5 things creatives need to keep in mind when dealing with a client

I recently found myself in the unfortunate position to be on the other side of the design table and was shocked at the ineptitude of how I was dealt with as a client.

Then again I must say, myself and my co-workers are not the easiest people to work with. Our drive, passion, creative ability  and attention to detail often catches people off guard.

Ultimately I am responsible for all creative in my company, so know very well the various personality types, tastes and management styles of the various departments and managers.

I thought I'd list a few points to consider when you as a designer or an agency deal with difficult demanding customers / people.


1. The customer is always right.
Misinformed, opinionated, rude, demanding… but never wrong.

Yes, I have done a number of years in retail in my early years so had this drilled in to me.

Look at it this way, do you truly know their business, their challenges and the people they report to, as well as they do?

Have you spent years in their business marketing to their target audience?


2. Know who you are talking to.
A lot of aggravation, confusion and conflict can be avoided if you take the time to find out who the key stake holders are and what they have done in the past.

This way you will not be surprised or caught off guard by an angry reaction when you marginalise procedure, principles and techniques the client has been using for years.


3. Listen and understand.
This is probably one of the biggest points. Listen to them, take their ideas and shape them so that the original idea they gave you is still visible in the final product.

If they point out something very specific, listen to them. There will be a reason why they take the time and effort to make the point

Nothing irritates people more than you trying to bully them into using your idea when they do not like the idea or have told you not to use it.


4. Adapt non critical procedures to suit customer workflows
Everyone company is different, they work different, they have different procedures and workflows.

Do not force all your procedures and workflows onto the customer. The client / contractor relationship works best when there is a certain give and take.

So keep your critical procedures but change your non critical procedures and workflows to suit the client.

for example if a client wants to receive a document for review before a meeting, but your procedure is to present the document at the meeting. Send them the document, its a non critical procedure and by sacrificing it you show your willingness to adapt to the customers needs.


5. Collaboration
This is a difficult one, from time to time you will find clients who give you complete free reign, enjoy these times, they are rare.

Other times clients come to you wanting to collaborate and work with you, they want to share their knowledge and pool resources and ideas. They do not want to be forced to use your ideas because you and only you thought it a good idea.

Key in all of this is to listen and adapt.

Summary
Know who you are dealing with, listen to what they are saying, don't underestimate their knowledge and experience and adapt to their needs.

We sell boxes: why simplifying your B2B message will yield greater results

Businesses always face a challenge to balance their product with their message.

We know that we have seconds to capture the interest of a potential client.

Knowing this, our instinct is to bombard a potential client with as much information as we can while we have their attention.

The mistake we make here is that we dilute, confuse and alienate said potential client.

At the recent web2.0 conference the message that stuck to me the most was not even part of the conference. It was a display outside a shop on the way to the conference of 3 stacked boxes that read "We Sell Boxes"

They did not try to sell it as "Environment friendly, recycled, natural dyed, fair trade, pre-assembled containers for personal and corporate use"

Anybody who walked past this display knew exactly what they sold, they sold boxes.

If I really wanted to buy a box that day, I would have gone into the shop and asked the sales person (once they came back from their break) about the recycled pre-assembled nature of the boxes on sale.

If I did not want to buy a box but suddenly needed a box, I would remember I saw a shop that sold boxes (especially since I took about 10 photos of their display).

So what does this have to do with Web2.0 and social media?

Well everything...

The first message a prospect sees should state exactly what you do "We sell boxes". Once they have aligned their needs to your offering they will engage with you and a more meaningful discussion can follow.

Conclusion
No matter what your bells and whistles are, in B2B Social Media a prospect will not engage unless their needs align with your offering. So tell then straight up what you do and save the fluff for later.

Recent Postings:

• Why Internal corporate social media often fails
• Social Media Fail: Nestle & its drop in share price 
• Why Public figures should fear Social Media: What the Palin Twitter gaff teaches us.
  
  
  

Who owns Social Media in a business? #w2e

A very interesting question was asked today at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. "Who in a business owns Social Media"

Presenters Answer:
According to the presenter (Joshua-Michele Ross from Fleishman Hillard)
"Social Media should not be owned by the obvious departments in the business such as Marketing or PR instead it should be owned by the person / department that wants the opportunity.

Why I disagree:
Now this is where I strongly disagree, sure its good passing the buck to someone who wants it, but just because you want the opportunity does not mean you have the necessary experience in both business and in the social media.

Most of the recent Social Media disasters (Nestle springs to mind, see below for related post) was caused by inexperienced business users who thought they are social media experts because they have a facebook page and know what a tweet is.

You need a careful blend of traditional business communication knowledge and informal social language.

Just because you are engaging your users on a social platform does not mean you engage them with the language and attitudeyou engage your friends with

Presenters answer continued:

He then stated that it should be done on a mandate from top management.

Why I disagree:

I am not quite sure if he has ever truly worked in a business where top management still think of blogs and forums as a place you "go to play" after hours.

If you look at the general age of Top Management, most epecially those from established businesses tend to be baby boomers / gen Y.

These are the people who still cant sleep at night because the company's fax number is no longer on their business card.

It is only in 2016 that most of the Top Management will be the gen y's or Digital Natives as Gartner calls them.

In my view, current top management are not qualified to make any kind of Social Media mandate. They just don't seem to 'get' it. They still believe it can be controlled or censored and that it should be about us telling them what we want them to hear.

What business leaders and top management need is 3rd party enducation from a respected peer. Only once they fully understand the Social Media space and implecations can they truly decide the who, what, where and when.

Related post

- Why internal corporate socail media often fails
- Nestle's Social Media Fail

Why Internal corporate social media often fails

 I've been thinking a lot about internal social web recently.

Before you embark on any kind of internal social web project I think  it's important to look at why social media especially facebook, linked
in and Twitter is so popular.

1.  No one forces you to use it.
   This might sound like a strange statement but it's true. This is the true power of social media, key word social.
   
   You join because you want to engage with others who are already using it.
   
   
2. Content is King.
   The oldie but goodie statement! if content is good and relevant you will join no matter the platform.
   
   On my personal social media pages I often block and even delete life long friends because of spamming content that is totally irrelevant to me and my daily lives.
   
   I tend to follow strangers due to their interesting content aggregation and views.
   
   
3. Content aggregation.
   I often ignore news and other content because it seems to have no relevance to me.
   
   However when someone else understands it aggregates the multiple sources and presents it in a way that makes it easier to understand it, suddenly it becomes something that seemed irrelevant becomes relevant.
    
4. Platform is Queen
   If content is King then platform Queen. You will be surprised how many people will accept and adopt a difficult to use platform if the content is relevant,  but even the most relevant content will be ignored If the platform is difficult to use and not intuitive.
   
   The adoption rate of a platform is directly proportionate to the difficulty and amount of hurdles a user has to go to, to access the content.
   
   The opposite is also true the easier it is to access is directly proportionate to adoption
   
   For example I can access facebook, linkedin, Twitter etc. Via various websites and mobile aps from anywhere in the world.
   
   Social media sites are now accessed more frequently from mobile devices than that desktop computers.
   
   This blog was written on the train on my way to work on a mobile app.
   
   So to get back to my point, what hurdles hurdles you may ask?
   
   
   
   •  Multiple security logins with forced time based password changes
   • VPN login from outside the office
   • No mobile access, this is probably my biggest pet hate.

Ok I hear you say, "what do I have to do to ensure a successful internal social media adoption?"

1. Leave all your preconceptions of business communications at the door.
   The world has changed. If social media has taught us one thing it's that communications and engagements have changed.
   
     Traditional methods of communications ( newsletters, memo's, posters on the tearoom board and emails) no longer works and the more you force it he less the uptake is
    
2. If you have to force it, you have failed
   The moment you have to force someone to to use a social media platform it ceases to be social media and just becomes another business platform with a declining adoption rate.
   
   
3. Have staff determine the platform to use not the your pre-existing technology.
   Do not have your internal technology determine the platform or format of engagement.
   
   Social Internal networks is all about people interacting in an environment they find comfortable and familiar.
   
   The moment you take them away from the  that environment and thrust them into an unfamiliar difficult to use platform your back on the slippery "forcing them to use it" slope.
   
   Spend some time asking staff how they want to be engaged, what platform they want to be engaged on. 
   
   
4. Test various platforms
   Choosing a platform for social web is probably the next biggest decision you will be making.
   
   And to be honest, as a manager / business leader, you are not the right person to determine the platform.
   
   The people are.
   
   Create a small to medium sizes test group that includes all the gen types (generation X,Y,Z and V). Explain to them what you are trying to achieve and test, test and test.
   
   Once you know how they will interact you are in a much better position to make a decision.
   
   
5. Get a third party in to help with the strategy and implementation
   If you are serious about wanting to succeed with setting up an internal social web, have an external agency come in to asses, evaluate, educate and advise.
   
   No matter how much you think you know about Social Media (if you are not in the social media space), you will only know how you as an individual use social media.
   
   Having a third party come in will open your eyes as to how others use it.
   
   
6. There is no 'one size fits all'
    What will become clear is that there will be no one size fits all communication method.
   
   The most difficult aspect will be to find the balance that will allow everyone to communicate how they want to.
   
   The best way to do this is to determine who the influencers and aggregators are (see point 7)
   
   
7. Don't be afraid of aggregators, embrace, encourage and educate.
   Well not much more need to be said about this.
   
   Determine who they are, embrace them, educate them, trust them and empower them to generate content.
   
   They will very quickly build up a following and magically your internal social media project will become a success.
   
   
8. Ignore mobile access at your own peril.As mentioned above, more people access social media on their mobile devices than via their computers.
   
   If your internal social media platform is not accessible via mobile devices you will be cutting your adoption rate by 60-80% 

In conclusion, the world has changed and if you refuse to change, your business will die around you and become a bureaucratic dinosaur.