Say, for example, I wanted to consult with an architect on remodeling myself a new kitchen. You don’t just sign the paper work and have them start building a kitchen. They would ask questions like how you use the kitchen, what you’re looking to do in the kitchen, if you entertain in the kitchen, etc. They need to know how you’re going to use this space before they can start crafting it.

Websites work the same way. For you to effectively design the best experience for a website, you need to understand how your clients’ business works and what they’re looking to do. Understand all of the hows and whys of the business that you’re working with. Understand the challenges the business has and will face, their business objectives/goals, and so on. Here are a few, of many, questions that we, at Tridea, normally ask during the client discovery meetings:

• Who is your target audience?
• What do you feel is your number one business problem?
• How does the company differentiate itself from competitors?
• What are your short-term marketing goals (in the next 1-2 years)? And how will the website help reach those goals?

Remember, as designers, you’re a problem solver. More likely than not, if you’re being approached by another business for work, they need your help (and creative knowledge) in solving business problems. And asking the right business questions will help get you to better creative problem solving. I would recommend asking these types of questions in a questionnaire, so that you can come back to the answers during your creative jam sessions. They can turn into a good checklist when going over a design to make sure that you’ve addressed the business problems.

Outside of working in Photoshop, what other skills do you find necessary for designers to have?

This doesn’t mean that you need to turn into some expert salesman, however, your potential clients need to know that they’re investing in the right person for the job. In all of the projects I’ve won with both freelance, and Tridea is confidence. You’d be amazed at how many people admire those who are very confident about the services that they would provide. Don’t just think you can design them something great, know that you can design them something great. If you communicate that effectively, it goes a long way. Confidence always wins.

Another tip that helps a ton is actually being interested in your clients’ business. A client will know whether or not you’re really interested in them and their business, and I’d be willing to bet that they’d rather choose the designer that’s interested in them, over the designer that’s just looking to make some money. So be interested, do some research on their industry, and ask tons of questions.

Keep it simple, keep it clear, and keep it calm, so everyone understands what is happening and feels safe. via

Knowing how to communicate without the use of industry jargon is huge. More likely than not, your potential client will not be a designer or web developer. So when talking to potentials, leave the technical jargon at home. They will not understand it, nor will they care. If they have no clue what you’re trying to say (because of tech jargon), then why should they feel comfortable spending money on your services?

In my opinion, a big part of selling is the talking that you don’t do. It’s easy, and effortless, but listen to your potential clients. Hear what they have to say about what business problems they’re facing and/or what they’re looking for. This possible project will be about their business and consumers, so let them tell you as much as possible about it, then respond.

And the last tip I have should be a no-brainer, but have a portfolio. Remember that confidence thing I talked about earlier? Well, showing off your work helps establish that you’re the right person for the job. I wish I didn’t have to mention this item, but it’s shocking how many designers don’t have portfolios to show off their work. Can’t build one? Then use a hosted service. Don’t like the hosted option? Then take pictures of your work and put them on Flickr. Whatever you do, always be ready to show potential clients the amazing work that you’ve done in the past.

Those are a few tips that I think are very useful, and have helped me out quite a bit in the past and present. What other tips would you say are essential when selling your services?

We have tried different approaches and we have far from mastered being consistently right on our quotes. At first we tried doing the hourly thing. This proved the be the worst solution for us because it was very challenging tracking hours to the minute. At one point or another, I always went over the hours specified for the project, which ends up in us losing money and having issues staying within the project budget.

Our next approach was, which we’re still using is just giving the project a total price, loosely based on an hourly rate. This has worked for two reasons. The first is because we’re in a different mind state in not having to stress over every hour spent. This allows us to be as creative as we need to in our research/design/development and not short ourselves because of the limitation on hours.

The second reason this has worked, is because when we meet and go over a quote before sending to a client, we all make sure we’re in agreement on the price tag. When we get to a point that we feel that we can crank out a project for a certain amount, then we are comfortable on whatever time we spend on the project. Again, this isn’t the best solution, but it’s worked for us lately, and we’re still working on refining this as well.

It’s not easy quoting projects, however, I imagine that the more we get used to working with each other, the better we will be at estimating the costs of certain tasks of a project. But it seems like only time will get us better at quoting.

How do you normally quote projects? Has your method been effective for you?

The web community loves new features and new technology. New is exciting. New is fun. New is challenging. And when clients come to you wanting something new, their enthusiasm can be really contagious. via

I have definitely been guilty of this before. A client will contact us looking for a redesign of their site, and upon the first glance of their site I start thinking of ways I would redesign it before identifying what their business problems are. We design to solve problems, and sometimes it’s hard for a client to identify what their business problems are, so they think adding “this feature or that feature” would help them grow their business.

In client discovery meetings, how you’re going to design the site should not be the topic of conversation. That stuff doesn’t matter at that time. What does matter is getting information on their business and see what is working and not working, the problems they are having, who their audience is, etc. In other words, just listen and stay focused. From that information, you should then have your work cut out in knowing what needs to be done (features) to tackle problems.

Why should we choose you to design/develop a website for us?

At first I really hated this hearing this question. I’m sure, in my rookie days, I lost a few [potential] clients because I stuttered way more than normal in a business situation. That doesn’t show confidence at all.

I can’t say that I still hate hearing that question, but it’s something that I’m still working on getting better at. Whenever you listen to successful business people, they have no problem telling you why you should choose them over a competitor. Freelance designers/developers should be the same way because every one of us, at some point, will be asked that question. And in the DIY Era, your pitch means even more now.

Having a solid pitch for your services not only helps prove that you know what you’re talking about, but it also shows confidences in your own self and/or your business. And confidence speaks volumes for yourself and skills, and helps build trust with the person that is seeking your services. Imagine walking into a car dealership inquiring about a certain car, and your salesperson can barely tell you about the specs on a car, or why you should buy it. How comfortable would you feel about buying that car?

I would image that by the time a [potential] client asks the question on why they should choose you, they are already very interested, it’s just up to you not to screw it up.