Dealing with a disappointed client

The cover material? So she was unhappy with the printing/ stock? Was there not some sort of instance where you would of been able to show her the type of material the cover was printed on?

I'm not sure you should be terribly broken up about this because nothing can always turn out perfectly, the fact that you're worried about it means you care, nothing wrong there. I'm still not clear on what precisely went wrong with the cover, if that's the only bad side to this I don't necessarily think you owe her anything- even more so if the printed isn't what the printer had you expect. If you can help tweak it so the cover prints more to her liking and you feel bad about the situation with side time, I'm sure your client would appreciate it- I'd take her up on her offer for coffee just so things don't end on a bad note, or at least try on your end to have the business relationship end well. Clear conscience then.

Thanks, YoungZM. The cover printed perfectly. It was beautiful. I had told her what the stock would be and what weight and degree of gloss it would have. She approved the design. I'm really baffled by her response to the delivery.

Told or showed? This is where those convenient paper sample guide books come in handy. If you just told her "100# glossy cover weight" there can be a lot of room for error. If they saw a sample of actual stock beforehand, what do they have to complain about?

Some printers will do a mockup for you on a large job, others at least will give you a sample of the printed cover, insides, and binding separately.

Thanks, Jon. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.

it SOUNDS like you covered all your bases reasonably enough.

is the $1100 just for the cover/bindery? or is that the whole job. over the years ive come out of pocket a few times (whether it was my fault or not) if i felt it was a justifiable testimonial investment.

and its good that youre concerned. and im REALLY curious to find out what her problem is.
have that coffee-talk and get back to us!

The $1100 was for the whole print/bindery job (but not my design fees). She only got 100 copies.

I've gone out of pocket too -- most recently on the logo/business card I posted here for critique. Didn't cost me much at all, and was well worth it. The client was tickled to death that I was anal enough to get the cards printed on my own dime to correct things she hadn't even noticed, but did after I pointed them out.

Ain't gonna do that this time, though. I feel she should have know exactly what she'd be getting. If she'd wanted anything more elaborate than what she got, she'd have paid twice that much for it, which would have taken what was essentially a vanity project into the realm of full-blown Narcissistic Personality Disorder!

what jon said.

meet with her, have coffee, listen to her tell (and show) you what she's disappointed in and why she's disappointed. it may not be as bad as you think once you sit down and talk with her. it may be that, despite your efforts, you were unable to manage her expectations. or maybe there's something legit that she's complaining about. you can't really know until you talk to her.

just remember to be as calm and rational as you can be and avoid letting emotion come into play. it may be there's something you can do for her to make her feel better that isn't an $1100 redo. or maybe something you can offer in future work, even if it's just something in "process" that would make her feel better. even if it costs her more money next time to ensure she gets what she wants.

in the end, meeting w/her and being sympathetic/empathetic where you can and explaining things as best you can will make sure that she will have less reason to potentially say bad things and might even smooth over the relationship to the point where she would say good things. and if she does say bad things, it lets you feel more comfortable telling people who ask you about it what lengths you went to in order to make her happy.

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Well, folks, I just got an e-mail from this client, explaining that she was disappointed because she had expected the corners of her book to be rounded! This is the first I ever heard her mention such a thing. I have already explained that if she had indicated she wanted that, it would have been an easy stage to fit in, though it would have cost more. I took her up on her coffee offer, kept it light but respectful. We'll see.

I wish they gave mind-reading classes in art school!

+1 to that. nothing says "classy publication" like rounded corners...?

was it by any chance a children's book?

Interesting. I would say you can probably talk her out of this one. Rounded corners won't make much difference to most people buying the calendar. OTOH, you might find a bindery willing to do it to the finished piece as well. Either way - it's not an $1100 reprint imho.

Go to lunch, talk her down. Sounds like she's frazzled and needs a small dose of reality with the coffee. But first - ask around and see if anyone can round the corners and what it would cost. She might be willing to just pay the extra to have it done.

Sounds like you are doing everything right, and the advice here is all good.

The only thing I'd add is ask her if you can use her work as a portfolio piece to show other clients (even if you've already got that written into the contract). It sounds like you are proud of the way this piece turned out and she'll get satisfaction out of thinking you want to show her book off - might be all she needs to convince her that the piece is good as it is.

Oh Alex, I'm not showing this job to ANYONE! The best I can say about it is that I made a client's very specific requests look as good as possible.

One thing I've learned freelancing: You are the professional designer. You should not compromise a design (if they have in fact put you in charge of the design). You don't compromise your mechanics work by telling him you don't want certain bolts and nuts tightened to a certain torque; or tell your dentist you want your cavity filled a certain way. You get out of the way and let the professional do his job that you are paying him/her for. I know it's important to give clients what they want as that is what they are paying you for, but if they insist on being involved in every step then there should be no reason for disappointment, regardless of gloss or stock weight!

As a professional it's hard to find that balance of delivering what the customer wants and what your creative intuition, taste, and business expertise tells you to go with.

In short, if she didn't request a refund, or a do over, have coffee with her, and thank her for the opportunity, then call it a day.

Go to the coffee meeting and smooth it over with some stern professionalism. Then on the way out, steal a bunch of sugar packets & half-n-half. Either way, you come out ahead.

Very difficult situation. A good conversation around a coffee could help clear the issue, which is from what you have explained not your fault at all.

Thanks to all of you for your sympathy and A+ advice.

Welcome, Guita :)

Hey guess what? She called today for a reprint! Tee hee hee.....

Don't forget the rounded corners.

Sometimes everyone is terrible and everything is the worst and nothing ever, ever, goes your way.Meet with her..