The right questions to ask in your client consultations.
We reference and fill out these forms for every client which not only keeps us on track, but also ensures we don’t miss anything. In addition, it also helps us collect some key information from the client that we can later use to build out their proposal. Feel free to download our own consultation forms HERE to follow along!
At the top we have 2 options to check off, whether the person we’re talking to is a new business start-up or a re-brand. This isn’t going to necessarily change how much we charge, only for us to have this information for our own records.
Next, we gather some basic contact info from the client like their name, phone number and their business name. If your client was still at this time trying to determine what their business name is, I would simply put something like TBD.
Next, we then ask them to tell us a little about themselves which gets the conversation going. Really handy for us introverts!!
And then the next part is dedicated to figuring out exactly what services they’re looking to hire you for. This information will then be later used when sending the client your proposal.
Once you know what they need, go into detail and explain everything you offer for each service. With branding packages being one of our primary services, we have made sure to list all the items included and then we also wrote out the script we can use to further explain our One Concept Method. Keep in mind that during this time, you’re also selling them on the service, but it’s important to note that this is not a “hard sell” because if you’ve gotten up to this point, they’re pretty much in. But just in case they’re not 100% sure, it’s a good idea to cover your bases.
It’s also crucial to fully walk your client through your whole process ahead of time so there’s no surprises during the contract, especially since we use the One Concept Method because if the client has ever worked with another designer before, this entire concept might be new to them.
Following that, if the client is wanting to work with us for web, we take some time to explain our process around working with Squarespace.
Then we gather some additional in-depth information like if the client will be providing us copy, images or other design elements needed to complete the project, or will we need to source those things for them? If so, we need to make sure to add that to the proposal.
We also need to make sure to ask if they have a specific deadline in mind. Because we ask in our contact form what types of services the client is looking for, we should already have a general idea when we can fit the client’s project(s) in.
And then we also talk about their budget by going over all the investment costs for the services they’re wanting to hire us for.
Next, we explain our on-boarding process with the client as well as what we need from them to get started; a signed contract and a deposit for half the total estimated amount.
We also ask who our main point of contact will be. This is a really important question because it’s imperative to know if there’s only one person making the decisions or if there’s multiple people involved. And if that’s the case, then you may want to insist that you’ll need one person to make the final call because when dealing with multiple people during a design process, oftentimes everyone can have their own opinion which can slow the process.
And finally, we leave room at the bottom for additional notes.
We talk about this and much, much more in our online course The Freelancer's Business Bootcamp! If you’d like to know more, head on over to our course page HERE for more info!
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Cheers,
Amy
