How to Manage your Interaction with Clients

This is a round-up of articles on client interaction and how to manage it during the various stages of the development cycle. All these articles are no more than approximately 2 years old.

This collection is divided by the 4 primary stages of client interaction.

In web design, client interaction (i.e. doing business with clients) can be divided as follows (note that this is not exhaustive in the sub-categories).

1. Business Operation

   This is how to run your business, in particular, the process, procedure, and technical aspects of client interaction.

   • Project estimates, service pricing, and price negotiating
   • Policy and contracts
   • Collecting money related issues

2. Client Relationship Establishment

   This is how to interact with your clients in general, it’s the personal aspects of the client relationship.

   • Impressing them and introduction
   • Qualifying clients
   • Spotting Problem Clients
   • Following-up

3. Project Planning Cooperation

   This is how to plan your client’s project with them both technically and psychologically, the client gives you their requirements and goals that they want from you.

4. Project Proposal and Project Presentation

   This is how to present your ideas technically, you give the client what you propose to do for them.

Business Operation

• 3 Reasons Why Clients Don’t Choose You (brianyerkes.com)
• 3 Simple Ways to Get Paid More by Clients (Web Design Ledger)
• 5 Tips for Handling Pricing Objections (Vandelay Website Design)
• Design advice to keep you sane and prosper (The Design Cubicle)
• Educated clients equal more clients (The Design Cubicle)
• Five Freelancing Tips to Avoid Disasters (SitePoint Blogs)
• Four Arguments for Charging Late Fees (SitePoint Blogs)
• How Do Your Clients Want You to Handle Their Data? (SitePoint Blogs)
• How long do I wait before I take em to court? (Reddit)
• How to Increase the Value of Your Design Services for Clients (DesignM.ag)
• How To Deal with Non-Paying Clients (acuity designs)
• How To Set Boundaries With Clients (SitePoint Blogs)
• Liability Insurance for Web Designers: What You NEED to Know (commercialquotesinsurance.com)
• Managing Your Client Schedule (Freelancefolder)
• Morality in Web Development – Your Thoughts? (Spyre Studios)
• Should You “Fake It” If a Client Asks for Something You Can’t Do? (Freelancefolder)
• The Problem With Selling Web Design (John O’Nolan)
• Thoughts on why Spec Work is Bad and Why You Shouldn’t Do It (speckyboy.com)
• What Happens When the Website You Are Working on Blows Up? (Freelancefolder)
• Whiteboard Accounting (Frank Chimero)

Project Estimates, Service Pricing, and Price Negotiating Resources and Tips

• 12 Problems with Software Estimation (Rants and Apps)
• 12 Tips on Pricing your Web Work (Admix Web)
• 5 Tips for Charging Clients For Services (Colorburned Creative)
• 5 Ways to Squeeze More Money Out of Clients (You the Designer)
• 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Rates and Keep Your Clients (Six Revisions)
• 7 Tips for Giving Effective Design Project Quotes (Six Revisions)
• A Discussion on Hourly Rates in Web Design (Build Internet!)
• Calculating The Genuine Value of Your Design (Noupe)
• Charging what you’re worth: a few tips for underpaid designers (Graphic Design Blender)
• Craft An Irresistible Price By Focusing On Your Users (Smashing Magazine)
• Design advice to keep you sane and prosper (The Design Cubicle)
• Do Designers Deserve Down-Payments? (Graphic Design Blender)
• Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Do That Job Free (SitePoint Blogs)
• Fixed vs. Hourly – The Rate Faceoff (Freelance Apple)
• Freelance Project Quote Estimator (DevGrow)
• From a Web Designer’s Point of View: Is the client leaving clients on the table? (This is not the original by Woork Up)
• Getting Paid … for Your Proposal?! (SitePoint Blogs)
• Hourly Billing: Is It Billable Time? (SitePoint Blogs)
• How Project Estimating Can Lead to More Money and Happier Clients (The Project Web – Resources for Web Design Projects)
• How to Properly Quote a Client (DevGrow)
• InfoQ: Estimation Toolkit (InfoQ)
• Offering price quotes to no-budget design clients (Graphic Design Blender)
• Pricing Like You’re Worth It (Build Internet!)
• Say “NO” to Spec Work (Freshbooks Blog)
• Should I Work for Free? (Jessica Hische)
• Stop throwing your design profits down the toilet (Graphic Design Blender)
• The Five Most Important Things to Do Before Jumping Into a Bartering Arrangement (SitePoint Blogs)
• The Impact of Accidental Complexity on Estimates (Jay Fields’ Thoughts)
• Thoughts on why Spec Work is Bad and Why You Shouldn’t Do It-Speckyboy Design Magazine (speckyboy.com)
• Three Ways to Turn Free Work into Paid Projects (SitePoint Blogs)
• Tools to Help you Estimate Price for your Web Work (Admix Web)
• Watch Your Language: Clients & Pricing (Build Internet!)
• Web Development Project Estimator (Astuteo)
• What’s In A Price: The Guidelines For Pricing Web Designs (Noupe)
• Why Can’t Developers Estimate Time? (PatchSpace Blog)
• Why Design Can’t be Billed by the Hour (idApostle)
• Why I bill hourly (orestis.gr)
• Do You Know Why It’s Important To Collect A Deposit For Design Work? (Van SEO Design)
• Why You Should Never Charge Hourly (Freelancefolder)
• Your Quote is too high! – Charging/Negotiating for design work (acuity designs)

Policy and Contract Resources and Tips

• 5 Free Non-Disclosure Agreements (acuity designs)
• 8 Provisions Your Web Design Contracts Must Have (TheProjectWeb.com)
• Client Tactics: Freelance Contract Basics Part 3 (1stwebdesigner)
• Contract Killer: The Next Hit (Stuff and Nonsense)
• Contract Negotiation 101 (SitePoint Blogs)
• Creative Latitude: Resources: Downloads (Creative Latitude)
• Design Contract Template (zenful creations)
• Freelance Contracts: Do’s And Don’ts (Smashing Magazine)
• Graphic design contracts – your advice (David Airey » graphic designer, logo designer)
• How To Spot A Sketchy Client (Plus A Contract Template) (Smashing Magazine)
• Kill Fees and Six Other Clauses to Consider for Your Contract (SitePoint Blogs)
• Legal Contracts Written in Code (Knowing.NET)
• Performance tests as a contract – part 1 (blog.craftforge.org)
• Red Ice Designs: Items a Designer Must Include in a Contract (Part 1) (Red Ice Designs)
• Red Ice Designs: What a Client Must Include in a Design Agreement (Part 2) (Red Ice Designs)
• Renegotiating The Contract (And Other Tales Of Horror) (Smashing Magazine)
• The Bare Bones That Every Freelance Contract Should Have (Design Informer)
• The Basics & Essentials of Graphic Design Contracts (WebAppers)

Collecting Money Related Issues

• 11 Tips for Freelancers to get Paid on Time (Tech King)
• 7 Warning Signs that your client won’t pay – Red Alert! (LogoGuru.co.uk)
• 9 Invoicing Tips for Better Invoicing (invoicera)
• Dealing With Clients Who Refuse To Pay (Smashing Magazine)
• How To Deal with Non-Paying Clients (Acuity Designs)
• How To Get Clients To Pay Up (ContactMe)
• Tips To Get Hasty Payments From Your Client (DWS mg.com)
• When A Freelancer Should Bill The Client (SmashingShare.com)

Client Relationship Establishment Tips

• 10 Bad Habits That Are Costing You Clients (FreelanceFolder)
• 10 Distinctive Client Personalities – Discover your clients!! (Graphic Design Blog)
• 10 Reasons To Be Your Designer’s Best Client (Visible Logic)
• 10 Secret Reasons Why You Lose Clients (Freelancefolder)
• 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your Clients Love You (Design Shack)
• 10 Tips for Providing Great Customer Service to Your Clients (Six Revisions)
• 10 Tips On Communicating with Difficult Web Design Clients (letscounthedays)
• 10 Ways To Avoid Mistakes During Communicate With Customers (Designrfix)
• 10 Ways to Lose a Client (Design Mag)
• 10+ Tips to Improve Interaction with Clients (Admix Web)
• 10-Step Plan to Handle Client Crisis Situations (TheProjectWeb.com)
• 13 Ways To Improve Client Interaction (Web Design Booth)
• 15 Bad Habits That Could Kill Your Design Career (Webdesigner Depot)
• 40 better ways to work with clients (Boagworld)
• 5 Practices Your Clients Will Love (Six Revisions)
• 5 Rotten Things No One Else Has Told You About the Clients You’ll Work For (Webdesigner Depot)
• 5 Things Your Clients Should Know (Webdesigner Depot)
• 5 Tips for Conveying The Right Information to Clients (SpyreStudios – Design and Development Magazine)
• 5 Way to Do With Client for Good Relationship (Designrfix)
• 5 Ways to Deal With a Bad Client ([Re]Encoded.com)
• 5 Ways to Wow Your Clients With Killer Customer Service (Visual Swirl Design Resources)
• 6 Helpful Tips for Dealing With (P.I.T.A.*) Clients (The Design O’Blog)
• 6 Ways to QA Your Client Communications (SitePoint Blogs)
• 7 Personality Types of Clients Today (Webdesigner Depot)
• 7 Things Web Designers Hate Hearing from Clients (Six Revisions)
• A Beginners Guide To Dealing With Customers (All Things CRM)
• A Different Method of Negotiating With Clients (The Phuse)
• No One Nos: Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas (A List Apart)
• Advice for dealing with design clients (Logobird Designs)
• Are clients stupid? (Boagworld)
• Can I Have Fries with That? What Clients Really Want (SitePoint Blogs)
• Client Handling: Finding your Client’s Pain Points (1stwebdesigner – Love In Design)
• Client Rejection – Why No Means Nothing (Build Internet!)
• Client respect (CSS Wizardry)
• Client vs. Designer: Four Lessons to Win the Battle (Six Revisions)
• Clients & the Perception of Value in Design (Paper Leaf Design)
• Clients, the Web and the Big Misconception (Spyre Studios)
• Colorful Clientele – Client Types and How to Handle Them (Dzinepress)
• Common Client Concerns with Design Projects (Paper Leaf Design)
• Dealing With Big Name Clients (Freelancefolder)
• Doing the Little Things to Please Clients (Freelancefolder)
• Don’t Take Rejection Personally (InstantShift)
• Educate the Clients (Drawar Articles)
• Educate your clients about their budget (The Floating Frog)
• Essential Tips For How Freelancers Can Impress Clients (Vector Patterns)
• Facing your toughest design client (Logo Design Love)
• Five reasons your clients hate you (E-consultancy.com)
• Five things you should never say to a client (TechRepublic)
• Get Clients to Say ‘Yes!’ (Think Vitamin)
• How Great Clients Can Help You Become a Better Designer (DesignM.ag)
• How To Be Taken Seriously As A Student Designer (deltadesignz.com)
• How to Build a Good Working Client Relationship (Graphic Mania)
• How to Communicate With Your Clients (Design Reviver)
• How to Cut Ties without Burning Bridges (SitePoint Blogs)
• How to deal with clients who micromanage (Graphic Design Blender)
• How to Deal With Demon Clients (instantShift)
• How to Deal With Nightmare Clients (Webdesigner Depot)
• How to Detect a Toxic Customer (Software by Rob)
• How To Explain To Clients That They Are Wrong (Smashing Magazine)
• How to Get Clients to Absolutely Love Your Freelancing Work (Freelancefolder)
• How to Get Clients to Fall in Love with You All Over Again (SitePoint Blogs)
• How To Get More Clients From New Clients (Dzine Blog)
• How to Get Your Ideas Across to Clients (Six Revisions)
• How to handle clients (Designrfix)
• How To Handle Deadline-Strict Clients (Pixelactic.com)
• How to Handle Difficult Client Situations (Six Revisions)
• How to impress design clients and get more business (Graphic Design Blender)
• How to Keep a Mistake from Losing You a Client (Freelancefolder)
• How to Keep Your Clients on Board for a Long Time (Smashing Buzz)
• How to Keep Your Web Design Clients Happy (WebDesignDispatch.com)
• How To Manage Client Expectations (SitePoint Blogs)
• How to Market to Your Clients’ Pain (SitePoint Blogs)
• How to Reach the Satisfaction Factor of Web Design Clients (Designzzz.com)
• How to Survive Saying No to a Client (SitePoint Blogs)
• How To Turn Design Clients Into Raving Fans (Graphic Design Blender)
• How to turn one-time clients into core fans of your design business (Graphic Design Blender)
• Improving Client Relations and Enhancing the Work Process (Noupe)
• Is it Time to Fire Your Client? ([Re]Encoded.com)
• Learning To Ignore Your Clients (Vitamin Feed)
• Lessons Learned From My First Unhappy Client (bkmacdaddy designs)
• Looking Out for the Little Guy: When Small Clients Payoff Big (Visual Swirl Design Resources)
• NO! – The secret to the great clients (Your Inspiration Web)
• Options To Consider When Your Client Is Driving You Mad (PV.M Garage | Web Design Blog)
• Referrals: Getting Clients To WANT To Plug You (SitePoint Blogs)
• Say No to (Some) Clients (SitePoint Blogs)
• Saying “NO”. (Object Mentor Blog)
• Showing Appreciation To Gain Client Loyalty (Orphicpixel)
• Simple Ways to Know What Your Client is Thinking (1stwebdesigner)
• How To Identify Good Clients (and Avoid Bad Ones) (Smashing Magazine)
• So you’ve lost a client… (Design Juices)
• Sorting Out and Dealing with Different Types of Clients (1stwebdesigner)
• The Art of Saying “No” (Noupe)
• The Client Who Got It All Right (Drawar Articles)
• The Six Things Clients Want (Reinventing)
• There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Client (Smashing Magazine)
• Tips for Effective Communication with Your Clients (Web Design Ledger)
• Treat Your Clients Right -They’re Important! ([Re]Encoded.com)
• Turning All Clients Into Dream Clients (or Common Client Difficulties) (Smashing Magazine)
• Underpinning Clients: Your Bread and Butter (SitePoint Blogs)
• Web design is also about customer service (Boagworld)
• What Clients Say and What They Mean – Guide for Web Designers (Designzzz.com)
• What Do You Give Your Clients? (Web Design Blog – DesignM.ag)
• What Do Your Design Clients Care About? (Paper Leaf Design)
• What Everyone Ought to Know about Initial Client Meeting (1stwebdesigner)
• What is your answer to the dreaded client question “How do I make my site go to the top of Google?” (Reddit)
• What to Do When a Client Relationship Goes South (Webdesigner Depot)
• What to do when a client wants you to copy other designs (Graphic Design Blender)
• What Would You Learn If You Could Read Your Client’s Mind? (FreelanceFolder)
• When Clients Mess Things Up (webworkerdaily.com)
• When design clients come back from the dead (Graphic Design Blender)
• When to Turn a Web Design Project or Client Down and How To Do It Well (Web design by TheLibzter.com)
• Work Rejected? Deal With it (Your Inspiration Web)

Impressing Them and Introduction Tips

• 4 Simple Ways to Impress a Potential Client (Freelance Apple)
• 5 Good Ways to Close a Client Deal (Freelancefolder)
• 8-Point Checklist for Qualifying Prospects (SitePoint Blogs)
• A Comprehensive Guide to Web Terminology (PelFusion Design Magazine)
• Articles: Kick Ass Kickoff Meetings (A List Apart)
• Bringing in Clients: Ways To Get a Project Successfully (Web Design Fan)
• How to Make a Confident First Impression with Clients (Design Shack)
• How to Nail a Design Client with Perfect Sales Pitch (Smashing Buzz)
• How to Scare Away Prospects on Your First Call (SitePoint Blogs)
• How to Show Your Clients That You’re Serious! (1stwebdesigner – Graphic and Web Design Blog)
• Meeting Your Client for the First Time (Design Informer | Graphic and Web Design Blog)
• The art of interviewing your client (Logo Design Love)
• The Trust Factor: How to Gain and Maintain Your Clients’ Trust (SitePoint Blogs)
• Using a Client Welcome Packet to Get Off on the Right Foot (SitePoint Blogs)
• Web App Client Questionnaire (Think Vitamin)

Qualifying Clients Tips

• 10 Ways To Score and Evaluate A Client (acuity designs)
• 8-Point Checklist for Qualifying Prospects (SitePoint Blogs)
• A Match Made in Heaven: How to Interview a Client (SitePoint Blogs)
• Qualifying Clients over the Phone like a Pro (Even If You Never Thought You Could) (Fuel Your Creativity)
• Slow Down! 5 Important Questions to Ask Before Taking on Rush Projects (SitePoint Blogs)
• Your Ideal Client is a MUST Not a Nice to Have (Small Business Unleashed)

Spotting Problem Clients

• 10 Reasons to Politely Decline a Web Design Gig (Webmonkey)
• 10 Signs Of a Bad Client You Should Drop (UnderWorld Magazines)
• 12 Signs of a Problem Client (SitePoint Blogs)
• 15 Simple Warning Signs of a Bad Project (and how to think positively) (The Project Web – Resources for Web Design Projects)
• 7 Essential Red Flags to Watch Out for in New Clients (Webdesigner Depot)
• Client Tactics: How to Spot a Deadbeat Client (1stwebdesigner)
• Getting to No (A List Apart)
• Good Riddance to Deadbeat Clients [Work Smarter] (SitePoint)
• How To Identify Good Clients (and Avoid Bad Ones) (Smashing Magazine)
• How to spot bad design clients & when to ditch them (Graphic Design Blender)
• Warning: Avoid These Clients (C McConnell Design)
• When and How to Dump a Client (FreelanceShack)
• When to fire a design client (Graphic Design Blender)
• When to Turn a Web Design Project or Client Down and How To Do It Well (TheLibzter.com)

Following-Up Tips

• 10 Questions to ask your clients after project delivery (Macronimous Web Blog)
• 14 Questions To Ask Your Clients Before and After a Project (Design Reviver)
• 4 Ways of Getting Business from Previous Clients (Freelance Apple)
• 5 Rules for Following Up without Being Annoying (SitePoint Blogs)
• 5 Ways to Maintain Client Relationships Long After the Work is Complete (SitePoint Blogs)
• Client Tactics: Maintaining Existing Clients (1stwebdesigner – Graphic and Web Design Blog)

Project Planning Cooperation Tips

• 10 Questions to Be in Sync with Your Clients (DesignersCouch)
• 101 invaluable questions to build your Web Design Questionnaire (Woobzine)
• 11 Ways to Prevent Angry Clients from Destroying Your Project (TheProjectWeb.com)
• 14 Questions To Ask Your Clients Before and After a Project (SitePoint Blogs)
• 14 Quick and Effective Communication Tips for the Time-Challenged (SitePoint Blogs)
• 20 Questions to Know for Avoiding Website Project Disasters (Six Revisions)
• 5 Tips to prepare yourself for a web design task (Orphicpixel)
• 6 Things to Cover with Clients During a Redesign (CreativeFan)
• 7 Things to Ask Your Clients for Besides Money (You the Designer)
• 7 Things Web Designers Hate Hearing from Clients (Six Revisions)
• 72 Questions to Ask New Web Design Clients with PDF Chart (bonfx.com)
• What to do When Your Project Starts to go Downhill (Colorburned)
• Design By Committee: A Designers Worst Nightmare (The Floating Frog)
• Discussion: Getting Timely Feedback From clients (The Design O’Blog)
• Don’t Do Another Three-Way (smashLAB)
• Getting Clients to Embrace Fresh Ideas (Build Internet!)
• How to convince your clients they need a brand and not just a logo (David Airey :: Graphic and Logo Designer)
• How To Convince Your Clients They Need Usability (The Phuse)
• How To Create The Perfect Client Questionnaire (Noupe)
• How to Deal with Feature Creep (Webdesigner Depot)
• How To Handle Deadline-Strict Clients (Pixelactic.com)
• How to improve client communication by reducing amount of emails by 95% (Goyello)
• How to Use Twitter with Prospects and Clients Before, During and After Web Design Projects (The Project Web – Resources for Web Design Projects)
• How to Work with Indecisive Clients (SitePoint Blogs)
• How to Write a Client Proposal (ITworld)
• It’s Not Me, It’s You – Why Your Clients Don’t Like Your Designs (AddToDesign)
• Keeping clients motivated throughout the design process (Graphic Design Blender)
• Maximize Prospective Client Communication (C McConnell Design)
• Questions to ask clients before designing their website (The Design Cubicle)
• Setting Goals For Your Website – 3 Questions to Ask (Array Studios Inc.)
• Strategy Basics: Getting your Client’s Ducks in a Row (Think Vitamin)
• Taking the Wow Factor to a Whole New Level (SitePoint Blogs)
• Ten Questions You should be Asking to Produce the Killer Design Clients Crave (Inspired Magazine)
• Ten Ways to Stop Scope Creep in Your Web Design Project (The Project Web – Resources for Web Design Projects)
• Top Questions To Help Make Designs That Your Clients Will Love (1stwebdesigner – Graphic and Web Design Blog)
• Ultimate List Of Web Design Checklists: Get Work Done! (1stwebdesigner – Graphic and Web Design Blog)
• Web App Client Questionnaire (Carsonified)
• Web Design – What are Client’s Requirements? (cyber designz)
• What Determines the Number of Concepts you Show to a Client? (Processed Identity)
• When Clients Take Too Much Design Control (Build Internet!)
• When Your Client Wants To Become The Designer (acuity designs)
• 22 Questions to Ask Before Developing a Website :: CSS, JavaScript and XHTML Explained (Estelle Weyl’s Blog)

Project Proposal and Project Presentation Tips

• 5 Free Web Design Proposal Contracts (Acuity Designs)
• 6 Tips for Pitching to Major Clients (Web Designer Depot)
• 7 Basics to Create a Good Design Brief (Web Designer Depot)
• Don’t make the Demo look Done (Creating Passionate Users blog)
• Great Tips to Getting Your Design Approved By Clients (BoxieDesigner.com)
• How To Convince The Client That Your Design Is Perfect (Smashing Magazine)
• How to Convince Your Client on Your Design (Tutorial Lounge)
• How to Get Clients to Approve Your Wireframes Every Time (UX Movement)
• How to present the draft to the client: tips and examples (Your Inspiration Web)
• How To Present Your Designs To The Client (Gavin Elliott)
• How to Sell your Design Effectively to the Client (Smashing Buzz)
• Pitching to design clients: how to win the account (Graphic Design Blender)
• 7 Tips For Writing A Winning Web Design Proposal (SitePoint)
• The Secret to Pitching to New Clients (Freelance Apple)
• Useful Web Design Proposal Resources, Tools and Apps (Speckyboy Design Magazine)
• What Should You Include In A Design Project Proposal? (acuity designs)
• Why you should never present more than one mockup to a client (Lee Munroe)
• Your Quote Is Too High! – Charging/Negotiating For Design Work (acuity designs)

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