"Selling" designs to clients
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- blackspade
If you'd just hired a young designer with no client facing experience in presenting design concepts (website design or print design for example) what advice or little nuggets of wisdom from your experience would you offer to them?What tips or advice would you offer them to increase the chances of desired response from a client (ie 10% is the actual design and 90% is how its presented/sold to the client) ????
- hallelujah0
don't try to persuade the client. agree with them and then do what you want anyway.
- I'm the last person who should give advice, thoughhallelujah
- uan0
dont send unexperienced designers to clients.
- unexperienced?lvl_13
- ok.don't send designers at all to clients :) loluan
- haha. ralph wiggum.
that was a reference to ralph right ......... right?Gucci - Me fail English? That's unpossible.skwiotsmith
- ********0
Shut up in meetings.
- blackspade0
uan, but say you were training a young'in, a friend for example? everyone has to learn somewhere and you learn from experience
- MSTRPLN0
Present secondary options to them that you find work better with the overall concept than what they have proposed, and then give reasoning why you chose to do this, this alongside what they want.
- holy0
confidence: fake it 'til you make it©
everyone has to start somewhere.
- blackspade0
some advice ive had in the past....
- tell a story, explain the process where you started, evolved, take them on the journey rather than plonking designs in-front of them from the get-go, make them eager/want to see italso from the seven habbits...
- seek first to understand, then to be understood
- Gucci0
make sure they have a reason for everything. A solid rationale is key to selling your stuff.
know your design inside out < that seems like a given, but you'd be surprised (I was, at least)
- d_rek0
I found it helpful to 'ease' into working directly with clients. I would sit in with my CD and watch the way he handled a client. Mostly it's just learning how to take your design vernacular and make it accessible to a 'non-creative' (ie: explaining to a client why their current logotype sucks because the kerning is poor, you say "The space between the letters is uneven and the legibility suffers because of it")
- blackspade0
great stuff guys, moar!
- airey0
be confident even if you're making it up as you go. the client wants answers or directions to help guide them - most of the time. you don't need to actually feel confident, in fact if you turn into one of those fucking idiots that's actually able to con themselves into believing their own crap you've gone too far. or you need to work in advertising agencies. just like holy said, you gots ta start someplace.
also, don't take a questioner into meetings. if you can't remember what the important questions are then have notes on a writing pad. you need to discuss the brief with a client not get them to fill in a form. the discussion will get more truth – and hopefully expand the job – that a damn list of points they have to fill in.
- hallelujah0
once after we presented a logo to a client, and they rejected it, I brought the exact same logo in a week later and presented it again
- haha! and they didnt realise? wouldnt suprise me!blackspade
- the did realize it, and accepted it. they later told the story with great pride. and then, some years later, fired ushallelujah
- sherman0
80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients. Treat them nice.
- the ol 80 20 principle, trublackspade
- this holds true even if you fire the other 80%.monNom
- johndiggity0
be passionate. people respond to passion.
- blackspade0
bump^
- WeLoveNoise0
from experience blackspade
your work evidently will speak for itself.
but you have to have a good way of talking to your potential client in order to back your skills up and make them feel confident enough to hire you
- chossy0
tell them why you did it
tell them why you like it
tell them how it worksdon't argue with them, instead say I can see where you are coming from we will see how your ideas can work with our design.
do not be nervous in any way
smile lots and wave your hand around your design in a lovely bold way.
- poolio0
This link will probably be useful:
10 Ways to Get Design Approval:
http://24ways.org/2007/10-ways-t…
- neue75_bold0
+ try and get as much sleep as you can the night before
+ make sure you know, understand and believe in what you're presenting
+ don't be afraid to ask questions, make comments
+ don't directly commit to anything [I always say – "Yes, we'll have a look at that"]
+ it's all about experience, it's not easy or enjoyable when you start but after a few years it becomes as natural as using helvetica..
- blackspade0
cool great pointers thanks guys