just focus on making the work great. Wait, yes. The deadline is now. With this client, everything is an emergency and every- thing they're asking can be done in an hour - or so they This project will go smoothly, as the person you're working with has some expertise in what you do. Wonderful! Oh, wait, they have so much experience that they've basically mastered your entire job and can do it far better than you. They'll sit over your shoulder and critique every single aspect of the believe. work. INFO GRAPHIC WORLD CREATED BY www.lnfographicWorld.com