Any tips for getting feedback from clients on small projects

Answer 1

I've had similar experiences with this - some clients don't read emails. At first, it was annoying frustrating. Although this may not be directly applicable to you, I've ended up managing feedback on a client-to-client basis.

For example, I've got one client who pretty much leaves his mail client open all day. He always responds in a timely manner, and really understands the benefits and speed that come with email. Obviously, this works out well for both of us.

On the other hand, I have another client that is a small business and this business is run by people that are of a slightly older generation. Their business never required the internet, so email never became a critical point of their business model and, as such, don't see email as the valuable resource that it is. To that end, I make it a point to schedule phone meetings with them. It's how they do business and how they believe good business to be done.

Above all else, what I had to learn was this: Despite the fact that email is convenient to me, it may not be convenient or used as often by the customers with whom I deal. At the end of the day, I'm developing projects for the customers. I want to have the reputation of someone that is easy to work with, and that genuinely cares about the people providing me work. If I fault them for not doing business the way that I want to do business, then I'm doing something wrong.

As soon as I got passed that, I felt much better about conducting business. Sure, certain projects may take longer to develop based on the mode of communication, but, at the end of the day, that doesn't really amount to anything significant. Not only do I have happy customers that come back for additional work, but word-of-mouth generates additional opportunities for me.

I don't know how well this answers your question, but I thought I'd sound off on my experiences with this issue.

EDIT: After reading rizzle's answer, I do want to add that making graphical mockups (when applicable) saves an exponential amount of time when, say, developing a UI or website for someone. They can see something that makes sense to them. Writing code, getting feedback, then having to spend hours changing something in the code based on the feedback is so frustrating - mockups can help mitigate a lot of this.

Answer 2

I've found nothing works better than graphics, non-tech people see problems and changes in graphics long before they can extrapolate them from emails.

And to see when they eventually view link to the graphics you can use a link tracking url abbreviation tool like http://notifyurl.com then you can call them like 10min after they click the link so it will be on their mind.

Answer 3

You can't beat actually seeing users trying to use your software. On a small project, typically the scope of what you are trying to achieve is limited, so just watching a real user try to use it for a few minutes can be incredibly instructive.

Plus, if the client is of the type that doesn't tend to read emails (or, more commonly I find, will not read emails to the bottom, only responding to the first question out of a list) they will probably favour face-to-face communication and this will facilitate you finding out what you want.

That said, it is always worth recording a brief written record of these meetings, which you can ask the customer to sign off if it includes requirements / changes.

Answer 4

well, i think its becoming clear my problems are connected to choosing the most appropriate communication medium based on what the client likes (be it email, phone, face-to-face).

i have also come across this sort of thing in the Manager Tools series. where the guys say managers should gear their communication style to the person they are communicating with. so, if you know a person likes email updates, give them updates via email. if they prefer face-to-face chats, then do that.

i have to admit i hate phone calls, which is weird considering im a project manager. i commonly have to force myself to call clients. there have been times at jobs where my boss has said "why dont you give them a call?"

RE: rizzle answer - im with you on that. i never start production work without giving a client mockups/wireframes to approve.

thank you for your input guys.

Answer 5

You can use an online review tool. That would enable the client to view the images/pdf files online and add comments and mark-ups. I've created my own tool (CreationFlow) and have been using it for 2 years. In my experience that works with computer friendly clients. But most important of all, you will get feedback if the project is high priority to your client. If he/she doesn't care too much about the project, you would never get good feedback regardless of the tool you use.