Hi Jack,
How open and honest are you and your client with each other? I tell every
one of my new clients right up front that I am totally open and honest and
I go on to share things they normally wouldn't expect from someone they
just started doing business with. The reaction has always been positive and
it sets them at ease.
Being in that position I can ask them just about anything I want or need
to. So in your situation, I would just come right out and say, "I'm
confused about your statement that you're not sure how that's going to play
out yet. My mind has a tendency to think the worst when hearing a vague
statement like that and I begin to wonder if you're possibly looking for a
change in your design team. Is that true? Or am I over-reacting?"
I'd just leave it at that and let her respond. Putting the weight on
yourself like that does wonders for setting the clients at ease and they
will normally open up and tell you the truth. I also stay on my clients'
minds by sending them good jokes that come through and they all like it.
That also helps keep them at ease and ready for just about anything. We
develop more than just a client/supplier relationship. It's more like friends.
Jim
At 12:26 PM 7/2/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Looking for a little advice. I've had client X for about a year. We get
>along very well and she seems to be happy with my service. Recently we have
>been emailing each other about some changes to her site. She mentioned that
>there would probably be a good deal of content added to the site within the
>next 6 months to a year. I asked her what she thought the content would be,
>because right now I am making some minor navigation changes and would like
>to setup an architecture that will allow the upcoming stuff to be easily
>added. She sent me this response:
>
>> I just discussed the XYZ site with some more people here at My Company. We
>will probably be making some major changes to the site in the next 6-12
>months but we're not sure how that's going to play out yet. We will be
>discussing this topic at the next My Company meeting in September. <
>
>Now, I'd like to get her to define "not sure how that's going to play out",
>because I'd like to know if they are considering any of these options:
>
>1. having me do the work
>2. soliciting bids
>3. bringing the work in-house
>4. other
>
>I don't want to seem insecure about my standing, nor do I want to make her
>unconfortable with a question she may not want to give me a straight answer
>on (or may not know the answer to).
>
>Any ideas how I could approach this? The question I'd ask, bluntly, is "do
>you plan on continuing to use Infusion Design for the upcoming major
>changes?"
>
>TIA,
>Jack
>
>
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