Why Good Clients Rock (This Is Not Sucking Up)

Last night, Beehive Media proudly accepted its first MITX Award for the work we did with Centerbrook Architects and Planners on their new web site.  When I got up on stage and had to say something (thanking the Academy, etc.), the only thing I could come up with was praising our client.  And I wasn't the only one.  Not a single person last night got up on stage and said "This client was a complete nightmare!  They were late with everything, paid us too little, were difficult to work with, wouldn't take our advice, etc."  And the more I think about it, the more I realize that having good clients is the most important thing in our business.  And no, I'm not sucking up!

When Centerbrook first contacted us, I was really excited.  I love architecture.  When I travel, I find there are two things I really look forward to when visiting a new place (or even old favorites.)  1) the food; 2) the architecture.  I can wander around for hours just staring at buildings and people watching.  I've often thought that if I had to do it all over again, I might even be an architect.  Like the web design and development business, it's one of those rare professions that blends left brain and right brain, creative and technical.  Successful projects in both fields require an eye for usability and function as well as aesthetically-, technically-, time- and budget-driven goals.

But on paper, they should have been a complete nightmare!  Here are all the reasons why working with them should have been awful:

1) architects don't have a reputation for being the most humble of professionals, so expecting them to take guidance and question assumptions was not a given
2) they came to the table with a design already done by their in-house designer (toes, get ready to be stepped on)
3) architects really, really, really, really, really care about design and function – there would be no corners cut, no room for imperfection
4) decision by committee, especially with a partnership, is always a challenge – competing interests and disagreements are difficult and slow to resolve
5) they had already been working on this project internally for months, a clear indication that the above concerns might really apply

Surprisingingly, in the end, they have turned out to be one of our best and favorite clients.  Not because they didn't care about the things we expected.  Not because decision by committee didn't slow things down at times and make some decisions difficult.  Not for any of the listed reasons above, in fact.  In the end, they are an excellent client because we always had a really great dialog going about every aspect of the project. 

We started with discussions about web strategy, the existing information architecture and the existing design.  We had to help validate their concepts, throw in some of our own, and help move the project past the idea phase and into construction.  This process was full of long debates.  But they were always that – debates.  They involved open-minded and ego-less conversations on both sides.  We sometimes disagreed but we always were able to justify our points to each other, had an opportunity to convince each other why our approach made sense, and whether it was because of time, budget or arbitrary opinion, decisions were made and we always felt good about them.  It was one of the most collaborative and open client interactions we've ever had and it resulted in award-winning work.

This may not be the most awe-inspiring revelation of all time.  But it brings some clarity to what makes design and development projects go well.  It requires an open mind, a healthy debate, interaction between client and designer/developer, and a willingness to work together to come up with the best results, given clear goals.  Centerbrook brought all of this and more to the table and I like to think we did as well.  And I know that we'll be looking for more clients like Centerbrook with whom we can work because it makes the process and the results so much better.