How illustrators can best work with designers and art directors
Once you have a chance at a job with a new client or a
big job for a current client, there is a tendency to rush through the
standard business practices. Don’t do it, especially with new clients.
Illustrators often feel if they are “easy” on the client on the first
job, the client will decide to stay and give them more work. Not
necessarily true; all it does is set you up for an unhealthy
relationship. The way to build healthy and profitable relationships with
clients and turn jobs into repeat business is to use good business
practices dealing with client projects. Here are some client project
issues that will come up with your illustration jobs, and some tips on
how to deal with them to develop and maintain a strong relationship thus
encouraging clients to keep coming back with more work.
The Deadline
This is a very delicate subject in any job with
any client. Many illustrators feel if they meet a miraculous and
unreasonable deadline, the client will “love them”. Unfortunately, all
that will do is ensure the client will always give you jobs with not
enough time to get them done properly in the future! Every client has a
deadline horror story to tell that makes them wary of giving accurate
information on this point. The best bet is to ask the kind of questions
designed to help the client feel more comfortable with your ability to
meet their deadlines. Instead of asking, "When do you want this job
done?" as this is much too subjective a question, ask for more objective
and measurable information such as, "When will the website with these
illustrations launch?” Look behind the stated deadline. By breaking the
delivery into a series of benchmarks on a timeline, both you and your
client will feel more in control of the process (and they will feel
safer coming back for more).
The Specific Need
Be sure to find out what specific problem this
illustration project is supposed to solve. The more accurate a statement
from the client of their goals and objective, the better opportunity
you have to meet it. Meeting the client’s goal, whether it is for
traffic-building website illustrations or a sales-building package
illustration, will always give you a better chance that they will come
back again.
The Approvals
This is another touchy subject between any client
and illustrator. Sometimes, you both are caught in nightmarish scenarios
where everyone responsible loves the ideas and then someone with a
higher authority shoots it down. Do the most you can to protect yourself
and your client: be a team. Find out how many people need to approve
the project. Who are they? How do they relate to this project? Where are
they? How many electronic file transfers vs. overnight deliveries are
involved? Will there be personal consultations with you or will your
client make the presentations for you?
Also, be sure to distinguish between subjective and
objective approvals. Subjective is someone's opinion and should be given
only to the highest level of authority, i.e., is this the color
background they had in mind? You could say that subjective approvals
represent the aesthetics and are a “matter of taste”. Note how different
this is from an objective approval, which is a measurable determination
of accuracy—such as the correct number of subjects or the correct size
of the product in the illustration. You want to maximize the objective
approvals and minimize the subjective approvals to get the job done and
make the client happy.
Cathie Bleck of Cathie Bleck Illustration,
www.cathiebleck.com,
gives five “core values” as keys to repeat business, “Reliability,
intelligent solutions, originality, quality assurance, and treating them
with respect.” Also, Cathie likes to get to know her clients, “on a
personal level, and strive to keep an open and honest dialog between us.
Keeping it friendly so to speak allows them the ability to feel that I
am approachable on the project or any future projects, even if I don't
get the job. I usually try to ask them in the bidding process who I am
bidding against and what factors might determine the decision? We may
start a dialog from here or another question regarding what I might be
able to offer them that might make my service unique to the project.”
Handling Conflict
Finally, your skill in handling conflicts with
clients will determine whether your relationship will prosper or end. It
is important to know that conflict is not bad. In fact, it is natural
and inevitable and you cannot avoid it. What matters is how you choose
to manage the conflicts that will arise, and maintain a relationship
characterized by integrity, and open communication to achieve the
“win-win” that keeps clients loyal.
Cathie Bleck suggests,“I have very few conflicts with
clients, but when I do I try to be direct without being negative.
Pointing a finger at the problem and not them will hopefully preserve
the relationship for the future. Putting the agreement in writing from
the beginning of the project serves to alleviate most communication
problems.”
Today's competitive marketplace justifies a closer look
at how illustrators look at their relationships with clients. On the
client's side, the same market factors dictate a new importance and
evaluation of their relationships with their illustrators. The more you
learn and study the relationship between the creative and the client,
the better chance you have of getting the job, and then turning that job
into a client and a long-term relationship!
Maria Piscopo www.mpiscopo.com is a creative
services consultant, an art/photo rep and marketing workshop instructor
specializing in effective and creative marketing strategies delivered
in her business and self-promotion classes, keynotes, seminars and
workshops for associations, schools and photo industry conferences. She
is currently an instructor at the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco and a reviewer for www.eyeist.com
Maria will be speaking in Seattle on May 23rd for the ASMP and Seattle illustrators group. This is one of the best workshops you could attend - highly informative - about pricing your work. She will repeat her new 2 hour workshop that
she premiered at ICON
‘Taking Charge of What You Charge’
If you're in or near Seattle - please don't miss it! You'll thank me later!
