Comments on: Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief? http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/ Marketing Strategies To Thrive and Profit Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:50:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Susan Oakes http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2855 Susan Oakes Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:01:36 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2855 Hi Barney, You are right. People think that if they just have a chat all the important points are heard by designers etc. If they only knew as you said that they can save money maybe they would realise it is worth taking the time to write it down. Hi Barney,

You are right. People think that if they just have a chat all the important points are heard by designers etc. If they only knew as you said that they can save money maybe they would realise it is worth taking the time to write it down.

]]> By: Barney Austen http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2853 Barney Austen Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:18:20 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2853 Nice post Susan. This is a problem common across many "design" oriented businesses. My background is software and it's the bane of many a designers existence. Putting the effort in up-front, even if it does equal a longer design phase to make sure it's right, will save serious cash towards the end of a project which is where it is very expensive to sort a mis-understanding(!) out. Nice post Susan. This is a problem common across many “design” oriented businesses. My background is software and it’s the bane of many a designers existence. Putting the effort in up-front, even if it does equal a longer design phase to make sure it’s right, will save serious cash towards the end of a project which is where it is very expensive to sort a mis-understanding(!) out.

]]> By: Tweets that mention Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief? | M4B Marketing -- Topsy.com http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2852 Tweets that mention Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief? | M4B Marketing -- Topsy.com Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:13:01 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2852 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Hassing, Susan Oakes. Susan Oakes said: Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief? http://bit.ly/72cEWi [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Hassing, Susan Oakes. Susan Oakes said: Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief? http://bit.ly/72cEWi [...]

]]> By: BizSugar.com http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2851 BizSugar.com Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:55:17 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2851 <strong>Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief?...</strong> Have you ever presented work to a customer and the response is less than what you expected? They have changed their minds and want something different. You are left a little confused. If a customer has not really thought through the project’s requireme... Have Your Customers Ever Changed The Brief?…

Have you ever presented work to a customer and the response is less than what you expected? They have changed their minds and want something different. You are left a little confused. If a customer has not really thought through the project’s requireme…

]]> By: Susan Oakes http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2850 Susan Oakes Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:29:18 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2850 Hi Ensha, Thanks for your comment. Sharing ideas is the best as it sparks ideas for me. As I have done hundreds of briefs if you ever need help or want a template just let me know. Regards, Susan Hi Ensha,

Thanks for your comment. Sharing ideas is the best as it sparks ideas for me. As I have done hundreds of briefs if you ever need help or want a template just let me know.

Regards,

Susan

]]> By: Ensha Reiya http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2849 Ensha Reiya Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:11:25 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2849 Thanks Susan, I just love all these ideas you guys share, this will help me to save time and resources, when I am outsourcing something I need doing. In particular when I need something done in a hurry. Keep them coming. Ensha Thanks Susan,

I just love all these ideas you guys share, this will help me to save time and resources, when I am outsourcing something I need doing. In particular when I need something done in a hurry.

Keep them coming.
Ensha

]]> By: Susan Oakes http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2848 Susan Oakes Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:12:15 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2848 Hi Paul, Thank you for sharing and you have given a great example for others to learn from. I also think it actually shows respect. Perhaps clients do not actually know that they can save money and get the job done right the first time, probably in less time than it takes to write a brief. Hi Paul,

Thank you for sharing and you have given a great example for others to learn from.

I also think it actually shows respect. Perhaps clients do not actually know that they can save money and get the job done right the first time, probably in less time than it takes to write a brief.

]]> By: Paul Hassing http://www.m4bmarketing.com/have-your-customers-ever-changed-the-brief/#comment-2847 Paul Hassing Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:55:13 +0000 http://www.m4bmarketing.com/?p=2924#comment-2847 Good show, Susan. It's becoming clear that you have a great deal of valuable expertise to impart! When I was a copywriter for big ad agencies, indecisive clients sometimes used our first draft of work to crystallise their ideas. This could mean 6-10 hours work down the toilet as they shot off on a completely different tangent. I was on a salary, so it didn't upset me as much as the account managers. When I went freelance, however, I couldn't afford such nonsense. So my mate Adam and I developed a series of surgical briefing tools. These tools forced clients to be excrutiatingly explicit in stating their needs. They took time to use and some clients couldn't stand the strain. This was fine, as they were exactly the sort who'd trash a load of work with the sentence 'That's not what I asked for'. As for the rest, they went through our process and gave us what we needed to do a great job. We invariably nailed each project first time, in double quick time - thus saving the client time, money and tears. Our 'Japanese-style' approach of doing all the faffing up front and then going for it like an arrow through the heart when the path is clear doesn't suit everyone. But it does let us keep our sanity and do our best work for less. :) Good show, Susan. It’s becoming clear that you have a great deal of valuable expertise to impart!

When I was a copywriter for big ad agencies, indecisive clients sometimes used our first draft of work to crystallise their ideas. This could mean 6-10 hours work down the toilet as they shot off on a completely different tangent.

I was on a salary, so it didn’t upset me as much as the account managers. When I went freelance, however, I couldn’t afford such nonsense. So my mate Adam and I developed a series of surgical briefing tools.

These tools forced clients to be excrutiatingly explicit in stating their needs. They took time to use and some clients couldn’t stand the strain. This was fine, as they were exactly the sort who’d trash a load of work with the sentence ‘That’s not what I asked for’.

As for the rest, they went through our process and gave us what we needed to do a great job. We invariably nailed each project first time, in double quick time – thus saving the client time, money and tears.

Our ‘Japanese-style’ approach of doing all the faffing up front and then going for it like an arrow through the heart when the path is clear doesn’t suit everyone. But it does let us keep our sanity and do our best work for less. :)

]]>