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25 dumbest client questions ever!

Thread title: 25 dumbest client questions ever!
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09-08-2005, 02:24 AM
#21
rlevant is offline rlevant
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OK


Some CLIENT here needs to be brave and admit he or she does not know why at least one of the 25 are considered the dumbest question from customers.

I have worked with designers doing $5 logo's and those doing $300....most really like working with me and say they get really helpful feedback...

So I guess that means I must be the first to fess up on this one


Why is the question of using add space for their logo Dumb?

I understand that add space is for ads grin but I can imagine some folks doing non profit sites or not wanting or having the time to hassle with ads

OR

Is there another reason it is dumb I am missing? (Why do I expect 10 answers LOL)

Renee

09-08-2005, 02:56 AM
#22
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1. How can we get to the top of Google?



From a consultants point of view this is a good question. I know some clients are not web savy. I am always glad when they have a sense that the design process CAN matter in search engine placement and such.

Designers may not (at least _as designers) be the right people to ask ...But it does not seem "stupid". They may have no idea how much is involved EITHER in time or , well alternatively money.




3. I don't know how I want it to look, but i'll know it when I see it.

This is not stupid..It's inconsiderate and annoying. Clients neeed to be educated as to different looks and possibilities. They will get a better product if they get a sens of what matters BEFORE contacting a designer. The fact is they often do not have a clue.

I find it is better for folks to work with a consultant who takes the time to educate them and help them get clear on the project and serve as a go between for getting website they want.


4. Will people in America be able to view my site?

Here again "stupid" is not the term I would use. Perhaps really unconscious of the fact the the United States dominates and controls the internet....(in addition to dominating many other "places")



9. This is 6 weeks late, can I have a discount?

Heh This is not stupid unless the CLIENT caused the delay....it means they are clueless about the design process and the realities of your life and time. I have been pleased when sites get done on time. I do not expect it because it happens so rarely.

When it goes to 6 months or a year ...unless they agreed and you did MUCH more than you said originally (with the client understanding this) This seems reasonable.

Clients are Clients and have a right to expect timely delivery or you should have to eat some of the cost


11. We want a site that plays DVD quality video, but we don't want to use video streaming and it must load instantly.


This is technical issue most clients do not know about. This is an education isssue again. Either a designer should expect to teach the client how these things work (to the degree necessary for their project) or send any client who wants a more complicated site to work with a consultant whose job is to do just that.

From the other end...When I approach a designer to do a site for a client in some field which is not common...or to create a design based on a certain mythology *I expect* that the designer may not know. I have seen some pretty funny stuff come from designers interpretations of what client would want or like. That is OK ..that is not the designers job. If the client knew how streaming video worked and all they might not be..well your client



12. Can you incorporate photographs of our clients into the designs? (Of course, but not when they're 20gb BMP files!)

Again see above


16. What does the delete button do?

Now that one I will go with...heh


20. Can you put our entire site into Comic Sans? It's our company font.

So a good plan would be to let them know upfront the sort of changes you can make easily and those you can't


21. Why doesn't our site show up in French when I view the site from France?

Wouldn't that be so Cool. They do it on Star Trek

22. How much will you do for free?

A good retort is..it depends ..how much will you do for free

24. Why can't you build a site in a weekend? My son managed it.

Answer: GREAT I will employ him and let him do your site. May I see his work...Let's compare

09-08-2005, 03:53 AM
#23
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yeh a number of stupid questions i have had have been

client: how much do you charge for a new site banner?
me: depends on what your after.. usually between 20-50
client: mmm, ok i was thinking you didnt charge..

09-08-2005, 04:15 AM
#24
Bennett is offline Bennett
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Originally Posted by rlevant
1. How can we get to the top of Google?



From a consultants point of view this is a good question. I know some clients are not web savy. I am always glad when they have a sense that the design process CAN matter in search engine placement and such.

Designers may not (at least _as designers) be the right people to ask ...But it does not seem "stupid". They may have no idea how much is involved EITHER in time or , well alternatively money.




3. I don't know how I want it to look, but i'll know it when I see it.

This is not stupid..It's inconsiderate and annoying. Clients neeed to be educated as to different looks and possibilities. They will get a better product if they get a sens of what matters BEFORE contacting a designer. The fact is they often do not have a clue.

I find it is better for folks to work with a consultant who takes the time to educate them and help them get clear on the project and serve as a go between for getting website they want.


4. Will people in America be able to view my site?

Here again "stupid" is not the term I would use. Perhaps really unconscious of the fact the the United States dominates and controls the internet....(in addition to dominating many other "places")



9. This is 6 weeks late, can I have a discount?

Heh This is not stupid unless the CLIENT caused the delay....it means they are clueless about the design process and the realities of your life and time. I have been pleased when sites get done on time. I do not expect it because it happens so rarely.

When it goes to 6 months or a year ...unless they agreed and you did MUCH more than you said originally (with the client understanding this) This seems reasonable.

Clients are Clients and have a right to expect timely delivery or you should have to eat some of the cost


11. We want a site that plays DVD quality video, but we don't want to use video streaming and it must load instantly.


This is technical issue most clients do not know about. This is an education isssue again. Either a designer should expect to teach the client how these things work (to the degree necessary for their project) or send any client who wants a more complicated site to work with a consultant whose job is to do just that.

From the other end...When I approach a designer to do a site for a client in some field which is not common...or to create a design based on a certain mythology *I expect* that the designer may not know. I have seen some pretty funny stuff come from designers interpretations of what client would want or like. That is OK ..that is not the designers job. If the client knew how streaming video worked and all they might not be..well your client



12. Can you incorporate photographs of our clients into the designs? (Of course, but not when they're 20gb BMP files!)

Again see above


16. What does the delete button do?

Now that one I will go with...heh


20. Can you put our entire site into Comic Sans? It's our company font.

So a good plan would be to let them know upfront the sort of changes you can make easily and those you can't


21. Why doesn't our site show up in French when I view the site from France?

Wouldn't that be so Cool. They do it on Star Trek

22. How much will you do for free?

A good retort is..it depends ..how much will you do for free

24. Why can't you build a site in a weekend? My son managed it.

Answer: GREAT I will employ him and let him do your site. May I see his work...Let's compare

A true business salesmen prespective. Well said. Though kind of sounds like some of those people that base all their stuff off of FISH. :P

09-08-2005, 04:55 AM
#25
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What IS FISH? I know what fish are?

I don't think it is so much a matter of being a business man (trust me the people here who know me will really laugh at that one.

If anything it is more of a respect for real people perspective

I learned the hard way. I wanted to set up a good online community for conversation on intellectual topics and ended up "running" my own webserver.

ROTFLMAO

I mean at first I couldn't even form a stupid question about the net. That would have required at least a tad bit of knowledge. And for years each time I thought I FINALLY had a handle on things something new would come up...the community wanted to do some new thing and it would require me to learn a bunch more. Only after a few rounds of this did I start asking stuoid questions (After having to figure out how to install and configure Majordomo (at that time this was still a very big deal)

And dealing with folks doing different parts of web dev stuff I found they all considered the others to be really stupid and naive. Their expertise was very specific. The best things happened when we all figured out how to talk to one another in service of the project.

So it is more the perspective of someone deeply involved in web development and yet very much aware of skills I DONT have. ;-)

09-08-2005, 05:08 AM
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I'm not sure if you guys know about this stuff or would find this funny but...


Why isn't there any sound when I hook up my keyboard to my computer with a midi cable?

09-08-2005, 07:16 AM
#27
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Tapwater, is that really relevant to this thread?

Welcome to TalkFreelance Renee, the business wo(man)

You have some interesting angles on this amusing subject

09-08-2005, 12:54 PM
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i guess i'm gonna surprise u all
and say that those questions r been asked all over the globe not only in england

09-18-2005, 04:03 PM
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haha i see the relevance tapwater - a musical alternative

09-20-2005, 11:56 PM
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Originally Posted by rlevant
Here again "stupid" is not the term I would use. Perhaps really unconscious of the fact the the United States dominates and controls the internet....(in addition to dominating many other "places")
Disagree. They don't.
Talking about DNS servers? Nope, there are servers in Asia, Great Britain I think it was and also Stockholm in Sweden (Where I live btw). USA has no control of country specific top-domains either, in fact, the whole american network could be taked away and europe's net would do just as fine .

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