How to Deal with Non Tech clients
How to Talk to Non-Tech Savvy Clients
Jacob Cass
Learning how to carry out a compelling conversation with your non-tech-savvy client is a crucial skill that all freelancers must possess, especially if you want to keep a steady cash flow.
This article will go through some strategies on how to talk jargon with your clients in such a way that you can maintain their attention and give an accurate picture of what they really need to understand.
Fish for an estimate of their expertise
So you know how much explanation is needed for certain terms, you must first try to determine the client’s starting knowledge. This can be done indirectly by using “fishing techniques”.
For example, you could bring up a generic question in one of your earlier conversations related to your industry. If you worked in the web design industry you could ask your client in passing “Hey, what is your preferred web browser?” or “What operating system do you use?”.
What you are trying to find out is whether or not they know the basic terms of your industry, if they have a knowledge of the industry, if they have any experience with it, how comfortable they are with technology and whether they can engage with the topic at hand.
Some more questions could be:
- If you worked in graphic design industry: “Do you use Adobe Photoshop or any other image editing software?
- If you worked in the programming industry: “Do you subscribe to any RSS feeds?”, “How familiar are you with the programming process?”
- If you worked in the writing industry: “What are some websites / authors you read regularly?”
- If you worked in the illustration industry: “Have you ever worked with an Illustrator before?”
Don’t Underestimate Their Knowledge
Let’s imagine that you are a blogger and you’ve just asked another blogger if they know what RSS feeds are. They would most probably laugh in your face or worse, get offended. That is what you’ve got to avoid. You can do this by not underestimating your client’s knowledge. Don’t patronise them.
Keep It Simple & Slow
There is no reason to explain how you are going to do something, you should be telling the client why you’re doing it and what it will do for them.
Once you know their level of knowledge you’ll start to gather an understanding of how deeply you need to explain the job at hand. Explain in plain English, use examples, keep it simple, keep it slow and don’t overwhelm your client with technical jargon or over-the-top explanations. There is no reason to explain how you are going to do something, you should be telling the client why you’re doing it and what it will do for them.
When you visit a doctor and he uses unfamiliar medical terms, don’t you hate that? But when he slows down, provides a good explanation in plain English and shows you diagrams from a book, he accomplishes his task of communicating with you more effectively. This is what we need to do as freelancers: slow down, provide examples and talk in familiar terms.
Talk In Terms Of Results
As mentioned above, explain to the client why and what you are doing for them, not how you are doing it. Talk in terms of results — this will keep them listening and they will be more appreciative of the job you are
doing for them.
For example, when trying to describe the importance of standards-compliant XHTML, you could say: “Standards-compliant XHTML ensures that the website’s code is valid and supported by most modern web browsers. In the end, that means less maintenance and fewer customer support enquiries due to elements of the website not working on certain browsers.” It is still technical but it gives them the results of your efforts.
You could also go for a more simple approach and say “I will optimise the code so that you will get the best Google rankings possible and make your site viewable for as long as possible into the future, by the widest possible array of users.”
Pause or Ask for Questions
If you leave pauses in between your explanations this will encourage your client to clarify or ask a question. Behave as if you’re always willing to answer any question, no matter how simple or stupid it may sound. If they ever seem confused or remain silent, ask them “Should I explain further?” or if you’re writing via email, tell them that you’re “happy to answer any question that you may have”. (I had a similar experience a couple of days ago where the shop attendant at a bike store treated me in the most condescending way imaginable for not knowing whether my bike took short valves or long valves. The only result of the exchange was that he lost a customer. Never make your clients feel stupid, even if their questions are! — Ed.)
Put Things In Writing & Share Resources
Non-Tech-Savvy people like things in writing as they can read and re-read it at their own pace and get familiar with the terminology and even research the topic themselves. This is a great time to share with your client any resources that may be relevant. For example, you could provide a link to the Wikipedia explanation of unfamiliar terms or even provide an eBook on the topic at hand.
Use Familiar References
A great way to relate information to clients is by using scenarios and situations that are pertinent to their background. Be creative, make analogies funny, and most of all, use them to relay complex concepts. To illustrate with a satirical example: if you were talking to a photography enthusiast, you could say “using tables instead of div’s for a page layout is as bad as a decision as using Photoshop filters on your photos!”
Be Honest
Being honest with your client is a no brainer so try to be honest, sincere and upfront with everything that you do. If they ask you a tricky question, don’t pretend you know everything. Your client will appreciate it if you tell them the truth and say that you will “get back to them later with a full solution.”
Conclusion
You may want to impress your client with the vast amount of knowledge that you have. However, if they do not understand it, then all of your effort is lost. Try to think of the doctor analogy I mentioned earlier… when explaining a concept, slow down, provide examples and talk in familiar terms.
Web Design 8 things
8 Things You Should Include In Your Terms of Service Agreement
by Gary Horsman
If you’ve been a solo freelancer for any significant stretch of time, you’ve probably learned the hard way that a work project can go horribly wrong. They turn out to be life lessons in the long run, but there are ways to protect yourself.
Working with bad projects or bad clients generally boils down to mismatched expectations and inadequate communication. Your best safeguard is to make sure you and your client are on the same page before any work has even begun using a Terms of Service Agreement, which essentially puts into clear, written language what you expect from your client and what they should expect from you.
By submitting a comprehensive Terms of Service Agreement to your client beforehand and having them return confirmation to agree to abide by your terms, you will be saving yourself (and your client) a lot of headaches down the road and avoiding the kind of surprises that can cause a project to get derailed.
1. Billing structure.
What are your rates? Do you bill by the hour or by the project? This is important because it’s usually one of the first three questions a new client will ask. Agree with the client what a final estimate includes and what will happen if changes are requested beyond the scope of the initial parameters of the project.
2. Late payment.
Determine the grace period within which a client can submit their payment after the invoicing date. The standard practice is 30 days, but you can determine this according to your particular company. Also spell out late fees and/or interest rates for late payments. This will give incentive to your clients to pay their invoices sooner than later.
I’ve known too many freelancers that have rung up large invoices for major projects adding up to thousands of dollars only to be shafted by deadbeat clients who walk away with your hard work.
3. Interim charge caps.
I’ve known too many freelancers that have rung up large invoices for major projects adding up to thousands of dollars only to be shafted by deadbeat clients who walk away with your hard work. If you’re working on a major project or are doing several smaller projects for one client that add up to major charges, put a cap on how much outstanding debt the client can carry.
I personally put a $500 cap on my clients so that when their total bill exceeds that amount, they will need to make an interim payment to bring it under or face work suspension. This will prevent clients from promising lots of high-paying business without delivering on their word. This is paramount when it comes to new clients, even those referred by people you trust.
You have the option to waive this cap if you have a long-standing relationship with a trusted client who pays on time and in full.
4. Scheduling.
Can you service your clients twenty-four hours a day? Weekends? Holidays? You need to have a balanced life, which means you need to set hours that make sense with your lifestyle. Set appropriate hours when your clients can contact you and expect you to work. If you don’t want to be woken by a panicking client at one in the morning, tell them specifically at what time your shop closes.
5. No spec work allowed.
This is a controversial subject among many freelancers and prospective clients. The consensus for most is not to accept work on spec. Speculative work involves doing actual work with the hopes of impressing the client enough that they will provide further opportunities without any guarantee of payment or that you will retain rights over the work if it isn’t paid for. It is bad practice to allow for this type of work with the extremely rare exception of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Your time and talent are precious and shouldn’t be doled out for free under any circumstance. Spell it out in the agreement: no spec work.
6. Termination of services by client.
If you’re a writer or a designer or another creative professional and you’re submitting a first draft to a client and they are unsatisfied and want to end the project then and there saying something to the effect that your work does not meet their needs, they may be looking to get out of paying for the time you spent already, or worse, intending to steal your ideas for free. An honest client will pay for your time and move on to another freelancer. Otherwise, you’ve effectively just worked for spec and received a rejection. Set a minimum rate for work done that is immediately refused and where the client does not wish to allow you to continue.
It should be stipulated that work that is refused by the client cannot be used in whole or in part. This may or may not be respected, but can be actionable as long as the client has agreed to this term and then subsequently violated it.
7. Ownership rights.
Establish who owns the work after it has been completed and what rights the owner has to use or modify the final product. You may also want to consider retaining rights to utilize the work in a repertoire or portfolio for future promotion while the client retains all other major usage rights.
8. Unforeseen or sudden termination of a project.
Most freelancers work on their own, so if some mishap, illness or accident occurs that makes it impossible to continue a project in progress, the client needs to know what protections they have. You may have to associate yourself with a backup freelancer who will agree to take over. Otherwise, you can make a provision where files or assets for a project are turned over to the client to be continued by someone else and billed for the work done up to that point.
Whatever you decide, let the client understand that however unlikely, hiring a single freelancer has certain risks and that there will be some compensation or provision made in case of a stoppage.
Most clients will act in good faith, so keep an open mind and be willing to negotiate in instances where there is disagreement. But by explicitly setting the terms in advance, potential disputes can be avoided and you can focus on what’s most important: doing great work.
