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My Top 5 Advice On Working With Clients

From my past experiences I concluded that clients do not know what they’re doing, asking you to do, but they want instant results and they’re always changing their mind about the project.

Sounds familiar? Then read own…

1. Talk with your clients in ’simple language’ and talk about every aspect of the project.

Most clients are not developers, they don’t understand the developers’ jargon. HTML, Javascript, PHP, AJAX, doesn’t mean to them anything. How they see it is they have a problem what needs to be fixed and you’re the one who makes this problem go away. They don’t care about how you achieve it or how difficult it is, they just want to get it done.

For a healthy communication you have to understand each other. You have to understand exactly what your client wants and you have to explain to him what you want in a simple manner.

2. Always record the communications with your client.

Always keep an organized record of your conversations with your clients. Use e-mail, Skype or whatever communication tools that let’s you record it, but let the client know that you’re doing this. Insist using a project management or a ticketing software that lets you keep a record of current issues with the project. Make sure your client uses the application correctly.

Always tell him that if a feature or a bug is not added through this application that from your point of view it doesn’t exist. This way you have evidence if the client changes some aspect or feature of the project. You will avoid such dialogs like: “I didn’t wanted this way” or “This doesn’t looks like what I want”

3. Set your prices correctly.

One of the biggest mistake I ever made when I started my business was that I set my prices very low so I can get more client and get the business going. Big mistake. If you set your prices low it means that you don’t value your time and resources and you will attract very ugly clients, they will always want more for that money and they won’t appreciate your work.

4. Make your life easier for you and for your client by doing what you know best.

When you set very fixed, rigid goals this doesn’t mean you can’t improve on those things. Let your client know what is the best solution for approaching a particular problem. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the solution.

Always keep your suggestions in concordance with the problem, don’t try to change the base idea, just try to improve it how you know best and make sure your client understands it.

5. Always sign a contract with your client.

A contract will assure that you won’t get burnt and wake up with a lawsuit on your head.

Make sure you state all the third party source code you will be using and all the licenses that comes with these apps.

And finally 5 more advice from my experience with clients:

• Avoid control freak clients.
• Try to over deliver, it will make a good impression.
• Ask for feedback from time to time, not just when the project is done.
• Try to be realistic, don’t try to impress your client too much.
• Be very prompt to your clients’ e-mails, be on time for meetings and just be yourself try to show your clients that “Hey this is me. If you don’t like it’s no hard feelings.“

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