presenting to a client
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- ganon
in your company, does a representative from the design department (designer, art director) accompany the sales person when presenting design concepts to a client?..it doesnt happen here, we just pass'em off to the sales people and hope for the best...i often get my designs back with a bunch of horrid changes, that the client requested...it seems to me the sales people have the "YES, sir, we can do that" mentality and not fighting for the design....
- woodyBatts0
Well the sales people are not designers right? Their job is to make a sale, i think horrid changes is just the way it is sometimes...
- ganon0
i realize that, just wanna know if thats the case in other companys...or are other designers part of these presentations to keep the revisions/changes on track with design concept as much as possible...?
- woodyBatts0
Unfortunately i have seen what you have descibed over and over again, but i have seen in small boutiques the designer has to act as sales person/liason/project manager... because there is a smaler size i feel you can gain more trust and assurance.
Just my observation, i think it also has to do with the size of the ego of the client as well.
- burrhead0
yes. happens to me all the time. my live sites are all horrid pieces of shit. i don't have a say in it and i'm the senior designer.
just make em happy and finish the job. quality is not job 1.
- bomy_dick0
this is wrong.. maybe common, but wrong
we always go with the devs or the sales to "sell" a project
i don't work in a agency but it is the same. we have to get the budget to do something, we have to sell our work etc..
i think if u are not part of the communication with the client you can hardly explain why and correct or re adapt your work..
in fact you can't really work seriously like that. u have to ve there
- ********0
at a company i used to work for the sales people were designers or coders in a former life. they always wished to have their say on the design. I'd make say two three proposals and I'd notice which one the sales person would like best.
when he came back from the meeting oh surprise surprise guess which one they'd chosen.
I even think he didnt show em all three. glad im out of there.
a designcompany run by salespeople, what a laughnow i work together with two friends who i trust, total open commmunication, you can call eachothers pricks and cunts when it has to. at home finishing some letterheads and i got a Bob Sinclar session lined up for tonite
life can be great sometimes doesnt it?!
- jg_20
yes, they do exist
i was woirking in a company like that. it was awful.
fortunately right now im in a designer-friendly studio
- Bluejam0
Sounds like Company Strategy Suicide™.
Yeah, you're gonna have a good base of 'bread and butter' clients that have/know their say due to lack of expertise on your companies part (when presenting creative) but sooner or later actual the level of creative worth is gonna drop and the portfolio will suffer.
I've seen happen on way too many projects, you waste weeks for nothing, lose money over nonstop changes because no one can justify the creative decisions and your credibilty suffers.
- ********0
I'm a project manager and although I have some design experience I would never go to a presentation ever without a designer with me. I feel it is important for the client to meet the designer of the project they so communicate with each other with regards to the design and concept. It just gets messy if a project manager goes by themself. If you don't have designer with you the client can get out off control and start making radical changes here and there - where if you have designer with you can can compromise. I defo rreccomend you take a designer with you.
- industry730
As designers it is our job to take the clients needs and designers and represent them visually, we are basically translators, translating the clients desires into graphical representation.
Therefor I feel that any "Sales" work should only be to sell a potential client on the Skills and abilities of the design staff.
Once the client is SOLD, there needs to be a meeting over the budget. What the Client wants and how much it will cost, this should be with the designer, so they can determine a time frame, then the sales team needs to create a reasonable quote, that is not to small so the company can make money, and not to large so the client can afford it.
get yourself a copy of the GAG Pricing and Ethics Guid
http://search.barnesandnoble.com…After the budget is set. the designers need to be very active with the clients, they need to be the one calling the clients for information, and selling their design ideas to the client. When you stick a "Sales person" in between you will always lose the main desires of the client.
I know this isn't always easy, I would much rather someone else deal with the client sometimes, but in all reality, your Business will defiantly grow if your clients feel that they are part of the design and working with the designer and not just making request through a sales person.