Effective Thing #3
EFFECTIVE THING #3
Make Every Interaction a Preview (of What It’s Like to Work With You)
Here’s a story about someone who made me angry and how I accidentally figured out how to turn that into positive energy.
My agency had just signed a client that needed a whole rebrand and a new website to match. They were a big brand locally and were very connected to culture and arts in town. The problem was, we had only won the website and the brand was going to go to another designer. I’d never heard of the guy but we were all going to have to work together so the client invited us to lunch.
Over a delicious burger I learned this guy was the worst. Super arrogant about his work, full of takedowns of other designers and agencies, and worst of all, my client (our client ugh) didn’t seem to be picking up on how much this guy sucked. The more he positioned himself as the grand critic of all the lowly work around him, the more I wanted to roast him. But my agency was new and I had to make it clear we could play nice together.
The last straw came when he turned his attention to the client’s existing logo. With a mouthful of fries he howled “Oh man! That logo hahaha!” Then he laid into the colours, the font, and in his opinion, the unacceptably outdated style. As he went on, my client (our client), now a bit embarrassed, laughed along with him.
With my wife’s voice shouting “BE NICE” in my head, I took a deep breath, and cut him off with “Hey, that logo got us here.” Or something cool like that. I went on. “I wouldn’t be so quick to shit on that logo. That logo is what this whole city-wide brand was built on. That logo was for a tiny organization nowhere near the size it is today and saw it through to what it is now. That logo got this organization to the success level where they could afford to pay for a massive rebrand. So I think we need to honour it. That logo bought me lunch today.”
I could see a shift in the client’s mentality as I spoke. The “lunch” line was pure gold but it was hearing the positive feedback about a modest logo (it was an eyesore) that painted a picture of how this project could go. Instead of telling the client they had no taste and we were going to rip their house down to the studs, I told them we would take the time to honour what they had built.
I don’t know what ever happened to that designer. He laughed off the “lunch” line but the client* ended up giving us the branding project and it’s one of my favourites in our portfolio.
*My client
Like what you’re reading? Join our newsletter for more insights like these.
I love it all
Be A Super-Fan
I’m a bit of a hater. I get called that a lot by my friends and family. I think maybe I’m just so passionate about everything I like and dislike that with close contacts they have to listen to a lot of passionate dislikes exactly because I can’t share those with others.
Because here’s the thing. Never hate with clients. And in particular, potential clients.
If you’re like me, you feel like your constant critique of everything gives you a particular kind of Anthony Bourdain-like charm that only elevates in their eyes those things you do like. But to a client that doesn’t know you, it’s not charming, it's intimidating, off-putting or any number of things that ain’t Anthony Bourdain.
This is what is much more likely:
If your potential client is inexperienced they might be uncertain about their existing brand, might feel nervous about requests they don’t fully understand and might be looking for someone who’s going to reassure them, explain things and guide them through the process.
If your client is very experienced, they’ll be hearing how you frame previous experiences as negative, how you view problems as the fault of someone else, potentially how you have a dangerous lack of self-awareness.
But on the other hand, what does it feel like to hear someone gush about something or someone. Even if it’s not relevant to the work?
Let’s take the following scenario. A potential client asks what you think of the recent (and legendarily divisive on Linkedin) Jaguar rebrand.
Option A) You go for the throat and rip apart the font, the hubris of abandoning the icon, the befuddling launch video, and while you’re at it you throw every typography 101 lesson at it and look super smart.
Option B) You start with the aspects you do like (really great pink), you address the logo and what is cool about it (symmetry!) and what maybe looks like it needs a tweak (that G), but also, you have no idea what the brief was, the constraints they were working in, but you love, LOVE the Land Rover brand because of these top three reasons…
Ok so this is an over-obvious point but I wanted to give you two answers I’ve actually given. One to my close friends and one to potential clients. And I want you to note how Option B ends.
Always take an opportunity to gush or fan-out over something.
When you gush about something the client hears your enthusiasm and energy and consciously or not, imagines that energy applied to their work.
They hear selflessness. In an interview it’s tempting to talk only about yourself but finding a gush or two will help make sure you don’t sound self-absorbed.
And lastly, they hear what you might sound like if they gave you the project. How you might sound when talking about them to others. And that’s alluring. Positive energy is infectious and people want to contribute to it.
The Takeaway
People hear how you talk about something just as much as what you say about it. Take any opportunity to show that you have a positive way of looking at work, colleagues, clients and above all, challenges. People will want to be a part of that energy.
Ok - But How Do I Get Work I Love?
I’m going to assume you know a thing or two about the things you love. Your interests, hobbies, and the work you admire and respect. Use that as an advantage when gushing. When you get a chance to speak to someone in the industry or otherwise related to that work you want, make sure you let them hear you nerd-out over it.
I once scored a massive contract with an agency because I identified Ghostface Killah in a poster behind a creative director on a Zoom call. I left out that I had to quickly Google Image Search the Wu-Tang Clan to confirm, but in the nerd-out that followed, I was able to weave in my taste in music (and critically) my appreciation for brand-building and storytelling.
It’s an old trick of mine to find anything unrelated to the meeting to ask about before the real questions start. Anything to get someone talking about something low-stakes and open a door to talk about something I’m enthusiastic about.
If you can tie that to any industry knowledge or at the very least, communicate that you notice details and deeply consider the things you interact with, your potential client is going to feel like you understand their priorities and that you “get it”.
KEEP READING
KEEP READING
Congratulations, you’re hired. The kick-off meeting was a huge success but now what? You’re going to need to start:
EFFECTIVE THING #4
Over-Communicating the Process