
“This was not included in the initial brief.” “The timeline you’ve given for this is too short.” “Your budget is too small for a project as big as this.” Do you find yourself repeating these sentences to your clients? We feel you. It is true that “the customer is always right” but it does not always mean they are easy to deal with. It is nearly impossible to have a successful business without building good relationships with your clients.
So, How Can You Manage Difficult
Clients Better?
1. To start, tell us what a day in the life
of a Creative Director looks like for you.
Every day's a new adventure for me. I whip up strategies and stories
to match what our clients want, lead our awesome team of designers, writers,
and animators, and keep tabs on the SEO and digital marketing side of things.
Plus, whenever we're on the lookout for new talent, I jump in with our managing
director to help with interviews. Busy but fun!
2. Was being a Creative Director always
something you wanted to do?
Not exactly. I knew I wanted to be in the
design industry but did not think about the role of Creative Director that
thoroughly. However, now that I’m in this position I feel blessed. It’s truly a
blessing to be able to do what I love and lead a team of talented artists as
well.
3. Take us through the journey of how you
ended up at where you are now.
Back in 2011 when Kasra Design was founded, the idea of online video production was still a relatively new concept that was gaining traction. With my passion and background in animation, I decided to explore the idea of a production company. I noticed that many businesses were starting to see the importance of online presence and needed help promoting their goods and services on those platforms. So, I thought animations would be the perfect way to do that because who doesn’t love visually stunning moving images?
4. Are you currently working in the office
or working remotely?
We do have offices. But our business is
currently functioning entirely remotely.
5. Has working remotely brought about any
changes and challenges in client relationships?
I think the main challenge was
communication. When we meet clients face-to-face, it’s generally easier and
faster to understand what they need and clarify any questions. Once it’s
through emails and online messaging, it can become a broken telephone situation
where messages can get misinterpreted.
6. How were you able to overcome those
challenges?
Once we started taking our meetings onto
Zoom and Google Hangouts, everything was much easier. Once those online
meetings are done, we would usually follow up with an email to make sure
everyone’s on the same page.
7.
Where do you find your pool of clients?
Clients typically find us through online
platforms such as YouTube, Google, and Vimeo, or through word of mouth. Many of
them come back to us year after year for their video production needs. This
repeat business is a testament to our commitment to ensuring client
satisfaction and consistently delivering top-notch quality.
8.
How do you handle numerous client briefs
all at once?
I would say you have to be very
organised. There are many tools out there like Basecamp and Asana to help you manage timelines and client
briefs. Doing a whole calendar is useful too, plotting in production and
delivery timelines.
On our team, we have multiple production
coordinators who help make sure we are all on track with our production
timelines.
9.
What do you think is the key to balancing
creative expression with your client’s business objectives?
You should always achieve your client’s
objectives no matter what. Put their needs first and think of an idea
surrounding it. I guess that’s where pushing creative boundaries comes to play.
Creativity is expandable but your client’s objectives aren’t.
10. With
cancel culture so prominent in the new generation today, how do you ensure your
creatives are culturally and socially sensitive and respectful?
Just be mindful of language and any
imagery used in your content. Think about how these might be interpreted by
people of different cultural backgrounds and whether they could be potentially
offensive or insensitive. Avoid stereotyping and biases. If ever you receive
negative feedback on your content, take responsibility and apologise before
taking steps to correct the issue and ensure it doesn’t happen again in future
projects.
11. Do
you have an instance where you faced an unhappy client? Share with us how it
went.
Yes we have, we had a client who was
unhappy with the final result of a project. First, we apologised for the issue
and tried to resolve the situation by understanding what they didn’t like about
it and what we could do to make it better.
Internally, I would also discuss with my
team on what went wrong and how we can prevent it from happening in the future.
However, when dealing with the client do note to keep it brief and try to sort
it out quickly and delicately. The longer it lingers it might prevent you from
giving more attention to other clients. So find a win-win solution that can
benefit the both of you quickly.
12. What
is your trick to preventing yourself from turning into a Hulk when you face
difficult clients?
Managing your emotions requires intentionality and proactivity. Always prepare yourself before talking to difficult clients. Even when you’re frustrated, do whatever you can to remain calm and professional. I tend to take deep breaths so that I can stay in control and think of what to say better. If it is an angry email, do not reply right away.

Take your time to cool down and reply in
a professional manner. You are the face of your company, so anything you say or
do will have long lasting consequences. You have to do anything you can to
prevent bad reviews.
13. What
does success mean to you?
For me, success is being able to deliver
top-tier animations to our clients, leading more industries to recognize the
transformative power of animation. And naturally, it's also reflected in our
annual revenue staying in the millions.
14. Could
you share with us your secret to retaining clients and ensuring they always
come back?
I believe if you produce good work and
maintain good customer relationships, your clients will always put your
business as their first choice. So for every project we do, we make sure we put
effort in building those relationships and give our clients only our best work
and ideas.
15. What
is one thing you learnt recently about building a business?
Don’t be afraid to say no. We are not
superheroes. We can’t always do everything a client says. This is where
managing expectations comes into play. When you manage to understand client
needs, manage their expectations according to their objectives and budget, your
clients should leave satisfied.
If it’s a busy season and you notice your
team potentially suffering from a burnout, either hire more to meet the demand
or turn down some projects. The success of a business is not just about the
clients you get but the quality of the team you are building.
16. Lastly,
who are some animators and designers you currently seek inspiration from?
Currently, it would be Nick Park because
I’m a huge fan of the Aardman animations since young. But usually, I would just
jump into Motionographer and Stash Magazine website to see works
from different designers and animators to gain inspiration.
Wrapping Up
Navigating the world of demanding clients
and sticking to your company's goals can feel a bit like juggling while riding
a unicycle. But hey, we've dived deep into this challenge in today's chat with
Alex Safavinia and found some real gems of advice.
The key? It's all about understanding,
flexibility, and some good old-fashioned clear communication. As the world of
business keeps shaking things up, the tips we've shared today might just be the
lifesaver you didn't know you needed. Making clients smile while staying on
course isn't just a talent—it's the mark of a business that's really got its
act together.
If you have any doubt related this post, let me know