Comments on: A partnership of cooperation

By: Paul Boag

Paul Boag — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:16:53 +0000

@Justin... you are right. My apologises. I have now corrected this.

By: Justin Viger

Justin Viger — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:45:12 +0000

Question:
Under the subheading “Define the boundaries of the relationship” should the sentence:
“For example, if a client has not worked on a web project before they are likely to be aware of their role.”
be
“For example, if a client has not worked on a web project before they are NOT likely to be aware of their role.”
Or am I just misunderstanding what you are trying to say?

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:30:59 +0000

I totally agree, although the matter of distrust is not limited to web agencies and its clients alone. Aside from having worked (mostly as a CTO and development manager, both at my own agency with 12 employees and at one of the large international portal companies) in the Internet industry since the mid 90's, I also do quite a bit of work as an ordinary software development consultant for Mac and OS X (one of the very few in Europe, it appears), and also there clients have a tendency to micro manage and try to minimise the role of the consultant to that of a "bit pusher"; e.g. a code monkey. Rather than making an investment in quality and experience, too many clients tend to see it purely as a purchase of time. For that they should probably rather get a temporary employee on their payroll.

By: Five Minute Argument

Five Minute Argument — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:06:12 +0000

“The client usually has a better understanding of their business objectives and target audience.”
Don’t rule out those cases in which the client has a better understanding of design and technical issues, too! I’m working for a company that outsources a lot of work, mainly due to low headcount. But I see an awful lot of cowboys out there who just don’t know what they’re doing. The web team here is TINY and no-one else here really understands how the web works; that leads to agencies taking libertie$.
I believe the real problem was caused by violating this rule: don’t outsource something you couldn’t do yourself.

By: George

George — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:23:23 +0000

I totally agree with the principles of your article and I am all for maintaining a good (ideally great!) client relationship.
However I find with some clients, particularly ones that are used to working on print-based projects and don’t know about the limitations of the web as a medium, the end-user needs are often being pushed aside to make room for the clients wants.
I would like to put rates up slightly, allowing more time to explain the processes & thus providing a better service but fear this would scare off existing clients. While clients should be coming to you as an expert I often find that (with mine) it’s more about money – in itself this is de-valuing your skill-set.
I guess the question really is how do you attain ‘better’ clients?

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:58:46 +0000

Basically I think it all comes down to trust, they have to trust that you are doing the best for them and you have to trust that they are not trying to get more work out of you for no extra dough.