Two Simple Tips for Managing Creative/Client Meetings.
Talking about process and creative team management had me realize the best practices I’ve developed over the years for managing meetings is just the way I do things and definitely not standard operating procedure. As someone who’s been managing teams for over 20 years I’ve developed some tips and tricks to make those meetings between Creatives and clients the best part of the client’s day. These are just two of many things to consider but in my mind they’re the most important by a wide margin.
1 - Iron out the details in advance
If you’re managing a studio then you my friend are the first line of defense in client management. The process of creative management is all about how you set this up.
You need to make sure the spec is set before you bring anything into the studio.
You need to get in front of the potential questions that your staff might ask you.
You need to know the product as good, if not better than, the client.
Part of this comes from experience, but you need to be able to think about every implication of every decision that’s made in the product requirements document. Good and bad. Get a reputation as a pessimist because you’re always thinking of ways that things can go wrong, trust me it’s fine I’ve had one for years. When in doubt ask the question. It doesn’t matter how stupid or obvious it seems - ask it. Sometimes when answering a client will change their mind, because hearing it out loud alters their path. You want that to happen at this point, not when you’re presenting creative to the client.
2 - Options are your currency
Never ever bring just a single option. It’s tempting because in your mind you know the product and the requirements 100%. In fact, you probably know them better than the client! Not to mention the last 3 times you presented they went with the option you wanted them to go with so you’re 1000% on the same wavelength.
Stop.
You’re not.
I’ve been both a client and an agency so I can say with absolute certainty you’re not going to be on the same wavelength as your client. People change their minds all the time. You don’t know what might have transpired in the internal product call that happened yesterday, or they watched an ad for Dr. Pepper that has them seeing the world in shades of purple. You just don’t know.
The solution for this is easy - always bring options with you. Generally I like to bring no more than 4 and no fewer than 3 to any given meeting. I may or may not have something in my back pocket as well but usually those are fillers or pivots from the original brief that can be pulled out if nothing else is clicking. That usually doesn’t happen, but like the Boy Scouts you should always be prepared.
— Bonus Tip —
Bring Solutions, Not Problems.
Problems are inevitable in this world. The key to making problems manageable is to always bring solutions to the table when identifying problems. And not just one solution either (see above), rather bring a host of solutions to any meeting where you’ll be presenting a problem to the audience. Especially if it’s a problem that you think you’ve discovered. Most of the time you’ll find the client has seen this problem before, but they may not have raised it to you because they haven’t found an elegant solution. Bringing options for the solution will not only make you and your team look really good, but it’ll also help bridge that gap of “why didn’t I think of that!”.
Because these tips are to make the meeting better, not worse.
