[eluser]boltsabre[/eluser]
If it is as Jblack199 says, (that your customer is using a small monitor, thus being unhappy with the way it looks now), then the problem is simply an educational one for you - all you have to do it explain it to him that on larger monitors the website looks fine (take your laptop down and show him!) and it's just on his small monitor that it looks bad. And then explain to him that less than 1% of users still use 800x600 pixel resolution monitors.
If he is still unhappy, learn to 'talk his language' to communicate the problem. Ask him, is it possible to build a car that performs well in all conditions, a car that can compete in the F1 and that can then go off road and up a rugged mountain track and be a people mover (ie, family van) and also have the amazing fuel economy for city driving and also have amazing fuel economy for highway driving. This guy will answer, no, it's not possible. And then you just have to explain to him a website is the same as a car, you cannot build one that is optimal for every situation. If he still has a problem, lead him down the 'yes' track (getting him to agree with your three or four times in a row). Say to him: would it be possible, hypothetically, to build a car that can drive on a F1 track, and offroad, carry many people, and have okay fuel efficiency? (yes). But it's unlikely that it could ever win a race, or do serious off road trail blazing? (yes). And it's fuel efficiency can never be good for city driving and highway driving at the same time (yes). If there was such a car on the market it wouldn't sell well would it? (no - but it's still an agreement with you). And would you say it wouldn't sell well because it would be average at everything, but good at nothing? (yes). Well sir, your website is the same, we have to make it good for what the majority of people for the majority of the time. You cannot keep all the people happy all the time. Do you understand this? (yes - well, we hope that's what he says!) The trick is, once someone has agreed with you several times in a row, it's then hard to give a negative response. Sales people use this technique on you all the time.
Good webdesign is not just about coding, it's also about good communication, good sales skills, and good education with your customers. Get this right and you can overcome issues before they become issues - and uneducated customer (in terms of the internet/websites, not their general eduactional level!) will want everything for nothing, it's your job to guide them to what is best for their business/purpose.
On a side note, this is why I love webdesign - one day I'm an artist playing around with photoshop and html/css, the next im a coder doing the php, the next im a storage expert tinkering with DBs and sql, the next I'm a psychologist playing around with 'landing pages' and 'calls to action', the next I'm a mentor to my clients, then next I'm an analyst looking at conversion rates, tracking user habits, the next I'm a marketer doing research into SEO/search terms and devising other ways to drive traffic... this job has it all!!!
