10 Pieces of Advice That Will Help You Be The Kind Of Client That Creative People Love

It’s not that creative people don’t respect your point of view, or can’t take your original direction, because they understand that most clients are the source for information and insight about their products or services.

It’s because creative people are always running up against clients who, for one reason or another, feel obliged to control exactly what the creative people should do.

This is very frustrating for a lot of creative people and is exacerbated by the fact that most creative people are kind of obsessive compulsive types who really get into their work, and always do their best work when there is a genuine laissez faire understanding in place.

So if you’re a client who really wants to optimize your relationship with the creative people you hire, here are an assortment of tips, that I have picked up dealing with clients of all kinds over the years.

1. Never ask a good creative person how much it costs to do an ad, video, commercial, web site or blog post or anything. There is no such thing as a fixed rate for creative services, because there are too many variables involved that the creative person needs to identify before they can figure out a cost.

2. Never make it a habit to tell a good creative person you need something yesterday. This puts undue pressure on them over something that’s probably your fault for not getting to the job sooner. Save the real ‘I need it yesterday’ speech for the true emergencies.

3. Never demand an award winning piece of communication. Good creative people don’t really go about their job that way. They are thinking about the strategy, the people they are talking to and the best way to get them to buy into the communication and then buy something from you.

4. Never start talking to a good creative person about a project unless you have a strategy or briefing in your mitt. If you don’t you’ll just have to sit through an interrogation until the creative person has enough info to start doing the job.

5. Never ask a good creative person to break down their hours, because a good creative person starts thinking about a project pretty much non-stop until it’s done and probably only bills you for about a third of that time.

6. When you are reviewing creative work, never tell a good creative person you don’t like something without following it up with an explanation that relates to your strategy or your brand … not your personal preferences.

7. When reviewing creative work, always talk in terms of strategic focus and not creative execution. The creative person has given you a bit of their blood, sweat and tears here. That needs to be respected.

8. If something you review is off strategically, tell the creative person how it’s off and let them fix it. Don’t try and do this yourself, because that’s how feelings get bruised and stuff can go wrong.

9. Never promise more work to a good creative person in exchange for a lower rate. Because even if you have it, they’re not likely to believe you and think you’re just a cheapskate and not someone who is worthy of loyalty.

10. Don’t test anything a good creative person does by showing it around your office, and getting opinions. It puts the people that work with you or for you on the spot and they’re not gonna tell you the whole truth. If you need to do research, do it professionally, with people in your target audience, and make sure the creative person is invited to watch it and get some learning.

If you print this list out and study it until it’s second nature to you and then start doing it immediately you will, I guarantee, become the kind of client that good creative people (like me) would be honoured to work for.

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