Client asked for 'more pop' and it took 11 rounds to get a straight answer

I do freelance ad design on the side, and last month a local coffee chain in Portland kept saying their banner needed more pop. I tried brighter colors, bigger fonts, bolder shapes, all of it. Round seven I asked if they meant the logo or the background, and they said yes. Finally at round 11 the owner admitted her daughter hated the font I used in round two. I could have fixed that in 20 minutes if she had just said so upfront. Has anyone else had a client who won't name the real problem until you drag it out of them?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancythomas17d ago

Those customer service studies about vague feedback are spot on. I read once that most people soften their requests to avoid sounding rude, and that politeness ends up costing businesses real time and money. Your coffee chain client probably thought she was being helpful by not hurting your feelings, but the opposite happened.

johnson.faith18d ago

Wow, that is painfully familiar. People do this all the time, not just with design work. It's like they have this fear of sounding picky or mean, so they dance around the real issue until you practically have to beg for the truth. It's the same with my buddy who fixes cars, someone will say it makes a noise, but won't admit they hit a curb until he's already taken the whole wheel apart. Honest feedback upfront would save everyone so much time and hassle. The daughter probably said the font looked dumb in five seconds flat, but getting that info to you was a whole saga. I really think most people just don't know how to say what they actually want without being prompted a million times.

graydavis17d ago

A buddy of mine runs a small kitchen remodel crew. He started asking clients to sign off on a "final walkthrough" sheet with a checklist of every tiny thing they might hate, like grout color or handle style. It took a whole extra day on each job, but it cut the callbacks in half. People will check a box saying "this looks off" way faster than theyll say it to your face.