Up CLOSE and personal

Last week, I sat on the front row. Now, this doesn’t sound like much, but for me it was. Especially since this was an event where several thousand were in attendance. You see, I’m one of those “don’t get too close or they may see you” kind. I love events and I love people, but I’d rather observe the action than basically be in it.

That is, until last week when I sat on the front row. It was awesome. I got to watch the main speaker and every move he made. I’m sure my attention span was much better too because it felt like he was watching us “front row-ers” too.

Anyway, there’s a good business principle to be learned from all this. What is it? Well, I’m so glad you asked! Essentially, get to know your client. Befriend him. Spend time talking to her. Don’t just “sit in the back row” and observe.

**Note** Don’t think I’m saying not to observe…that’s one of your biggest tools as a designer. Just don’t rely solely upon it.

Get into the action and ask questions. Lots of questions. Make sure they’re good questions, though, because you don’t want to overwhelm him.

If you don’t know where to start, try the old faithful “Five W’s and One H” – Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. You can learn more about that here. Oh, and try sitting in the front row sometime…I guarantee you that you’ll learn a lot.