Not every organisation with money and a design problem should become your client.
Professional relationships require mutual suitability.
The client needs to believe your expertise has value.
You need to believe you can contribute something useful.
Both parties need to understand what they are responsible for.
Sometimes the correct answer is no.
Understand the problem before the deliverable
"Redesign the website" is not a problem.
"Build us an app" is not a problem.
"Make the logo bigger" is definitely not a problem.
Ask why the work exists.
What changed?
Why now?
What happens if nothing is done?
Who believes there is a problem?
What evidence exists?
What previous attempts have been made?
Has somebody already decided the solution?
A professional designer does not blindly accept the framing supplied in the brief.
Sometimes the most useful contribution is showing that the organisation is solving the wrong problem.
Define success
What should be different when the work succeeds?
What behaviour should change?
What problem should become easier?
What business result matters?
How will anyone know?
Not every outcome can be reduced to a number.
That does not remove the need to understand what success means.
If nobody can define it, perhaps discovery is the first piece of work required.
Find the decision structure
Who owns the decision?
Who provides evidence?
Who needs to be consulted?
Who controls the budget?
Who can stop the work?
Who will maintain the result?
Complex projects can involve many people.
That is not the problem.
The problem is ambiguity.
Do not demand one dictator simply because committees can be difficult.
Establish decision rights instead.
Evaluate the client
Watch how the organisation behaves before the work begins.
Do they attend meetings?
Do they answer questions?
Do they involve the right people?
Do they repeatedly change the brief?
Do they expect free work?
Do they take weeks to provide information while expecting immediate responses from you?
Sales behaviour often previews project behaviour.
Pay attention.
Do not become an order taker
Some clients want expertise.
Others want execution.
Both relationships can be legitimate.
Problems begin when they are confused.
If every meaningful decision has already been made and the client simply needs production, price and structure the job accordingly.
If they want professional design expertise, there needs to be enough room for that expertise to influence the outcome.
Do not accept responsibility for a result while being given no ability to shape it.