{"id":568,"date":"2018-06-16T14:21:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T14:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2018.asheville.wordcamp.org\/?post_type=wcb_session&#038;p=568"},"modified":"2018-08-27T19:09:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T19:09:39","slug":"stop-designing-and-start-listening","status":"publish","type":"wcb_session","link":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/session\/stop-designing-and-start-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Designing and Start Listening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The number one complaint we hear about web designers and agencies is poor customer service. Poor communication, ambiguous expectations, and missed deadlines frustrate clients and often deliver a disappointing finished product. Service is what sets you apart as an agency. You can have incredible design work and create innovative functionality, but if your clients don\u2019t like you, they\u2019ll leave. And it\u2019s about much more than getting your clients to like you: it\u2019s about listening to your clients so that you offer a solution that actually solves their problems; it\u2019s about knowing when to push back and when to concede; and it\u2019s about being honest and transparent even in the face of failure. When you provide service that meets these criteria, you produce clients that advocate for your business and stay around for the long haul.<\/p>\n<p>Takeaways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Web designers and agencies have a reputation for providing poor customer service. If you don\u2019t recognize this problem and try to address it through the services you provide, you\u2019re going to lose business and drive customers away.<\/li>\n<li>Practical strategies and tips for providing great customer service during every stage of the project, from the initial sales meeting to the website launch and even beyond. These can apply to freelancers, full agencies, and anything inbetween.<\/li>\n<li>How providing great customer service can help you retain current clients and gain new ones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number one complaint we hear about web designers and agencies is poor customer service. Poor communication, ambiguous expectations, and missed deadlines frustrate clients and often deliver a disappointing finished product. Service is what sets you apart as an agency. You can have incredible design work and create innovative functionality, but if your clients don\u2019t &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/session\/stop-designing-and-start-listening\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Stop Designing and Start Listening<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8712975,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wcpt_session_time":1534608000,"_wcpt_session_duration":3000,"_wcpt_session_type":"session","_wcpt_session_slides":"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/19dav3qv845Q6JLh2l33Zgc9GMybgIdyIkuchY4In294\/","_wcpt_session_video":"","_wcpt_speaker_id":[507],"footnotes":""},"session_track":[174742],"session_category":[10024,3558,13742,8327],"class_list":["post-568","wcb_session","type-wcb_session","status-publish","hentry","wcb_track-room-2","wcb_session_category-advanced","wcb_session_category-beginner","wcb_session_category-designers","wcb_session_category-intermediate"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nZ58-9a","session_date_time":{"date":"August 18, 2018","time":"4:00 pm"},"session_speakers":[{"id":"507","slug":"cody-edgar","name":"Cody Edgar","link":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/speaker\/cody-edgar\/"}],"session_cats_rendered":"Advanced, Beginner, Designers, Intermediate","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wcb_session"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8712975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":569,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/568\/revisions\/569"}],"speakers":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speakers\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wcb_track","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_track?post=568"},{"taxonomy":"wcb_session_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_category?post=568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}