Operating like a Motel 6

If I asked you to tell me where the delays happened in your last few projects, I bet I could guess with near perfect accuracy:

Waiting on the client for copy…

Waiting on the client to provide feedback…

Waiting on the client to send me x, y, or z…

Notice the common denominator here? Obviously, that’s not a shock — we’ve been blaming our clients for delays as long as we’ve been debating the best hosting company.

But if this problem is nearly universal — affecting a good 90%+ of our projects — could it be that the problem isn’t the client, but, perhaps, us?

This week we were talking about our onboarding processes in a TABLE call and I realized what I’ve been doing to help avoid these delays & roadblocks…

I’ve been asking a lot less of my clients.

Surprisingly enough, when I ask less of them, I experience fewer delays, I get less frustrated, and the project turns out better.

If you think about it, our clients probably aren’t the best people to provide copy, give design feedback, or track down a bunch of technical credentials.

But here we are asking them for all of that (and more) and getting frustrated when it doesn’t go as planned.

Our clients hate it too. They’re not dragging their feet because they want to drive us crazy (though I have often wondered if I’m being punked), they’re stuck because they don’t have the experience (or knowledge, or time, or desire) to do what we’re asking of them.

If it’s not working for either of us, maybe it’s time to do something different…

Imagine how a 5-star luxury resort might handle a website project…

What would it look like if your goal was to ask as little of your clients as possible while we take care of everything for them?

The ultimate white-glove experience.

Sure, you might need to adjust your pricing… But weigh that against all you’d save in time and frustration you’d save and what you’d gain in reputation and client satisfaction.

Budget and luxury hotels attract completely different clients… We’ll never attract Four Seasons clients operating like a Motel 6.