When clients become “The Client.”

How semantics can change your client relationships.

A few days ago, I was working with a project manager for one of our partner agencies on a small project with a short timeline. We were under pressure because the client said our first few rounds had been lackluster. We knew there was something missing, but we just couldn’t put a finger on it.

Toward the end of our conversation, I realized we kept referencing “The Client,” and that I had no idea who the client other than the logo that would go on the bottom of the site.

I started thinking — The Client. Are they young? Old? A grandfather? A musician? A workaholic? A mother of 6? The only reference I had to understand their perspective was the Visual Identity Standards guide that we’d been provided, and that obviously wasn’t helping me discover what our client really cared about.

I spent some time after that reflecting on great (and not so great) client experiences over the past few years, and realized that the best were often when we knew our clients, regardless of the size of the company they worked for, by name.

It’s the times when we distance ourselves by inserting “The Client” that the road gets rocky or no one feels like they’ve done their best work.

I think we default to calling people we work with “The Client” for three reasons:

1. Fear — the “big bad client,” so to speak — We’re concerned that the client has it out for us, or that we’re not qualified to do the work we’ve promised, or maybe we even oversold our capability? Inserting “The Client” allows us imagine them as “the man” and convince ourselves they don’t care about our wellbeing.
2. Selfishness — when project managers, sales team members, and other leaders don’t disclose the name(s) of the client to their team, they’re often trying to hold the keys to the relationship. If you’re guilty of this, you’re hurting your team because you’re not giving them the appropriate framework for decision making and creativity that they need to fulfill their responsibilities well. And they know you’re doing it.
3. Avoiding Responsibility — When you know someone by name, there’s an expectation that you should care about them. It’s part of our human disposition to be considerate of people we interact with. Maybe they have a spouse or kids? Maybe they like fishing? Maybe they have eclectic musical taste? Referring to them as The Client allows you to make them inhuman in your mind, and escape the responsibility of “care,” because, after all, aren’t you really busy anyway?

I’m not advocating that you need to be close friends with your clients, just that they’re real people, with real relationships, successes, and problems, and I believe that understanding their humanity is critical to producing great work together. It’s our human nature that creates space for appreciating creative work.

Using “The Client” makes relationships impersonal— it shifts your thinking from wanting to work with them to working for them. When you work with someone in partnership, you have to work in close communication and understand each other’s goals and motives. It requires relationship.

For at least a week, try never using the phrase “The Client.” Focus on learning the names of the people you’re working with and for, and refer to them by name. Encourage those around you to do the same.