In this episode of “The Engaging Marketeer,” Darren addresses a prevalent issue in web design and digital marketing agencies: poor communication with clients.
Drawing from his experience in the industry, which started back in 1998, the host highlights how agencies often fail – not due to a lack of skill, but due to inadequate client communication.
Emphasising the importance of managing client expectations, Darren shares insights on maintaining transparency and updating clients regularly to ensure satisfaction. The episode carries with it a strong message: effective communication is the key to client retention and business success. Below, we’ll see what Darren has to say.
Where it all Started
I want to talk about what is probably the biggest complaint about web design agencies and digital marketing agencies for that matter. You see, I’ve been in web design for a very, very, very, very long time. I think that was enough “very”s. I’m not quite sure; maybe I’ll add another one.
Very, very long time.
I built my first website back in 1998, which is a long time ago, whatever point you’re listening to this podcast or watching this podcast. That is a long time ago, 1998.
I’ve worked for many agencies over the years across the UK, including in-house, as many of you will know. My first proper job in web design was as the in-house web designer for Game or Electronics Boutique as it was back then. I’ve worked in these agencies and many of them have the same sort of makeup, the same dynamic.
The Common Problem with Web Design Agencies
This is what happens when people start a web design agency: there’s a guy who likes building websites and he wants to go freelance and start his own agency. He partners up with a mate of his who likes designing websites, and they both get together and form an agency designing websites. They’re either really good at it or they’re okay at it or whatever the situation is with their individual skill.
What they are not good at is running businesses, dealing with sales, dealing with clients, customer service and managing projects. All of the important stuff to do with the business, they are absolutely terrible at.
They like doing the work, building the websites, getting in there with the code, or whatever it is that they’re building the websites with. But when it comes to actually talking to the clients, they haven’t got a clue. They’ll tell a client, “Oh yeah, we’re going to get you this website and it’s going to be done by a week Thursday,” or “It’s going to be done by mid-July,” or whatever date they give them, because that’s what they think the client wants to hear. And of course, that is what the client wants to hear: “Yes, your website’s going to be done very quickly.”
The Importance of Managing Client Expectations
What they don’t understand is the simple premise of overpromising and underdelivering. No, they don’t. What it should be is underpromise and overdeliver.
If you’re going to have the website ready by, say, next Tuesday, you don’t tell the client, “We’re going to have the website ready for next Tuesday,” because if you hit that target, the client is like, “Great, you did it. Well done. Fantastic.” If you miss that target, the client is disgusted. Whereas if you’re going to have the website ready for next Tuesday, you tell the client, “We’re going to have the website ready for you by next Friday.” Then if you have the website ready for next Tuesday, the client is surprised, “Whoa, brilliant, you’ve done something amazing. I didn’t realise it would be ready this quickly.” Aren’t we fantastic? It’s the same result; just the client is really surprised about it.
Communication is Key
It’s not just about the underpromise and overdeliver thing. It’s more about the communication. It’s about letting the client know what is happening when the client needs to know that it is happening. So many agencies, so many web designers, they will do stuff and they won’t tell the client. They’ll have the design ready, or they’ll make some changes on a design, or they’ll have a website built, and they’ll go in and they’ll do some stuff and they won’t let the client know they’ve done it. As far as the client is concerned, nothing has happened, nothing has progressed, nothing has gone any further. And they’ll wonder what the hell the web designer is doing. They’re not doing any work; they’re not doing anything. But they are doing it, they just haven’t communicated it with the client because they don’t understand the importance of communication.
Let your clients know what you have done when you have done it, where you are up to, and they will be happy about it. You can be the worst web designer in the world—and I’ve met some of them—but if you are good at client communication and you let your client know regularly what is happening, this is where we’re at with this project, this is what I need from you, right, I’ve got that from you now, thank you for sending that through, this is the next milestone in the project, this is when I’m going to have something ready for you, and you have it for them before that point, here it is.
Most clients won’t even know the difference. Most business owners don’t know a good design from a bad design. That’s a different podcast rant. I have that rant on other podcasts, you may have heard it before, I will probably have it again. I’m not going to have that now. No, no, I’m not going to talk about web design now. But it really doesn’t matter the quality of the web design, the quality of the skill, the experience, the ability—none of that really matters as far as the client experience goes.
The Role of Customer Service
It’s all about customer service. It’s all about letting the client know what needs to happen when it needs to happen and how it needs to happen. And that is where most web designers fall down. That is where they fall down because it’s usually a business with two people with the same skills; both like building websites, none of them like talking to clients. They don’t really know what talking to clients is all about, so it absolutely falls foul at that stage.
I think the real problem with this is that when you’re a business owner and you employ a web designer, you don’t really know whether they’re good or not. You don’t know what their communication is like or not. You just want a website, or rather you don’t want a website, you want the result that a website gives you. You want the extra business, the extra gravitas, the extra leads, the extra enquiries, whatever it may be. Whatever your end goal is, that’s what you want out of it.
Real Client Experiences
Now, when you pay your money and you get your website and that doesn’t necessarily happen, what’s important is that you are being kept up to date by the web designer in question. And that’s where it all falls down.
I have had countless conversations with business owners—and you may have experienced this yourself—who’ve come to me and said, “I’ve had a website built by this company or that company and I’ve tried to get something changed on the website and they are not interested. They will not get back to me. I do not know what they are doing. They refuse to answer the phone. They will not reply to an email. Sometimes they say they’re going to make a change but they haven’t done it and I don’t know when that’s going to happen.” I hear that a lot. Quite often they use the phrase “pissing me off,” and it always, always comes down to communication.
Effective Communication Strategies
Which is why we try to make sure that everything that we do, every milestone that we have, every stage of the design process is communicated. Our clients are kept up to date at every step. And that’s the point of this particular podcast. I’m not promoting our business, this is about you, and what you need to do in your business as well.
Don’t get hung up on the skill level, the deliverables, the design, whatever it is that you do. Do not get hung up on that. It’s about the customer service. It’s about the communication. It’s about contacting your clients and letting them know where something is up to and what they can expect and when they can expect it. The industry is irrelevant. I have just used web design for the purpose of this because that is the industry I’m in. It’s the industry I understand relatively well, and digital marketing, search engine optimisation, all that bobbins, which is important. But the key is the communication.
Conclusion
Many businesses fail not through lack of ability, not through lack of skill level, not through what they actually create. They can be brilliant at what they do, absolutely brilliant. And I’ve seen some design agencies with the most talented people in them, so talented, yet they still fail because they don’t understand about communicating with the clients. They don’t understand about what the client wants. And yes, it’s a great design or it’s a great result, but they want to know that, and they want to know when it’s going to happen, and they want to be kept informed about when it’s going to happen. That’s where it all goes wrong.
So, this has been a bit of a weird podcast really. I’m not quite sure if this has been helpful at all. But take this from it: communication with the client is the single most important thing in your business. I’ll see you next week for the next episode!
About your host:
Darren has worked within digital marketing since the last century, and was the first in-house web designer for video games retailer GAME in the UK, known as Electronics Boutique in the States. After co-founding his own agency, Engage Web, in 2009, Darren has worked with clients around the world, including Australia, Canada and the USA.
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/engaging-marketeer/id1612454837
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenjamieson/
Engaging Marketeer: https://engagingmarketeer.com
Engage Web: https://www.engageweb.co.uk
