# How to Communicate with Clients: Building Relationships that Last - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/how-to-communicate-with-clients-building-relationships-that-last/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Graphic Design · Quick win · Rated 7 /10 # How to Communicate with Clients: Building Relationships that Last By Gareth B. Davies · Updated August 2026 Will Bryant · Artist and Designer Beginner · 46 min A working artist's playbook for turning client interactions into repeat business, delivered in under an hour with zero filler. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fhow-to-communicate-with-clients-building-relationships-that-last%2F1672157275) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. ## What it covers Will Bryant's class is built around a simple premise: the work gets you noticed, but the relationship gets you rehired. Across ten short lessons, it moves from why client relationships compound over a career, into the mechanics of email and phone communication, then into presenting work both online and in client-specific decks, and finally into the money conversation, closing with a rundown of pricing models. There is no software to learn and no design exercise to complete. This is a communication and business-practice class wearing a design-course label. The email lesson is the most concrete part of the course. Bryant walks through a real budget email he sent a client, pointing out the use of bold text, numbered options, and short digestible sections instead of a wall of text, and he is candid that structuring one well-crafted template took him an embarrassing amount of time because he reuses it across projects. He also maps out specific correspondence scenarios: the cold outreach email that should get one follow-up after a week of silence, the individual client who goes quiet after receiving a deck, and the agency project that stalls in "hurry up and wait" limbo. These scenarios are recognizable and give the lesson more texture than a generic "communicate clearly" platitude. ## Where it delivers and where it thins out The pricing section is the strongest material in the class. Bryant breaks a budget into four components, hourly rate, deliverables, timeline, and revisions and usage rights, and then shows an actual tiered proposal he sent an apparel brand: a $5,000 "straight up business" option down to a "pajama party casual" option with an undefined budget, each tier trading money for creative control. It is a genuinely useful negotiating tool that a freelancer could adapt immediately. He also draws a clear, useful line between working for exposure, which he frames as something to avoid, and donating work to a cause you believe in, which he treats as a legitimate choice. Where the course thins out is in specifics that a beginner most needs. Bryant references an early $25 hourly rate and a badly underpriced Nike shirt job, but never walks through how to actually calculate a defensible rate from scratch, and the phone communication lesson amounts to a few minutes of general advice about being prepared and matching tone. The portfolio-presentation lessons lean heavily on Bryant narrating his own website and deck choices, which works as inspiration but offers less of a transferable framework than the email or pricing sections. ## Verdict At 46 minutes, this plays more like a well-organized conversation with an experienced freelancer than a structured curriculum, and it is honest about that. Beginners with no client experience will get atmosphere and encouragement but few hard mechanics. Designers who already have a client or two under their belt will get real, reusable material, especially the email formatting habits and the tiered pricing template, that can be applied on the very next project. The standout The tiered pricing menu (business, business casual, casual, super casual) that lets a budget-constrained client self-select a price point instead of forcing a single take-it-or-leave-it quote. ## What you will learn - · How to structure client emails with hierarchy, bolding, and numbered sections so nothing gets lost or ignored - · When to switch from email to a phone call once correspondence gets muddy or too detailed - · How to build a curated, client-specific portfolio deck instead of sending generic best-of work - · How to calculate a project budget using hourly rate, deliverables, timeline, revisions, and usage rights - · How to offer tiered pricing options so a client with a limited budget can still say yes - · How to recognize and decline unpaid exposure work versus legitimate pro bono projects Best for: Freelance designers and illustrators past their first client who want a repeatable system for communication and pricing conversations. Skip it if: Complete beginners with no client experience yet, or anyone wanting hard numbers, contracts, or negotiation scripts rather than general principles. Engaging Teacher Helpful Examples Clarity of Instruction Audio & Video Quality [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fhow-to-communicate-with-clients-building-relationships-that-last%2F1672157275)