I’ve been working on freelance jobs for years. A client calls me and we setup a meeting, discuss what they want me to build and after signing a very short and easy to understand agreement, the project starts. But just before signing that agreement we have the “this is how we work” talk. This has proven to be very helpful. I make sure clients know what to expect and make sure they are satisfied with the level of control we give them during the project.

The method

The key to our method is that we make sure the client can tweak stuff along the course of the project. Every step has at least 2 iterations. After the first iteration or draft round the client comes in, we show them what we have and incorporate any changes.

We also explain the client that anything that does not get revisions or comments from them is automatically approved. This is specially good because it makes clients think very hard and it forces them to be very conscious about the approval process. You see if they approve something it will cost them more to change later. So, they know that if they don’t ask for changes that’s what they are getting at the end. I know this sounds kind of strict but it produces happy clients on the long run, believe it or not.

Once the client has provided comments and revisions for the draft iteration we incorporate those changes into a new version and send it right to the client. This is the final approval stage. The client can make minor tweaks, nothing major and finally approves. Have in mind that the client can always make changes whenever they want. The good thing is that they understand that changing this little process will cost them more and it might mean that we have to delay the project completion date.

The big picture

In order for this method to work we have to split projects in many small goals. The process to complete each of this goals is the one I just explained above. Let me try to make this clear by giving you an example. Let’s say we have to make a website for a corporate client. The first thing we do is split the project into small pieces that we think the client might want to give us feedback on. The process is very straight forward, we do a first draft of something, we show the client, they give feedback, we make recommendations, we improve the work with very clear goals, we show the client again and we are done.

That’s it. That’s how we make stuff for clients. Small units of work with 2 chances for input, comments and changes by the client. If the client requires more than 2 revisions, we charge them more and we’ll need more time to complete the project.

We’ve been using this method with clients of all sizes on many projects. Every time we deliver on time and with a happy client. When the project gets delayed is mostly due to the client changing their mind about what they wanted. When this happens we get to charge more for the project. We have to work very hard to be on time but that’s something we can handle. On the past, client changes of mind drove us crazy and we left a lot of money on the table just because we where not clear about how to go about this situation. Now clients are more engaged during the revision and approval process and we end up with less delayed projects and happier clients.

For some this might seem logical, for others a bit too much but in my experience this is the best way to work with clients. It makes them happy and you are almost always working on what the client wants instead of working on what you think they want.

This works great for us, so we wanted to share it. We are even working on a tool called Blimp to make this process easier to handle and automate. In a future post I will explain a little bit more about that.

If you’re interested in getting notified when we launch Blimp don’t forget to sign up for the beta. We are launching pretty soon.