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[GAMETA]

I'm working for this great client and we did 2 very cool projects in the past that got great feedback (the kind of project you show on your porfolio), so it's a client I really want to keep.

But now, on the 3rd project with him, things are not working... I'm not sure I can deliver what he wants, I'm not sure he really knows what he wants, I'm not sure I understand how to make it work. What I'm certain of is that he's not liking the stuff that I'm presenting and each iteration takes a lot of time to do...

I can't say he's angry, but we're 3 weeks in and things aren't working, we tried different styles, we tried a bunch of stuff, nothing hits the mark.

I don't know how to deal with that and anxiety is building up real bad to a point where I'm losing sleep and to a point where I'm getting stuck and productivity is going down after hitting the wall...


I don't know... My wife says I need to be more confident, but you know that feeling of uncertainty? "You know, maybe I'm not good enough to do it"... I really hate this.

 

[God Enel]

What’s your profession?

 

[GAMETA]

What’s your profession?

3D/2D/design

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I don't know... My wife says I need to be more confident, but you know that feeling of uncertainty? "You know, maybe I'm not good enough to do it"... I really hate this.

Impostor syndrome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

.

It sucks... It might be best to be honest with the client about your concerns and suggest he try someone else for this specific project. I feel like that approach would be better than just drawing it out if you're fairly sure you're not going to hit the mark or that the client may not even know what the mark is. That will only lead to resentment and bitterness on both sides.

 

[MaestroMike]

Take a break for a week and then come back to it and don't talk/listen to your wife about it.

 

[Tesseract]

i work alone

 

[nush]

But now, on the 3rd project with him, things are not working... I'm not sure I can deliver what he wants, I'm not sure he really knows what he wants, I'm not sure I understand how to make it work. What I'm certain of is that he's not liking the stuff that I'm presenting and each iteration takes a lot of time to do...

You can solve many problems in business if you just keep talking. Pick up the phone, go and talk to the client face to face.

It's one of my business rules of thumb and it actually works most of the time.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I'm working for this great client and we did 2 very cool projects in the past that got great feedback (the kind of project you show on your porfolio), so it's a client I really want to keep.

But now, on the 3rd project with him, things are not working... I'm not sure I can deliver what he wants, I'm not sure he really knows what he wants, I'm not sure I understand how to make it work. What I'm certain of is that he's not liking the stuff that I'm presenting and each iteration takes a lot of time to do...

I can't say he's angry, but we're 3 weeks in and things aren't working, we tried different styles, we tried a bunch of stuff, nothing hits the mark.

I don't know how to deal with that and anxiety is building up real bad to a point where I'm losing sleep and to a point where I'm getting stuck and productivity is going down after hitting the wall...


I don't know... My wife says I need to be more confident, but you know that feeling of uncertainty? "You know, maybe I'm not good enough to do it"... I really hate this.

I read a book on sales a while back that stressed the importance of the client having input beyond a simple yes or no / A or B style choice. The suggestion was to bring them a number of unfinished designs, and ask what changes they'd recommend. While a client might not know what they want enough to come up with an original idea from the start, they likely know what direction they'd prefer to move towards for an unfinished design. Not sure if that would work in your situation or not, but it might be something to consider, if you haven't tried that already.

And don't tell yourself you're not good enough. You already made two successful pitches to the client, and you said so yourself.

 

[The Lunch Legend]

whiskey

 

[Kagey K]

I'm working for this great client and we did 2 very cool projects in the past that got great feedback (the kind of project you show on your porfolio), so it's a client I really want to keep.

But now, on the 3rd project with him, things are not working... I'm not sure I can deliver what he wants, I'm not sure he really knows what he wants, I'm not sure I understand how to make it work. What I'm certain of is that he's not liking the stuff that I'm presenting and each iteration takes a lot of time to do...

I can't say he's angry, but we're 3 weeks in and things aren't working, we tried different styles, we tried a bunch of stuff, nothing hits the mark.

I don't know how to deal with that and anxiety is building up real bad to a point where I'm losing sleep and to a point where I'm getting stuck and productivity is going down after hitting the wall...


I don't know... My wife says I need to be more confident, but you know that feeling of uncertainty? "You know, maybe I'm not good enough to do it"... I really hate this.

You have to keep talking (same room or voice is better then texting) air your problems with whatever it is with him and listen when he airs his to you.

Realize that things might get heated and you both might walk away angry at different times during the project, but don’t shut down.

Try to see how you can incorporate your ideas around his and then show how his ideas fit into yours, and listen when he does the same.

Don’t take anything personal, (This one is most important.) You are both under stress and trying to make it work.

With any collaboration nobody is going to get everything they want and both of you are going to fight tooth and nail over small things. You will be annoyed, frustrated and angry with each other, but the final product should speak for itself when you are done.

 

[GAMETA]

You can solve many problems in business if you just keep talking. Pick up the phone, go and talk to the client face to face.

It's one of my business rules of thumb and it actually works most of the time.

He's in another country but we've been doing weekly calls

 

[nush]

He's in another country but we've been doing weekly calls

Do you have the calls at the same time every week? One call or more?

 

[Stouffers]

I walk downstairs and get a snack from my fridge.

 

[GAMETA]

Do you have the calls at the same time every week? One call or more?

Yep, like meetings, once a week. The rest is done through chat

 

[nush]

Yep, like meetings, once a week. The rest is done through chat

OK, mix it up. Chat does not have peoples full attention, if the call is the same time every week it's probably an auto-pilot call.

Try something like this, call out of hours. Weekend is good, opener is "I'm working on putting in some extra time on your project" (You don't have to actually be) "Do you have a few minutes I could talk through some ideas with you?"

You catch people out of work mode and look good putting in "Extra time" on the project. Also good as a one to one for relationship building.

Customize that approach for whatever your actual work setup is.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Stability and development is crucial in any relationship.