Bruce Lee said that a good martial artist should “Be like water” and move fluidly without hesitation. The idea being that whatever the optimum action, or idea was in a given situation should be used, regardless of any tradition or structure. When it comes to working with a web design company, or any business relationship where more than one party works together to achieve a goal, the same philosophy applies.

Some clients just want to pay you and get the finished product and be on their way. They don’t care how it works, only that it DOES work. Others want to be part of the process - maybe they designed their logo and want input how the layout of a website should be, or they’ve already done everything but just need a little piece of the puzzle solved. A web development company needs to respond accordingly to the unique situation each client presents - be they hands-off, highly involved, or any ‘client-to-company’ ratio in between.

For many graphic design, advertising and web design agencies their creative is not to be sullied by the likes of the client. Perhaps they have award shows on the brain, instead of the client’s needs, or they complain the client kills all the ‘good’ concepts. As if they expect the client to step away from their business and leave it to the professionals, when often the single greatest asset to smart, relevant design comes from the client’s perspective - remember: they know their business better than anyone else ever will.

It’s important to step back when the client steps forward, so to speak - to be like the nature of water - and flow around and support whatever the client brings to the table, and whatever is needed to get a project from beginning to awesome.

Unfortunately, leaving the ego out of the equation may not come naturally to everyone in the design industry, but it’s a refreshing and effective way to adapt to and achieve the customer’s ultimate goal: success.

- CE