I just got off a call with a potential client that asked me for help.  They initially contacted me via email (I have no idea how they found me and will post in the near future about that) and I replied back to the site owner with a quote and time estimate. 

I then did something few other web designers do in these situations: a follow up phone call.  This is good practice in creating confidence with your potential clients and it helps a LOT in persuading potential clients to work with you.

Why?  Well, let’s start with an understanding of what customers expect from their web designer:

What every Customer Wants from you

1. On time.  Being on time is simple.  Don’t promise if you can’t deliver.  There is no shame in being up front and honest about what you can and can’t do and in stating the absolute truth.  At worst, you might have to admit you can’t deliver when they expect you to, and at best, it shows a great deal of honesty.  Your customer counts on you for delivering when you say do.  Their business and internal activities rely on you being on time.  So promise a time you are able to stick to and don’t compromise.  If you fall behind, let your client know right away so they can accommodate the additional time you may need.  Be honest and be real about your time commitments.
2. On Budget.  This one is tricky.  As a web designer, I often run into a situation where a customer will keep asking and asking for changes not realizing the amount of work involved.  Something benign like changing text is perfectly fine but when you are asked to move things around on a page or change the site layout in some fundamental way, the time involved can be significant. Customers just don’t understand the web development process and perhaps that’s an area you want to spend more time explaining when meeting clients.  My suggestion when costing out a project is to quote by the hour initially and estimate total time required – being exact isn’t always necessary but some clients need this.  You can also adjust your hourly rate depending on the size of the client (yes, you really can charge more to larger firms and companies and that’s ok in my book). This last tip goes against popular opinion.  Some designers think they should set an hourly rate and stick to their guns no matter what.  I don’t agree.  Consider lower paying jobs as experience earned and mark it off as that.  If you help a client out in the short term with their needs, and you meet their budget requirements, they will appreciate it and remember you when their budget improves.
3. Technical Expertise.  It goes without saying that if you follow the rules above, that clients will tend to put your name in good light.  However, you need to actually do the work as promised and this won’t happen if you over promise your skills.  If you CAN do the work, then great.  If you can’t, however, propose to the client that you bring in a skilled freelancer you will need to hire to get their work done.  Think of the client’s perspective.  They just want to hire someone that can get their work done so they can move on to the next area of business they are concerned with.  They don’t have the time or energy to go out and hire someone else in addition to you, so bring the solution to the table.  If you need a programmer, add that into your quote and say you have a programmer you work with.  Become an expert at finding out what clients need and present solutions that fit their business requirements and continue honing this investigative skill.  If client’s ask you for a skill you don’t have, go out and learn it and then next time a client calls, you will be ready.  Skills learned are always beneficial if for nothing more than perfecting your craft.

Now let’s talk about that follow-up phone call. 

The best way to communicate with clients

Understanding human behaviour is a great skill to acquire and learn and thankfully I have spent a lot of time figuring my own patterns of behaviour through personal development and taking courses.  A side effect of this is that I have learned a lot about communication as well.

1. Best: Face to Face. Studies show that the best way of communicating (regardless of audience) is face to face and in person.  Why? Because it’s real, and it can’t be faked.  It’s honest, and non-verbal communication has a power of it’s own.  It’s not a coincidence that more and more companies are leveraging video streaming on their web sites.  The smarter marketers have just figured this out and many marketing companies are jumping into online video streaming (like these guys).
2. Better: Phone call. If you can’t meet a client one-on-one, give them a call.  I can tell you from the phone call I just had that there is a whole series of messages being played “under the surface” in phone conversations.  If you make the call, pay attention to what customers are saying and show them how you can help solve their problems and reduce their fears.  In my case, the customer mentioned that they had attempted to work with others designers in the past but most of them had overpromised, and under delivered.  Having made that follow up phone call, I’m cogniscent of this concern now and will be extra careful with this client if I win their contract.
3. Good.  Email.  If you can’t meet clients face to face and a phone call isn’t going to happen, email is good enough.  Email, however, doesn’t let you “speak”.  It’s cold and formal and it’s difficult to show your personality and energy.  If you must do email, at least include a link to a sound byte of yourself on your web site so potential clients can hear and see you.  Some clients don’t mind email.

Regardless of the above rules, each client is different.  Some prefer face to face, long lunches, dinners, drinks, and others prefer precision, and email.  Figure out what client’s want and give it them.  As my friend Eddie says, “Learn to adapt and conquer”.

As web designers, It’s too easy to sit behind email and not learn the art of face to face communication but leverage it whenever you can.  It’s real, and it shows who you are.  Few other web designers go as far as following up with phone calls and sending thank you cards, etc.  It doesn’t take much to be different.  Try it, and you will be surprised by the results.

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