Building Client Relationships in Design

I used to think my portfolio had to impress other designers. So I filled it with sleek mockups, polished animations, and endless case studies. It looked beautiful...But it didn’t land me clients. Why? Because clients don’t hire you for aesthetics. They hire you for outcomes. 🚫 Too many portfolios still look like it’s 2015: → Pretty mockups → Trendy layouts → 10-second Behance loops But here’s the hard truth: Clients don’t care how cool it looks. They care what it does. 💡 Ask yourself: → Does my portfolio solve real business problems? → Am I showing results or just visuals? → Is it written for clients or for other creatives? What actually works in 2025: ✅ Highlight before/after results (data if possible) ✅ Explain your thinking, not just your tools ✅ Tailor your portfolio to your ideal client, not your peers Because great design isn’t just about craft It’s about clarity, strategy, and trust. ✨ Your portfolio shouldn’t be a gallery. It should be a sales tool. One that shows the value you bring, not just the vibe. 💬 Got a portfolio tip that worked for you? Drop it in the comments, let’s help each other grow. 📌 Save this if you’re about to redesign yours. It’s not about looking good. It’s about landing the right kind of work.

🛡️ How To Defend And Explain Your Design Decisions. With strategies to protect your work, avoid design by committee and pick battles wisely ↓ 🚫 Avoid big surprises when presenting your work. ✅ Ask for feedback gradually, at different stages of the design. ✅ Strong decisions rely on data and research, not hunches. ✅ Attach your decisions to a goal, metric, or a problem. ✅ Show what’s possible short term, and your plan for the future. ✅ Re-iterate business goals before showing any of your work. ✅ Show the process that led you to your current design. ✅ Explain how your current decision impacts business goals. ✅ Highlight key takeaways from previous rounds of feedback. ✅ Highlight advantages and risks to show they’ve been considered. 🚫 Don’t fight an argument: find the problem brought into spotlight. ✅ You might be wrong: defend the project goals, not your work. ✅ Ask to articulate and explain the argument in detail. ✅ Have alternatives ready, and explain why they were discarded. ✅ Defer the decision: request to review it with your team. 🚫 One suggestion is a goldmine of other ideas waiting to be excavated. Good design isn’t about being the winner in the big meeting. It’s about finding the flaws and wrong assumptions to make sure your work matches business goals while supporting user’s needs. So be deliberate and meticulous explaining how your decisions impact business goals. Nothing diffuses argument like agreement. Don’t get defensive — as Tom Greever noted, when we become defensive, we fail to focus on the real issues. So avoid big public debates. Avoid speaking about your personal preferences, what you like or dislike. Don’t ask “What do you think?” as it prompts personal opinions. Instead, ask if attendees agree with the direction (yes/no), and if not, why not. Most importantly, defend your design decisions when you know it’s right, but leave your ego aside when you feel you aren’t. And: as Femke van Schoonhoven highlighted, knowing the goal is critical, but keep in mind that the goal can change. New insights will influence the goal and the direction of the project, and we have to recognize them and move forwared — and not get hung up on a particular idea or goal that’s since been abandoned. Useful resources Defending UX Design Decisions, by Chris Kiess https://lnkd.in/erMUpKj8 The Tyranny of Collaborative Ideation, by Lars Jerichau https://lnkd.in/e-JGNqNN Articulating Design Decisions, by Tom Greever 👍 https://lnkd.in/efmNb2Mr Articulating Design Decisions to Stakeholders, by Uxcel https://lnkd.in/evKXsP3e Strategies To Deal With Design By Committee, by Jennifer Lee https://lnkd.in/evacmmHd #ux #design

Stuck in an endless loop of client changes? Lost track of what revision this constitutes? Yeah. Been there. Done that. The secret? It's not about saying no. It's about saying yes to the right things upfront. Every project that goes sideways starts the same way: Vague agreements. Fuzzy boundaries. Good intentions. Six weeks later you're bleeding money and everyone's frustrated. Here's my framework after 30 years of running two 8-figure businesses: The SOW is your salvation. Not some boilerplate template. A real document that covers: • Exact deliverables (not "design work" but "3 homepage concepts, 2 rounds of revisions") • Hours of operation ("We respond M-F, 9-5 PST. Weekend requests get Monday responses") • Revision rounds spelled out ("Round 1 includes up to 5 changes. Round 2 includes 3.") • Feedback cycles defined ("48-hour turnaround for client feedback or the project may be delayed or additional fees may be incurred") But here's what most people miss— Don't work on client notes immediately. Client sends 37 pieces of feedback at 11pm Friday? Producer sends conflicting notes from the CEO? Marketing wants one thing, sales wants another? Stop. Collect everything first. Resolve the conflicts. Get on the phone and discuss it with your client to get alignment. Separate the "have to haves" from the "nice to haves". Then present unified changes. "Based on all feedback received, here are the 8 changes we'll implement. This constitutes revision round 2 of 3." Watch how fast the random requests stop. No extra work that goes unappreciated. No more feelings of being taken advantage of. Communicate before the crisis, prevents the crisis from happening. "Just so you know, we're entering round 2. You have one more included. After that, it's $X per additional round." No surprises. No awkward money conversations. No resentment. Scope creep isn't a them problem. It's a you problem. And that's good news, because that means you are in control. They're not trying to take advantage. They just don't know where the boundaries are because you never drew them. Draw the lines early. Communicate them clearly. Everyone wins. What's your most painful scope creep story? What boundary would've prevented it? Small Business Builders #projectmanagement #clientmanagement #businessgrowth

💥 “Jingjin, what are you wearing right now?” Twelve years ago my Division VP called while I was prepping for a QBR. “I need you to jump into a client meeting this afternoon,” He said, one of the world’s largest automotive OEMs, high stakes, 6 hours to prepare. Then the pause. “What are you wearing right now?” 🧭 I thought he meant dress code. He didn’t. He lowered his voice: “The president has a reputation for hitting on women. I want you to be prepared.” Translation: deliver the work and survive the room. 🧪 I had 6 hours and 2 checklists. First: deck, storyline, numbers. Second: don’t get blindsided. I pulled in a junior male as a wingman, shifted the meeting to a glass-walled room, and rehearsed simple, steady lines I could drop without flinching: “Let’s stick to the agenda.” “We’re here for the deal.” The meeting landed. No comments. But the aftertaste stayed... the quiet tax is the mental tab women keep open while doing the actual job. 🧊 That call taught me a rotten lesson baked into leadership: Women are asked to calculate risk before we contribute value. We speak while scanning exits. We present while monitoring tone. None of this shows up in KPIs, but it drains authority like a leaky valve. 🪫 Here’s the part we rarely say out loud: running two operating systems, delivery and defense, dilutes presence. You’re not “overreacting.” You’re making the invisible visible. And visibility is the first step to power. 🛠️ What I wish someone had told me then: 1. Bring your buffer. Don’t be afraid to request someone in the room with you, not to assist you technically, but to dilute the power imbalance. It’s not weakness. It’s strategy.    2. Pre-empt boundary crossing. If you’re warned someone is inappropriate, name it before it happens. “Just to clarify, I’ll be focused strictly on business today.” Let them know they won’t get away with casual harassment cloaked as banter. 3. Control the setting when you can. Suggest public venues, group meetings, or shorter time slots. Private dinners and “casual drinks” are not neutral spaces. Stop feeling guilty for adjusting logistics to protect your dignity. 4. Write it down. Date, time, words, witnesses. Not to be paranoid, because patterns persuade even when people don’t. ⚖️ If you’re still wondering whether equity has arrived, ask who must plan their safety before they speak, and who just gets to speak. 🌀 That’s why Uma and I built ㊙️ The Private Circle ㊙️ A 3-month, high-touch strategic space for 5 senior executive women. Not “women supporting women.” A crucible. $3,998, by design, for leaders with skin in the game who want to change how power moves through them. 🚀 November intake is full, but we may run a parallel intake. If this is your season to stop leaking power, read the details and DM me https://lnkd.in/g7SSRnvG 👊 The work and the room. Master both, and then redesign the room.

Stop treating your CRO like a vendor - and start treating them like a partner. CROs aren't just service providers you hire and forget. Instead, they are strategic partners who can make or break your study success. Instead of: "We hired them to execute our plan."   Think: "We partnered with them to achieve our shared goals." But - what does make a sponsor-CRO relationship successful? Trust: The basis for solving problems together. When a site is struggling with enrollment, the partners brainstorm solutions as a team rather than playing the blame game. Transparency: The best sponsors give their CROs full context and not just task lists. The better I know the sponsor's goals, the better I can manage (my/your) our study. The partners have a common goal. Flexibility: We need to acknowledge that protocols may change, timelines shift, and unexpected challenges arise. The better the risk assessment, the higher the accepted need for flexibility. Respect: We must not forget that success is collective. Partnering on the sponsor side means: Choosing CROs based on capability and cultural fit, not just the lowest bid.  Investing time in relationship building, not just contract negotiations. And providing regular feedback, not just when problems arise. And CROs? They should think like owners, not contractors. They bring solutions and consult in case of challenges. They communicate proactively, especially when things go wrong. Let us be honest: Most CRO professionals entered this industry for the same reason as pharma, biotech or medtech professionals: Namely to help bringing life-changing treatments to patients. What does partnership look like in your sponsor-CRO relationship? #ClinicalResearch #SponsorCRO #Partnership #ClinicalTrials #Collaboration 

If I had to start my 6-figure business, this would have been my first few steps (with a real example at the end) - Step 1: Identify Your Unique Value Implementation: - Complete a "Before & After" grid: List what clients experience before working with you (pain points) and after (benefits) - Use the "So What?" test: For each feature you offer, ask "so what?" until you reach the true benefit - Tools: Miro for visual mapping, Google Forms to survey past clients about what they valued most Step 2: Analyze Your Competition - Create a simple competitor matrix: List 5 competitors across the top, key service features down the side, mark what each offers - Highlight pricing, deliverables, timelines, and guarantees to find underserved areas - Tools: Ahrefs for keyword research on competitors, notion for tracking competitive intelligence Step 3: Define Your Ideal Client - Draft a "Day in the Life" scenario for your ideal client, focusing on their challenges and objectives - Plot clients on a 2x2 matrix: "Easy to Work With" vs. "Profitable" to identify patterns in your best clients - Tools: Make Persona for creating client avatars, LinkedIn Sales Navigator for researching prospect profiles Step 4: Craft Your Offer - Write your offer using the PAS formula: Problem-Agitation-Solution in under 100 words - Create a bulleted "This Includes/This Doesn't Include" list for clarity - Tools: Hemingway Editor to simplify language, Loom to record a 60-second pitch for testing Step 5: Test and Refine - A/B test two versions of your offer in outreach emails or discovery calls - Track conversion metrics: inquiry-to-call and call-to-client ratios - Tools: Calendly for tracking booking rates, TypeForm for collecting prospect feedback Real-World Example: BEFORE:  "WordPress development services at competitive rates." AFTER:   "7-day WordPress sites for fitness coaches that convert 30% better, with same-day tech support and DIY training included." This focused offer speaks directly to a specific client's needs, timeline concerns, and desired business outcomes. Hope this helps!

What you see: 30+ clients, a 7 figure agency, and 3 active verticals What you don’t see: 1000+ outreaches, ghosted messages, and calls that went nowhere After doing this repeatedly, from finding a prospect to signing the contract, I’ve realised client acquisition is much more than sending a good cold DM. There’s a process behind it, and this is what will help you scale: 📍Position before you prospect Pick your niche, define your ICP, and build enough proof of work that people understand what you do within seconds. 📍Create content for inbound Share expertise, experiences, and results. Good content often warms up a prospect before your first conversation. 📍Strategize outbound simultaneously Build targeted lists and consistently reach out to people who actually need your service. 📍Optimize outreach for calls Don’t spend weeks exchanging DMs. Establish relevance, qualify interest, and try aligning it mutually. 📍Pre qualify before you pitch Understand their problem, budget, urgency, and expectations. We’ve learnt that not every interested prospect is the right client. 📍Follow up systematically Some of our conversations have moved forward only after multiple follow ups so make sure you lead with structure. 📍Close with clarity Once there’s alignment, lock the scope, commercials, timelines, payment terms, and contract before starting execution. Positioning → Content → Outbound → Call → Qualification → Follow ups → Contract. Whether you’re landing your first client or scaling to your next 30, a streamlined system is what turns conversations into clients consistently.

"Client-Agency Creative" - A couple years ago, I went to the Cannes Lions, the main show for advertising. There's a giant gallery room in the basement of the main Palais building with all the work submitted for awards. As I walked past the ads and case studies, all I could think about was how the sausage gets made. The creative "idea" usually gets all the attention and hoopla, but much of the quality of the work depends upon "process" — how the idea is brought to life. Great creative ideas plus a crappy creative process equals crappy creative work. My cartoon this week on the asymmetrical way timelines get negotiated is only part of the story. Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler at BetterBriefs have been on a mission to improve that creative process, releasing reports to hold up the mirror on how the clients and agencies operate in practice. They started with the brief, which is too often an uninspired word salad. Their findings included this stunning takeaway: "78% of marketers believe their briefs provide clear strategic direction. Only 5% of agencies agree." They've since been focusing on better ideas in general and the core of the client-agency relationship itself -- the "trust gap." "56% of marketers think the client approval process works well. Only 23% of agencies agree." The top words used to describe the client approval process are "inconsistent," "slow," "subjective," and "painful." It currently takes an average of five rounds of creative development to get to a signed-off idea. One inspiring takeaway from their work in The BetterIdeas Project: “Marketers who inspire their agency to do their best work are 3X more likely to feel proud of the work they’re involved in.” Whether working on campaigns with Cannes Lions aspirations or not, the creative friction of the client-agency relationship shapes everything that follows. The trust gap is partly an asymmetry gap. >>>>> To sign up for my weekly marketoon email newsletter (24 years running), click here: https://lnkd.in/g9DBM6tD For related cartoons and all the links in this post, click here: https://lnkd.in/gaUWsfCB #marketing #cartoon #marketoon

If I had to get my first 3 clients again, I’d do this… Not post more. Not redesign my portfolio. Not wait to “feel ready.” I’d do something way simpler and honestly, uncomfortable. When I started, I thought clients come from content. So I kept posting. Tweaking. Overthinking. Days passed. Then weeks. Zero clients! So I changed one thing. I stopped trying to “look professional” And started trying to be useful. Here’s exactly what I’d do now if I had to start from 0: 1. Pick a niche (and stick to it) Not “I do social media.” But: I help coaches get leads from Instagram. Clarity sells. 2. Find 20 potential clients (not followers) I’d search: * fitness coaches * course creators * small business owners Then look for: * inconsistent content * low engagement * no clear CTA That’s opportunity. 3. Give value before pitching No “Hi, I’m a social media manager.” I’d say: “Hey, I noticed your content is good but not converting. I had 2 ideas for your page, want me to share?” 4. Fix one problem for free (strategically) * Rewrite a hook * Suggest better content angles * Improve their bio Not to work for free. But to show proof. 5. Focus on conversations, not content My first clients didn’t come from posts. They came from DMs that turned into real conversations. Here’s the truth no one tells you: You don’t need more followers. You don’t need perfect content. You need proximity to people who already need help. Because getting clients isn’t about being visible It’s about being relevant to the right people. If you had to start again from 0… What would you do differently? #SocialMediaManager #Freelancing #ClientAcquisition #ContentStrategy #LinkedInGrowth

Don't go it alone - collaborate to deliver global impact with your research! Delighted to share findings from our newly published pilot-scale study on CO₂ capture heat integration. It's exciting not only because of new approach to reducing the reboiler duty by 6% and cooling duty by 24%, resulting in operating cost savings of CO2 capture. It's exciting because it proves that collaboration is essential for credible, impactful research. Our team brought together multi-institutional expertise, industrial partners, and real-world site access on a coal-fired power plant. This work was possible because this collaboration enabled: - Access to infrastructure - Operating a mobile pilot on a live power plant requires partnerships beyond any single lab. - Data rigour - Validating marginal energy gains demanded cross-disciplinary expertise, including thermodynamics, advanced data reconciliation, and process engineering. - Industrial validation - Co-developing with site operators built credibility and practical insight from day one. - Diverse expertise - Chemistry + engineering + simulation + field operations. Individual researchers miss insights that teams can easily identify. The lesson: Impact = great ideas + rigorous execution + real-world validation. Collaboration is how you deliver all three. If you're pursuing energy research with genuine traction, treat collaboration as a core strategy, not optional. Build networks early. Your best work will come from teams you haven't yet assembled. #science #research #scientist #researcher #professor #phd #CCUS #engineering