Would you believe that there was a famous incident where a creative director threatened to jump of a building if the client refused to buy the work. Jesus Christ!
We've all been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the badge when it comes to resenting clients for not buying our work. I remember a facebook post that I made recently bitching at how clients are biased towards certain creative types. I had just come from a bad day at work and was fuming at how a client could not see the logic behind my idea. Then some dude replied and said that maybe it was not the client but rather how I conveyed my idea to the client - well said.
Anyway, today was yet another insightful day at the Cannes Festival and i was fortunate enough to attend a session conducted by Jeff Goodby, Co-chair Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. This guy is a legend and is famed for work such as the famous Budweiser frogs campaign. His talk was on how creatives can sell work to clients. Here's what I learnt.
The key point he made was that sometimes creatives tend to live in a world of their own. We should strive to see work through the eyes of clients. Being over passionate about work can sometimes lead us to jumping way over the rationale of what we are doing.
Creatives should learn to build client relations way before the actual meeting. Try setting up time with the client as you go over the brief and try to learn their way of thinking, what kind of work they like, what they are trying to achieve with their business and so on. This way you will build a strong relationship and establish trust.Trust is built with time and when they see you understand their vision and thinking chances are that you will more than likely succeed in convincing them that your work will achieve their goals.
Clients can also be right. Yup, its true. We are often too quick to kill their suggestions thinking that they have no creative cells. The client can have good ideas and it is our task to find these gems then polish them up. Look for points where you and your client can agree.
Another great piece of advise is, do not be afraid to start over. There are often times when we compromise campaigns by agreeing to slice off this and that. By the end of it all, the work gets diluted and has little semblance to what it was in the beginning. The best thing to do in cases like this is to offer to start over and do something else. You just might come up with a better idea.
There is also the matter of persistence. If you have no shadow of doubt whatsoever that your idea will work. Try and sell it to the client again on another occasion. Coming back next year to talk about an idea that was rejected can work. It should be done with humility and a real sense of great belief. You never know, the client might just buy your case and opt to finally approve the work.
Finally, do not be afraid to ask for the big boss to be at the presentation. Sometimes the big boys can see through your idea and the conversation in the board room may completely change. You know the drill, once the big boss says he loves your work the rest of the team will follow and start showering your work with complements.
So there you have it folks, a few tips on how we can simply try harder. When all else fails you could always try and get the client kidnapped so that he is not present for the meeting and someone else signs off your work - just thinking out of the box.
Hey that's just my opinion.
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