网页设计师3招吓走客户

  
原文：Three Most Common Ways Web Designers Lose The Client

When Brian approached me about writing for Elite By Design, I immediately accepted. I’ve kept up with Elite By Design for awhile now, and it’s an honor to be here as a guest blogger. I wanted to write something that was worthy of Brian’s reputation; so I really dug deep to find a topic that I felt fit the Elite By Design vibe. Since I’m first and foremost a web designer, I finally landed on a topic that’s forever in the mind of the freelance web designer. It’s the question of how to convey the importance and complexity of web design without frustrating or boring clients. If you’ve spent any amount of time in client meetings, I’m sure you’ve discovered that non-web designers are quickly confused and frustrated by the things that web designers love. First, I’ll take a look at the three most common ways web designers shoot themselves in the foot during client meetings. Then I’ll present some easy ways to avoid those mistakes in the future.


1. Bombarding Clients with Industry JargonWeb designers love industry jargon. As if that isn’t enough, we take words and and phrases that are already esoteric and and turn them into cute little acronyms. HTML, CSS, PHP, and IA are tossed around way too much in client meetings. Using words and phrases that no one else understands—while it may make you look smart it won’t make clients want to work with you. Clients want to feel that they understand what they’re getting when they hire you. They rarely care how many acronyms you know. So how do you show that you know what you’re doing without being patronizing?
Solution:
The easiest way to fight the industry jargon monster is to rethink your vocabulary. You could call HTML and PHP the “behind the scenes code”. CSS is just “style”. Company blog could be “company news”. Find ways to describe the important elements of web design with words and phrases that are common to everyone. If you’re dealing with someone whose more web-savvy, adjust your strategy accordingly.
2. Getting Defensive with ClientsJust last week, I had a marketing director meet with me. He sat down and the first words out of his mouth were, “A website is like a brochure on the internet. It should have a little information about the company, and a way to get in contact. Nobody wants all that fancy stuff.” If I had gone with my initial reaction, I would have jumped up, told him what an ignoramus he was, and stormed out of the building. Fortunately, I stopped doing stuff like that a long time ago (coincidentally, I started making good money around the same time). How do you disagree with clients without getting defensive?
Solution:
This is a tricky one. There are some cases where you just have to let a client go because their mindset is so different than yours. But no matter what the final conclusion of a disagreement, it’s never beneficial to get defensive and combative with clients. Be patient. Start by finding common ground. In the situation above, I started by telling the marketing director that I agreed 100% that it’s important to have good information on websites. It was a small island of agreement, for sure, but it was a place to start. Always be gentle and constructive in your rebuttals. In the case that you just can’t work with a client, bow out gracefully. Never go out with a bang.
3. Setting Yourself up to Be a Hired Hand Instead of an ExpertIf someone is interested in hiring you, it’s probably because they need an expert. They want to pay your for your knowledge and expertise in the area of web design. But when you show up at a meeting and nod your head at everything a client says, and never give any valuable input; you are setting yourself up to be a doormat. You may even be setting yourself up to lose the project. Then on the other end of the pool is the web designer that barges into a meeting and disagrees with everything anyone suggests. How do you balance the two extremes?
Solution:
There’s a common saying that’s especially popular among parents: “Pick your battles”. Notice that the saying is not “Don’t battle”. It’s important to battle on the important issues. As each meeting progresses and new ideas are laid out on the table, just be as objective as possible. Carefully decide which elements are absolutely necessary for the success of the project, and which ones can slide. The balancing act is being the expert while validating the ideas of your clients at the same time.    

Miu译文：
Brian让我写一篇关于Elite By Design的文章，我欣然同意。关注Elite By Design也有一段时间了，在这里作为客座作者写评论是一件很荣幸的事情。所写的东西也要对得起Brain的名声。一番深入思考后，终于选定了一个与Elite By Design网密切相关的主题。因为我的第一重身份是网页设计师，所以最终定位的主题是自由网络设计者眼中永恒的话题。也就是说，设计网页怎样才能做到即充分发挥其重要性和复杂性，又不会使客户觉得繁琐乏味。你很快就会发现，网页设计者视作亮点的设计在别人看来很让人困惑不解。首先，我要讲一讲让网页设计者在客户面前一败涂地的三种最常见的方法。然后我会告诉大家将来怎样轻松规避这些错误。

1. 在客户面前满口行话

      设计网页的人喜欢说行话。而且这样我们似乎还觉得不够刺激，那些在普通人眼里本来就充满神秘色彩的词汇，我们喜欢用有趣的缩写表示。客户会议上尽听到那些HTML,CSS,PHP和IA术语。说些别人听不懂的话虽然可以显得很聪明，但客户就未必想合作了。如果他们要聘用你，他们希望清楚的明白他们将会得到什么样的产品。问题就在于，要怎样表现出你对工作很有把握，却没有那种气势凌人的态度。

解决方案：

      抵抗行话侵犯最简单的方法就是用别的词汇代替。你可以把HTML和PHP说成“图像背后的代码”，CSS就用“风格”二字代替。公司博客应该说成“公司新闻”。想方设法用常用词来代替网页设计中的核心词汇。如果对方通晓网页方面的知识，那就相应地调整策略吧。

2. 在客户面前激活防御姿态  
      就上个星期，我见了一位市场监督。他坐下来开口第一句话就是：“网站说白了就是网络宣传册。上面简单描述一下公司概况，罗列联系方式。不会有人想要那些花哨新奇的玩意儿。”我当时第一反应就是立马站起来，告诉那个人他有多么的无知，然后冲出大楼。所幸我很早就不再那么冲动了（也很巧，大概就是那段时间我开始有大笔进帐了）。你怎样才能在客户面前表达不同意见却又不显得很有防备心理？

解决方案：

      这个问题确实很棘手。对于有些客户你不得不放手，他们的理念心态和你太不相同了。但是无论意见不同的最终结果是什么，都不能在客户面前表现地很防备很好胜。要有耐心。首先要找出你同客户之间的共同点。就上述那个例子，我先告诉那位市场监督说我完全同意他的看法，在网站上大力推广公司信息是很重要的。这一点点微不足道的共识当然不算什么，但完全可以从这一点着手。提出反对意见的时候一定要态度温和，提出有建设性的想法。要是你真的不能和某个客户合作，也要有礼貌地退出。千万不要重重地甩门走人。

3. 没能成为专家，却成为别人雇来的人手

      如果有人想要雇用你，那大多是因为他们需要一位网页设计专家。他们付钱是为了得到你在这个领域的知识和专业技能。但要是你开会的时候一个劲儿地点头迎合客户，一点有价值的想法都没有的话，你就成了摆设。甚至还会因此而失去项目。还有完全不同的一种类型，有些网页设计师满腹牢骚，对别人提出的任何建议都有不同看法。你怎么去平衡这两种极端的态度呢？

解决方案：

      老一辈的人中流行一种说法：“有选择地战斗”。不是让你“不要战斗”。在某些重要问题上为自己的立场去争取很重要。每个会议进行的过程中，都会有很多新的想法提出，要保持最大限度的客观。仔细斟酌好那些东西对项目成功是至关重要的，那些却是可以忽略的。稳妥的做法就是，你必须担任专家的角色，同时实现客户的想法。