You know, I am not complaining. We all need clients and great friendships often result from business/client relationships, but there are a few things that occur over and over and over and it isn’t only me. My IM flashes all day with people pulling their hair out because a client has said or done something slightly irritating (I am being nice here). So, here are some really important things to keep in mind if you are working with a Web Designer, SEO, Internet Marketing Company and all other Web related services. These may be helpful with non-Web services as well.

I am not writing this to be insulting. I have many laughs with colleagues that have these things occur on a daily basis, but I thought it might be helpful for some of you in the future to create an effective and respectful client/provider relationship.

#1- You Are Not Our Only Client

There may be some people that work with only one client, but I have not met such a person yet. We need to eat and pay bills so this often requires that we have more than one client. We would love to respond to you the minute you email or call, but that isn’t always possible.

I swear I have heard the variation of the upcoming sentence at least 500 times (and this is the one that was IMed this morning), “if you would like to be my only client, that is fine, you can pay an annual retainer equal to my revenue”.

We would love to give you the attention an employee would, but that is often not possible. Sometimes we can, but most of the time we can’t and if we could that might mean we weren’t real busy. Often if you are good at what you do you are busy.

#2 -Many of Us Have Many Weekly Meetings

This may be why you are not receiving the immediate phone call or email you would like. Let’s say I am in a meeting with you, the reader. How would you feel if I said, “We have to stop this meeting so I can go call client B!”. It doesn’t work and it is disrespectful.

#3 -Please Don’t Waste Time Calling Me to Tell Me You Emailed, cuz I Know You Did

I am sure you have a lot on your plate, as I do, so I will respond to your email as soon as I possibly can. Time is money for you and for me. There are days that I have meetings non-stop and can’t respond to emails until late in the day. I often respond to emails very fast and so it may be my fault that clients are irritated when I don’t respond right away, but there are times when it can’t happen.

#4 -If You Wait Until the Last Minute Your Project May Not Get Done on Time

I know Web Designers are smiling at this one. I will explain what has happened to me and the majority of Web Designers too many times. Clients decide they want a Web site and a plan is set up. Some clients are not focused on getting their content done or their photos together and they wait until a few days before they need the site live. So, they email everything at one time and say, “I need this done in 2 days”. Well, lets go back to #1, “You Are Not Our Only Client”. We have other clients and other responsibilities so it isn’t fair to tell all of them to sit and wait so we can finish your project at the last minute. Put yourself in their shoes and please put yourself in ours.

Typically, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to photos before they are added to a site. They often need to be cropped and resized, they need to be uploaded and set up on the page. Then there is the text. Creating a page with attractive content with images that compliment the text may sound simple, but it takes time, often a lot of time to make things perfect. Many in this business want their sites to be perfect because it is an example of their work.

#5 -Please Give Us a Little Respect. Please, Please, Please…

Are we doctors? No. Are we lawyers? No. Can we do what they do? No. Can they do what we do? NO!!!! We are all experts at something and we all deserve respect. I know that I personally make an effort to make sure every client feels respected. Many people don’t realize that some of their actions are actually disrespectful or maybe they just don’t think about it. However, I have to ask would you wait until the last minute to get things to your lawyer, your accountant or your doctor? No, because you know it wouldn’t get done when you wanted it to.

I know many Web Designers, SEOs and Internet Marketers that work early in the morning and late into the night to make sure things are done for their clients. They work harder than most because I think many of us feel a great deal of responsibility because if you are not successful on the Web it could really hurt your business.

#6 -Yes, I feel A Responsibility to You and I Feel the Same Level of Responsibility to My Other Clients

I want to work hard for every client. I want every client to kick butt on the Web! I want every client’s business to grow. I don’t feel a greater level of responsibility for one client than another. I have to do a good job for all of them, so if I have to suddenly do 6 hours of work in a day because a client waited until the last minute that means I have to work until midnight or longer to meet my other responsibilities. So guess who suffers?

1. My Family- my time with them is shortened or replaced to make up time to other clients
2. All my clients because if I stay up until 2 working and get up at 6 to get the kids to school I will not be as effective as I could have been
3. Me- because I am tired and according to all the recent reports women that don’t get 8 hours of sleep retain weight around their middle section. 🙂 I am not kidding here! I have bought a lot of clothes I need to look good in and I have been married for 17 years…I need to still look attractive after all these years 🙂 . SO remember! You could be messing up my weight if you wait until the last minute! 🙂 There is my lame attempt at humor…remember I am a computer/Internet geek, this is all I’ve got!

#7 -How Do I Say This Nicely?…

(To the nice client that emailed me about title-tags last night, this isn’t aimed at you). I am fine with clients questioning me about stuff. Sometimes they want to make sure I know what I am doing and sometimes they think they have discovered something brand new about optimization. I am glad they are reading to be honest, but please try to trust me every once in awhile. I kind of know this stuff. Example, I have an accountant to do my taxes. I hired her because she is smart. I trust her, but I do ask certain things. I do not, however, get in her face and tell her how she is doing it wrong when I have no clue what all that crap means in the first place.

It is fine to question things and it is fine to clarify, but it is all in how you do it.

#8 -I Am Fully Aware That the Economy Is Bad and Money Is Tight For You; It is For Me Too

This year I have had more people disappear or respond to an invoice with an email about how it has been a rough couple of months and can I wait to be paid? I have heard from many other businesses that they have been chasing after payments. Please keep this in mind, if we choose one client we are missing the opportunity to work with another that may be a paying client. We need to be paid too. The economy is just as bad for us as it is for you. We have children and homes and taxes. If you don’t pay it is our families that pay.

I never took money upfront before; I didn’t need to and now I have to and I hate it. If money becomes tight for whatever reason just call your Web Designer or Web services provider and say, “Hey, can we put things on hold until I am more financially stable? How much do I need to pay you now?”

#9 -We Want to Provide You with Excellent Service and We Love You

In today’s economy every good client is a blessing. We want to provide the best service you could possibly have but that doesn’t mean we deserve to be walked all over. If you decide at the last minute that you want to change your logo, 15 images and edit 8 pages of text it is going to take us time and we do actually deserve to be paid for that time. You really shouldn’t expect unlimited revisions. I recently had a client send me a list of revisions with a statement that he was going to be pay me $??? to make the changes. What a breath of fresh air. He understood that my time is money.

Clients are often a blast. I know I personally enjoy the different personalities and I truly appreciate the opportunity to work with my clients. It is difficult to say, “Look, this just isn’t right and here is why…”. I don’t want to offend anyone and I know others in my same line of work don’t want to either. Those that offer Web-based services do deserve the same amount of respect you would give to other service providers.

#10 -What You Might Discuss in Your First Meeting with a Web Services Provider

Talk to people ahead of time and ask them if they have the time to meet your needs. Tell them what you expect and ask them if it is realistic. When things are discussed and decided on from day one many issues are eliminated.

Melissa- SEO Aware