Take your job seriously. Just don’t take it personally
As a creative, you not only gotta love your job — you need to be passionate about it. But sometimes that passion can take over and stop you from being open to input. You might fall into the trap of seeing feedback as something that an ignorant person comments on something they simply don’t comprehend. Please don’t! Opinions on your creation can actually help it become an even better solution.
Mistake nb 1 — fall blindly in love with your idea
When you create something, especially when you work in a creative field, it’s easy to fall into the trap of falling in love with what you’re creating. All of a sudden it’s your idea. And it’s a damn good one too. Too good to change or tweak. You put hours and hours into finalizing it and the more you see your vision taking shape, the more convinced you are that this is it. This is the most spot-on ad, copy, illustration, or technical solution (depending on your field of expertise of course) you’ve created. Ever.
Mistake nb 2— ignore body language
Heading for the meeting with the client, you walk on air. This baby is going to be a winner. A jaw-dropper. It can’t be any other way. You sell your pitch without any hesitation. And without having your ears and eyes open to typical body language around the table that would have given you a clear message that this is not at all what your audience expected. Or wanted for that matter. Soon they will start to express this, in a not-so-polite way.
Mistake nb 3 — blame the client for being ignorant
This is where many creatives start to feel resentment towards the client. An inner dialogue starts where you blame them for being too stubborn and reactionary. You draw the conclusion that they simply don’t understand how brilliant this solution is. Or worse, they don’t want to understand. It’s almost as if someone has told you that your child is ugly — it’s simply mean and rude. What you refuse to see is that you act like a child. You take their “resentment” towards your idea as if they criticize you as a person.
Mistake nb 4 — ignore their perspective
In most cases, there are many ways to get to know your client. Just take a look at how they describe their company. Dive into their annual reports, visual guidelines, SoMe-posts, CEO blogs, content on the website, etc. After a while, you’ll see that they have their favorite phrases and themes that they highlight over and over. This is their “lingo” or their “sphere”. Have that in the back of your mind, when you start sketching on your ideas.
Mistake nb 5— listen too much to the client
Most times, you have a great solution to the client's needs. It just needs a little adjustment here and there to be absolutely perfect. Sometimes, though, you deal with clients that have strong opinions about what they need, so much so that they sometimes forget that you have the outside-in-perspective that they are looking for and can’t obtain themselves. You have the opportunity and responsibility to push them, most likely outside their comfort zone, and in the right direction. So even if they persist that things need to be their way, you have the important role to challenge them to challenge themselves.
Takeaways:
- Love is blind — but don’t let yourself be blinded by your seemingly brilliant idea.
- Don’t get carried away by your pitch — be responsive to the mood in the room.
- Clients can be stubborn — but even if you’re the expert, don’t be ignorant to their input.
- Get the inside-out perspective — try to understand where they’re coming from.
- On the other hand — don’t be too compliant with their needs. They need to be challenged. Try to strike that perfect balance!
