Are you doing initial consults all wrong?
Are you doing discovery calls and initial consults all wrong?
No judgement – I used to do them wrong too! I would get a great sense of my client’s project scope and wishlist, give them some great ideas, write a great design agreement, and then… not get the project. 😩
Why?
Because I missed a really important part of the process!
I thought I needed to “prove” to them how much I knew. To impress them with my design solutions. But I *should* have been spending that time asking questions.
If you do a discovery call or initial consult right, you shouldn’t even have time to offer solutions! (And if you really have your heart set on giving in-the-moment solutions, consider creating a service just for that! Check out this blog on “Getting Paid For ‘Pick-Your-Brain’ Clients!)
When you go on an initial consult, or take a discovery call, you’re establishing a trusting relationship with your new client. If they don’t feel heard during that first conversation, you’ve not only missed an important trust-building opportunity, you also missed getting all the information you need to successfully price and execute the project!
ASK GREAT QUESTIONS!
The key to building trust with your client, and setting yourself up for success, is to ask great questions! And NOT just about the scope of work and their budget. You have to figure out what they want AND what’s standing in the way of getting what they want.
You’ve got to find out:
- What time or energy limitations might get in the way of them making efficient, timely decisions.
- Are they working full-time? Did they just get a promotion? Is this busy season at work?
- Are they parenting full-time? Do they have after-school activities that take up every evening of the week?
- What’s their current emotional capacity? Any health issues? Are they care-taking a family member? Is this an especially stressful time at work?
- If your process and deliverables align with their expectations.
- Have they worked with a designer before? How did that go?
- Anything they’d like to do differently this time? Or repeat from before?
- Are they familiar with your process and what you do differently?
If you don’t know what obstacles could get in the way of your successful project, keeping it on time and on budget, then you risk taking on a project that stresses you out simply because you didn’t understand what *this* client needed, hoped for, and feared.
But if you ask great questions, you’ll not only know how to plan for, and price, your project. You’ll also build trust with your client that will pave a *much* easier path once you start working together!
Want to know the “10 Essential Questions To Ask on Every Initial Consult”? I’ve got a webinar on that! Ask me about offering the webinar to your team, or sign up for a 1-1 coaching session and let’s go over our 10 essential questions so you’re ready to succeed at your next initial consult!
Whether we work together or not, just make sure you spend more time asking questions in your next initial consult or discovery call than offering solutions. I promise it’ll pay off in better clients and better projects, resulting in a happier YOU!
💕 You’ve got this!
Hi! I’m Rebecca!
When I closed my design biz to move to Paris I discovered how hard it was for me to refer my clients to other designers because I couldn't tell what the designer did, who they did it for, or what they delivered!
Now I'm on a mission to help designers nail their niche and set clear client expectations.
It's all about being able to clearly communicate what you do, who you do it for, what they should expect, and what they'll get, and it's the #1 key to getting hired by clients you love to work on projects you're proud of!