Every Client is an Unfolding Novel

Usually, potential clients don’t lead with this, but at some point, during an intro call, we start to hear about their experiences with other web developers. I used to think of it a bit like talking about an ex-girlfriend on a first date and would occasionally joke about lighting my therapy candle, but I always welcome the opportunity to discuss a potential client’s prior experiences. 

Client Context

Prospective clients often come to us looking to make a change in website development, which typically means the immediate story isn’t going well and they want to rewrite it. As the pain points emerge, all sorts of details emerge, informing us how we can help make their next chapter filled with happy and welcome changes. 

Several years ago, a client in Seattle came to us with a large Drupal CMS project. It had been underway for over a year, the very first pages came together, and it wasn’t working. They were already into it over $100k and decided to make a change.

The biggest challenge for us was building trust. They had been so burnt, so frustrated, had so many broken promises by the other firm, they didn’t trust anyone outside of their organization but needed help to get the project done. We built trust slowly, with small wins, an abundance of helpful calls with the technical project manager, weekly in-person meetings, and delivering quality work. Three months later, their new site with the new design was live. We continued to help them with additional projects and provide ongoing support for many years. 

Sometimes clients talk about the projects that went badly years ago, sometimes it's issues with the current agency they are partnered with, and sometimes it’s members of their own team who are blocking progress. All of this provides insight into who they are and what matters to them. 

Industry Knowledge

Five years ago I attended a Bureau of Digital “Owner Camp” retreat in Arizona. It was a chance for a small group of agency business owners from different regions of the country to share experiences, ideas, business processes, and tools in a safe place. 

Owner Camp is run a bit like how I imagine the United Nations functions — agency owners all seated in a semicircle, with a podium, table name tags, and a system to click a button when you want to speak so we’re not all talking over each other. It’s a great experience, and I would recommend it to any agency owner.

The keynote speaker that year was Jesse James Garrett, who had recently sold his legendary UX firm Adaptive Path to Capital One.

One of the great insights he shared was to think about a client’s experiences as a novel or story and you are just entering their ongoing narrative. 

Each individual on a client team has had all sorts of unique experiences, usually across multiple projects, multiple companies, and different characters come and go as the plot develops.

Then – sometime around the middle of the book, say chapter 7, a new character gets introduced to their story. For the case of prospective clients, Bear Group is that new character.

I loved that idea, that our company is getting a chance to be part of their story – perhaps even to change the narrative in new and exciting ways – but we need to acknowledge and appreciate their prior experiences including the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

We’ll add our own arc to their story – whether it’s a quick three-month build, or a five-year engagement. Listening to their story up to that point, and experience with other projects, other dev teams, other agencies, even other companies gives us a magical moment, a chance to make a great first impression, and wonderful first-hand experiences that help us steer our business. There is almost no better customer research we could do.

Trust the Process

Trust is built in little moments, being conscientious, telling the truth, meeting deadlines, and being a true partner.

Sometimes it’s a challenge – especially if the project is mid-stream, a ton of budget has been spent already. We try to be as honest as we can, salvage any work that can be salvaged, and tell the truth about where things are. We don’t want to jump into the narrative of their story and somehow make it worse.

We love being a character in the story of our client’s personal narratives. That type of thinking builds trust, and long-lasting, rewarding relationships.