With that in mind, I shared with them some of the things I do whenever I communicate with a client:

Pay attention to time: Can you discern a pattern to what time they usually call or email you? Many people carve out blocks of time during their day to make calls and answer emails. And when you become aware of these times, you can email or call a client in that time frame and usually get a quicker response.

What’s the medium? Is your client always emailing you and you end up calling him or her back in response to the email? Perhaps you client prefers emails. As I said before, many people do what’s easier for them, but not necessarily ideal for a client. I have a one who only deals with text messages and gets quite annoyed with anything else but. It drives me crazy because I am a phone person, but I have learned to work within her preferences. On the other hand I have another client who only likes phone calls at 3:00am (he is in Europe so it’s 8:00 over there).

Keep it short. Or Long.: Is your client the pithy type? Or are they the detail type? Some clients want you to be short and to the point, while others want lots of details and personal business thrown in. Learn these traits and respond appropriately.

When all else fails, ask.: There’s no harm in asking a client how and when they are available and what their preferences are. At times, I have even sent a questionnaire to my clients asking them about their communication preferences.

If you follow these guidelines and pay attention I think you’ll find that your client not only respects you because you’ve taken the time to truly understand them, but I think you’ll find yourself closing business a lot faster.

Know your audience: This is the most important aspect to any mobile site—or website for that matter. If you don’t know your audience, you will not be able to properly plan and execute a site that will generate results. Does your audience visit for information? Entertainment? To make a purchase? Take some time to understand your customers or clients before putting any ideas on paper or writing one lick of code.

Keep it simple: Ideally a one column layout is easier to navigate and more user friendly than a multi-column layout. Keep scrolling to one direction, preferably up and down, as this is the most common form of scrolling. Also try to keep graphics and photos to a minimum. Everything takes time to load, and squeezing a lot of info over a 3G network can be time consuming. That doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Make it elegant, clean and functional.

A finger isn’t a mouse: Many handsets have touch screens. Rather than being navigated by buttons and cursor, the phone is operated by touch or tapping and movements of the fingers and thumb called gestures. Touch interaction requires careful thought. Remember you are designing a physical interface to be explored by human hands, not a mouse. Also remember people may only be using one hand.

Make the site mobile specific: Don’t just reconfigure your site for a mobile device, design it specifically for mobile users. Gain a strong understanding of different mobile devices, their limitations and advantages and design to get the most out of these products.

Make sure to include a browser sniffer on your website: A browser sniffer is basically a script that will detect what type of device is being used. If it finds a mobile device, it will send the mobile optimized pages or site.

Include a link to the real site: Give the option to go to the regular, non-mobile site.

Thorough testing is the key to success. Try to test the site with real customers if possible, and get their feedback. Test in all types of situations on all types of devices, not just emulators. Nothing beats real-world testing as opposed to simulated testing through an emulator.

Imagine: You go in for a car repair and the shop owner tells you that “due to the reduced volumetric efficiency and flame travel of cylinder number three, we’re going to have to replace your rings, valve guides and valves themselves. That’ll be $1700.00.” Would you just say “yes” or would you want to know the what and the why of this price?

If you’re a car guy or gal and understood engine mechanics, you would either agree or disagree with the mechanic’s diagnosis. But if you are a layman, you would be perplexed and wary of spending your hard earned dollars.

Many times your potential client will feel like the latter when they read your proposal for a new website or any other type of online campaign.

I always feel it’s better to walk your client through your presentation, making sure to explain any technical jargon you may use and most importantly, why deploying this technology will be advantageous. I call it the three “Es.”

Educate: Teach the client when they need to be educated. If they understand a certain area, then acknowledge their understanding, correct any misconceptions and move on. A person will feel more confident about your services and what they are about to undertake if they “get it.”

Elucidate: Be clear. Make sure the client has a grasp of any potentially confusing or complex issues regarding the project. Clarity is a beautiful thing and reaps great benefits for both you and your client (see my earlier post).

Elevate: Raise your client’s knowledge and understanding of the issues at hand. Not only will they feel more confident about the project, they will feel more confident about your abilities and your honesty. Best of all you will go a long way in creating a relationship built on mutual trust and respect.

Granted, not every potential client wants to know about all the ins and outs of what you are planning to do—after all they have a business to run and may not have the time—but make sure to give them the option to learn.

I know it seems like common sense to do this, but many times we forget.