Reflecting: Building Lasting Relationships

via design-magnifique.com

My husband recently forwarded me this article from the New York Times, and it got me thinking about relationships with my clients. I found it incredibly interesting, and if you substitute the word designer for contractor, the message is the same.

As with most designers, when working so closely with a client, it's inevitable that we eventually become friends. This article offers some interesting advice, to be mindful to not let frustrating punch list items get in the way of ruining a great project and a great relationship or future referral.  

One contractor I work with once said he was always confused by why his clients ended up "hating" him after months of good work.  But, it is just what the article says - a bunch of minor stuff left undone for a long time until he had a rainy day to come by and button things up.  The same is true for we designers.  

In the article, Dr. Kahneman concluded that people don’t evaluate the pain of an experience on an overall level. Instead, they remember the pain at the very end — and whether it got better or worse.

The end of a project is oftentimes the most crucial point- everything that I've worked so hard to get perfect for my clients can finally come to fruition. It's easy to crumble under pressure and just focus on getting tasks done in order to move onto the next, but care must be had to ensure that the perfection that I strove to work towards at the the onset is carried through to the end.  That is, after all, why our clients put trust in us in the first place.