No matter how great a designer you are, you will need to communicate effectively with your clients to do the best job possible and get improve your clients. In this article we look at five key tips to help you get the best communication with your customers.

1. Establish a communication methods

There are many different ways to communicate with clients, and that means there are many ways to tell your clients to maintain contact. Try to have a simple communication method by which your customers can easily contact you with questions and do not waste time leaving a message.

Many designers prefer communication via e-mail, or through applications such as Base camp. Others resort to phone calls, Twitter, Face book and even text messages.

2. Developing the system
Once you decide on your choice of communication methods, you need to manage it. This is where project management and CRM applications into useful, letting you manage your customer communications. As far as we are concerned, you can use just for your mail folders. What is important is that you are using the system and the system that is useful to you. This will avoid misunderstandings with your customers.

3. Establish policies and conditions
There are several problems that will arise in any communication with the client, and it is good policy to determine in advance about new customers. This will prevent misunderstandings generated, inconvenience and false hope.

Things like whether the client can communicate with you on weekends or if there will be a minimum waiting time in response to every email, concerns will be addressed from the beginning.

4. Avoid jargon
One of the worst things you can do when you communicate with your clients is by using words and terms that they do not understand. If you’re using the industry jargon, at least make sure to accompany it with a proper explanation. Sometimes we assume that clients know what we’re talking about, but if not, it is clear that we will have problems later.

5. Put everything in writing
Most freelancers work on projects with multiple clients at one time, and keep track of all communication can be very difficult. On the other hand, customers have more problems on the day only deal with your project, so it will not be easy to remember to speak. For that reason, and for your protection, it is ideal to have everything in writing.

While phone calls are dynamic, they left no record of the spoken word. In contrast, e-mail lets you get everything in writing, to return to the exact moment that something is said. If you can not avoid telephone conversations, ideally by the end of them, write a summary of the talk and send it via e-mail to subscribers.