Communication and understanding commisions

When receiving and carrying out a brief, communication is incredibly important. Clients often have a very clear vision in mind for what they would like you to create and often they would not want to see you deviate from that vision. As such understanding the brief down to it's most intricate detail becomes vital. Clients will also become frustrated if you become busy with work and neglect to keep in contact and kee them updated on their project. A quick email every now and again to keep them in the loop is invaluable to the clients satisfaction with your work.


- Emails -
When speaking to a client through emails it is especially important to be specific and succinct as emails, more than most forms of communication, are open to misinterpretation. The email should be read and re-read before pressing send and words like "it" and "this" should be substituted with more specific terms like "The proposal" or "our launch date" so that it is always clear to the reader exactly what you are referring to. If the client continuously replies with questions then you are not communicating effectively. 

- Voice Mails -
Make sure clients know how often you check your voice mails if they plan on leaving you some. THey should also be aware if you are out of town, what hours you work, and other ways they can get in touch. For example it could be a good idea to say in your outgoing message that you respond quicker to emails if that is the case and then clients will know to follow up their call with an email.

- Project Questionnaire -
Creating a questionnaire helps gather relevent information on the brief that may have been left out. You will also have all of their information in writing for future reference. It will also help you establish useful information about the client, such as their preferred method of communicating.

- Ask Questions -
Many people are afraid to ask their clients questions for fear of looking uneducated on the subject however clients will appreciate you attention to detail if you ask questions during the course of the project. However it is important to try and contain the questions to 1 or 2 emails rather than bombarding the client with questions. You should be careful how you phrase your questions however. If for example you say "You don't have word installed?" and they answer "yes" that could cause confusion over what he means by that. "Do you have word installed?" "Yes" is much clearer.

info taken from: http://freelancefolder.com/6-simple-ways-to-effectively-communicate-with-your-client/