WHEN I first visited “The Last Bookstore” in Los Angeles early this year, I was overwhelmed by the grandeur of this multilevel bookstore on Spring Street. It was an old building the owners had transformed into a haven for book lovers, with floor-to-ceiling shelves that seemed to go on endlessly and stocked with books of all genres that one day was simply not enough for leisurely browsing.
In the limited time we spent there, one particular book with its colorful and captivating title seemed to leap out enticingly so I picked it up. The author, Bonnie Siegler, voted among the 50 most influential designers by Graphic Design, USA, founded a graphic design company that had Oprah Winfrey as one of their early clients. They were daunted at first. After all, Oprah had a reputation as a demanding perfectionist—and the money and clout to get what she wanted.
To their pleasant surprise, however, Oprah signed them up for a book project and personally worked with them, listening to their ideas and creative choices as their work progressed. That turned out to be just one of their many memorable creative collaborations.
In her book, Dear Client, This Book Will Teach You How To Get What You Want From Creative People. Sincerely, Bonnie Siegler, the author came up with 66 compact, but well-defined chapters that cover practical tips and experiences she shared with readers. And Siegler nailed it, recounting and describing some real-life experiences she had with a number of diverse clients.
Siegler may have been a designer with her own graphic design company, but much of what she laid down in the book certainly applies to any company, agency, or individual who deals with all manner of creative communication, including and especially those in advertising and PR agencies, digital agencies, marketing and events management, and anything that requires client approval, inputs and collaboration.
In short, this book is for everyone who works in creative-driven companies.
Out of the 66 tips, I selected five that, I believe, encapsulates most of the basic guidelines that count. These tips are intended not only for creative pitches or speculative presentations—where you don’t know anything about clients yet—but also for existing agency-client relationships where the client has appointed the creative team and, therefore, needs to work closely with them.
In fact, these five tips will help any kind of business that deals with client servicing.
Working with creatives can be productive if you can try to be all of the following:
1. Be honest
Every good relationship must be based on honesty. Tell the truth at all costs. Don’t say you love the presentation and then change your mind the next day.
You should be straightforward about the following: budget, schedules, the company’s peculiar policies, your personal quirks if any, likes and dislikes, when you want to schedule regular meetings, what you want to accomplish, and what you hope this project will do for you and the company.
Be candid in your criticism or opinions, but try to be fair, considerate, professional, and respectful in expressing what you really think and how you feel.
2. Know thyself
Before you start working with a creative team, strive for clarity. Identify what you like and don’t like. What pleases you? What draws you in? Your taste and your personal preferences will definitely play a huge part in your decision-making.
When you provide clear directions for your agency or creative team, give them at least a working knowledge of what campaigns or sample products have impressed you and why. What to you are successful representations of a brand, and share with them what you think have worked for others,
especially your competition.
3. Decide who will decide
Siegler recounted their experience when they were commissioned to help create a new identity for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center in New York. Because there were many important stakeholders, including the families of those who died, government officials, and museum directors, years went by without decisions being made until then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he would take on the role of decider. From then on, the branding process moved forward smoothly and efficiently.
This should work as well for the decision-making or approval process for ideas, concepts, and other new communications materials that agencies go through with clients. Siegler said: “The plague of groupthink is not limited to creative work. Decisions around design, copy, video and the like are subjective; people with little expertise tend to feel more confident sharing an opinion. And because each person will naturally have unique preferences, any decision made by committee will necessitate compromise and, therefore, lack singular vision.”
I agree with Siegler when she said that “vision is not a group activity.” It is better for the group to pre-decide who the final decision-maker will be before they face the agency or the creative team. If this person—or maybe two of them—is empowered to decide, they will have more time to evaluate the process and ensure it runs smoothly. That one person (or two) will take their role much more seriously than 10 people who only have 1/10 each of the responsibility.
4. Be upfront about money
Here in the Philippines, clients are often inclined to start off negotiations with “we don’t have a very big budget,” which may be interpreted to mean: “Don’t charge us ‘exorbitant’ fees.”
Siegler said, “Creative people are at a little bit of a disadvantage, weirdly because we love what we do. We feel lucky to get paid for it and we would probably do it for free, but there are realities of life and while we are privileged to earn a living this way, earn money we must.”
Taking off from our local experience, our best advice to clients is this: If you have a specific budget or range for your project in mind, please tell us. It will not only make us feel that we’re on same page and that you trust us; it will also save us precious time.
I always tell new clients that if you tell us at the onset what your budget is, we can try to draw a plan or proposal to fit that budget. Personally, I like to aim higher or submit a bigger or more ambitious proposal so that the client can simply trim it down. When clients are not yet comfortable with the agency or are meeting them for the first time, they either say they have no budget in mind or they withhold their budget parameters, hoping that we will bid lower than they have to spend.
However, most seasoned professionals (including myself) don’t even aspire to be the cheapest bidder. They would rather work with an honest and straightforward client who will trust them to do their work right.
I have also learned that when clients make their choice on the basis of the lowest bid, the relationship may get into a nebulous footing because both parties may feel they have been shortchanged. Not exactly an ideal work relationship, is it?
5. Don’t say that, say this
Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it that derails a collaboration. Bluntness, specificity, vagueness—all of these can get in the way. So Siegler suggested this list of some do’s and don’ts when critiquing or commenting on your supplier’s work.
Don’t say: Make it red.
Do say: I wish it were bolder and stronger.
Don’t say: Make it bigger
Do say: I wonder what this image would look like if it were more prominent.
Don’t say: I hate it.
Do say: Can you explain this to me?
Don’t say: What I’m looking at makes no sense.
Do say: Can you explain why you decided on this direction?
Don’t say: Can you try again and make it different?
Do say: I wish it were…(whatever you wish was different).
Don’t say: I love it (if you don’t actually love it)
Do say: I think I really like it, but I need some time to gather my thoughts.
Don’t say: Here are the changes we want you to make.
Do say: Great effort, but there are some concerns that need to be addressed.
Don’t say: We need you to do it like this.
Do say: We are hiring you to do what you do, so please tell us how you’d like this to work.
Don’t say: What do you charge for a logo?
Do say: Here is what we are looking for and here’s our ideal timeline. Please come back to us with a proposal.
Don’t say: It’s just a little job; there’s no need for a contract.
Do say: Would you like us to supply the contract or would you like to?
Don’t say: We want it to look like this.
Do say: Here are a few examples of work that we like and consider relevant.
Don’t say: I’m not a fan of this typeface.
Do say: Can you show us some different type treatments?
Don’t say: We can’t pay you much, but we’ll get you great exposure.
Do say: This is how much we can pay. We hope that works for you.
Don’t say: This isn’t what I pictured, so I don’t think it works.
Do say: Let me live with this for a day or two.
Don’t say: I showed your work to my friends last night at dinner, and they didn’t like it.
Do say: I was talking to some colleagues and they brought up some issues I’d like to discuss with you.
Don’t say: We need this project to accomplish these eight goals.
Do say: This is our most important goal, but there are secondary goals we’d love to achieve as well.
Don’t say: Can you combine this version with that version?
Do say : This is what I like about this version and this is what I like about that one. What can you do with that information?
Don’t say: Have you designed aseptic baby food packaging before?
Do say: Can you share other jobs you’ve had that are relevant to this project?
To all our present and future clients, I hope these snippets from Siegler’s book will help you get the best results.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the president and CEO of Buensalido and Associates Public Relations.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.