For me, one of the toughest stretches in the web design game has always been the phase between the initial contact with a client and hammering out those final agreed-upon specs. Not that I have trouble ‘closing the deal’. I think most designers can sell themselves quite well. The real issue is actually that most designers and developers are so great at communicating their own vision, sometimes they have issues with listening to potential clients expressing their own. That communication gap must be bridged, and early, if both parties want to come out of this dance happy.
All too often, we forget that folks coming to us for a project don’t have a lot of experience with this type of stuff. We don’t make it all that easy either, usually hitting them over the head with dozens of technical questions and jargon-filled surveys. No wonder we either get back nothing, or nothing useful. It’s important to clear out the clutter and cut to the really important questions before that first meeting with the client. If you can single out their goals, their budget, and their deadlines, the rest generally falls into place.
One company who does a fantastic job of finding that ’sweet spot’ is Airbag Industries (not that I should be surprised). They recently launched a really solid RFP that quickly gets the important information from the client, doesn’t hit them over the head with pretension, and gets them out the door asap. The more accessible you make yourself, and the fewer barriers that you have between the information in the client’s head and your inbox, the more likely that you’re going to get folks communicating with you and wanting to work with you.
There are zillions of talented developers and designers out there. There are also zillions of designers and devs who can sell themselves to anyone. But the real pros are the folks who work just as hard to really listen to the client as they do polishing their elevator pitch.
Long story short, look for a new SquareOne RFP form in the coming days.
