Written by Jonny O'Brien: Co-Creator and CEO of VOYAGEPRO.CO
We have all either been a client or worked with clients (or both). The relationship that a client has with the people who they are working with is crucial for the outcome of the product or service they are receiving. Companies should always value every client they they are lucky enough to work with. This balance of relationship can be an extremely powerful match when level. I am going to give my two cents on some of the most important traits that I see whenever I am looking for a good client to work with and how to maintain balance to ensure that the outcome is the sole focus of the relationship.
#1 Good Communication
Something that I always look for in a client is the initial connection that we have. Does the person understand what we are saying or do they try to play by their own rules? Do we at Voyage understand what they client is looking for or is it hard to understand their vision?
These questions are important to ask right away. Whenever we take on a new client at Voyage Productions we always want to have clear communication. This communication helps build a relationship. It is my goal as the company rep to build both likability and trust through our communication. If a client is responsive and can communicate to me and my team a clear vision of how they want their end product to look that will help us out so much in the long run! At the end of the day our goal at Voyage is to always do things in the best interest of a client’s video and one of the greatest factors that influences the outcome of the video is 100% the level of communication the client gives us. This is the case because we’re always trying to match the clients vision with how they want their video to be portrayed, and the more clearly they can layout that vision the better we can recreate it. This communication goes both ways. We never want the client to misunderstand what we are looking for, we strive as a team to stay consistent and as simple as possible with our communication.
#2 Respect
This one is very obvious (I hope) but I want to dive into it because of just how crucial it is to have mutual respect. One of the first red flags that I always notice when talking to a client is if they are trying to negotiate our prices with us. The client has every right to try and negotiate but we will always hold firm on how much we charge due to our high quality and the value that we know our videos bring. When a client still continues to haggle I immediately see a visible lack of respect forming. This is very rare but it has happened and I always recommend that they come back to us when they are ready to afford the videos.
I always make sure to instill with my own team at Voyage to always treat every client with the respect that they deserve. Whether the client is ordering a $4,000 video or a $400 video we treat them the exact same way. The reason I want to catch any red flags early on is that a lack of respect will often end up clouding up the end goal of the video; which should always be to make the best video possible. If respect is missing the video takes the back seat and ego’s start to come out and we always want to avoid a situation of imbalance. A healthy relationship forms when both the company and the client think in terms of how the decisions and actions they make will affect the other.
#3 Effort
We love when our clients have as much dedication and passion for what it is they do as we have. The effort that a client puts into both their own work and the execution of the video can help us greatly. Although we can absolutely complete a video by ourselves it always makes the process smooth and seamless when the client helps us to get their vision across. Going the extra mile, leaving extra details in their descriptions etc. We love when the client is on set with us ready to help in any way they can. Having clients involved in the creation process ensures that they are satisfied with every step of the way. One area of additional effort that we love to see is when the clients look over the script and or shot list that we come up with to see if it is up to their exact standards. We want to show up on set the day of the shoot with our vision locked in with the client. Another area that helps us is when a client is able to send us detailed descriptions of what it is they are looking for in the editing process. These extra steps go a long long ways.
#4 A Positive Attitude
The mindset that is brought to the table when working on these projects always needs to maintain strong. A positive attitude by both the client and Voyage Productions is crucial in the success of a video. Within our own company this is one thing that I always enforce.
No matter what the shoot is, who the client is, how long the day will be, we always go into our production ready to kick some ass with a mindset that we can accomplish anything we have in front of us. Our clients really help to drive this motivation another step further. When we see our clients getting excited along with us it really lifts our spirits to a whole new level. That is our goal at Voyage to always lift up others with our work. We believe that if you are going to take on a large challenge no matter what the task is; you have to be optimistic about it.