Mastering Communication with Design Clients: Tips and Techniques

Many freelancer designers and business owners struggle with the project management side of things in a remote setting. Running a successful design business requires more than creative skills.

In this video, you will learn the BEST way to get your communication out of email and automate your process for efficient timelines, happy clients, and productive feedback for great finished design projects.

Do you ever...

• Get conflicting or unclear feedback from clients
• Have clients that ignore your communications or are slow to respond 
• Have a hard time keeping track of client emails
• Wish there was an easier way to deliver images, designs, videos & written descriptions in ONE place
• Desire to improve your project timelines & efficiency

It's your job as a designer to frame HOW your clients view your work... and hopefully, they aren't reviewing logos while going to the bathroom!

I will share with you a proven strategy to:

• Get out of communicating with clients via email
• Help clients digest the concepts and execution of your design work
• Ensure that your clients don't just see your design work, but understand the ideas behind the visuals
• Help you sell your design work to your clients with a smoother process
• Allow clients to feel comfortable to give you honest feedback from the beginning for a more efficient process

I came up with this process by building my remote international design agency over the past decade through a lot of trial and error. By developing a consistent communication system, you will make your life and business run smoother.

Today, we are going to focus on ways to help you automate your business for a more streamlined communication process with your clients.

First, let's talk about why email sucks...

• Email is distracting & pulls your work focus
• It’s hard to track all email communications
• It’s difficult to outsource your email
• It doesn’t provide great response accountability
• We are getting numb to our overfilled inbox

The solution: Find a client-facing project management system that can handle ALL your communication and feedback needs and clients are willing to use. We recommend Milanote.

Why Milanote is so great:

• You can create templates for easy onboarding
• It allows you to upload images, videos, text, etc
• It's fully customizable to your needs
• It's great for visually based brainstorming --> Check out Milanote's great guide on brainstorming HERE
• It includes a comment feature, which increases response time from clients 
• Milanote makes communication easy and even FUN for clients
• Start for free, and low-cost accounts if you need more upload space ($10/month for unlimited space)

Design presentation best practices:

• Use video uploads to present work (alongside your designs)
• Prompt your clients with clear questions for feedback
• Your process should funnel ideas into specific solutions to avoid too much back and forth feedback from clients

We've had great luck presenting our design work via Milanote to clients. It has helped us to stay on the project timeline and be efficient in our workflows. This is a HUGE advantage because the more efficient we are in the design process, the more profit we make.

Milanote makes it possible for the MAJORITY of your client communication to take place within the platform. That said, we do offer our clients the ability to schedule Zoom meetings if needed. We love using Calendly for easy booking across different timezones. 

Finally, remember to own your process like a boss!

Clients are coming to you because you are the expert and have a valuable service that they require. It's up to you to confidently usher them through your design process so they feel comfortable and clear, but also understand the boundaries.

• Get a free Milanote account: www.milanote.com
• Get a free Calendly account: www.calendly.com