November 27, 2023
Podcast #103 – A new lead is asking for examples
Donna: Have you had prospective clients asking for examples prior to working with you? In this Q& A quickie episode, we discuss what to do when this happens. You’re listening to Design and Prosper episode 103.
[Intro Music]
Donna: Hello!
Kris: Hello, everybody. How you all doing?
Donna: Hello and welcome.
Kris: A quick episode!
Donna: We love the quickies.
Kris: We’ve got a question. Yes. It’s been submitted by somebody who is anonymous.
Donna: Yep.
Kris: Okay, but we can read it out.
Donna: Which we love. Bring the questions, however they come.
Kris: Exactly. So you can DM us, you can use the form on our website, go to designandprosper.co/podcast and there’s a form there where you can fill it in and submit your question.
Donna: absolutely. And they can be anonymous or you can leave your name. It’s up to you.
Kris: You can also record a question.
Donna: We like the recordings. Yeah, we are all a bit shy out there, designer community.
All right, so this question is, a potential client has approached me and they said they had a bad experience with another designer. They’ve asked for examples before they’ll sign off on my proposal. What should I do?
Kris: Ooh. This is actually really common that, people, they want a taste test before they have to pay.
Donna: Yeah,
Kris: Can I have one for free?
Donna: Yeah. Yeah.
Kris: Can I just see all your ideas? Please? Like, examples is a really interesting one,
Donna: Isn’t it an interesting word, like examples? My first thought on that was straight away was, Well, look at my socials and look at my website and you’ll get an idea exactly at the type of work that I do. But if they’re asking for a taste test, like Kris just said, like examples of what you can do for them.
Kris: Yeah.
Donna: Yeah, that’s a big no no. That’s a no. No, I don’t do that. I don’t work for free, unfortunately.
I can’t do that for you. But if that is what they’re saying, and that could be the case in this question.
Kris: Yeah, look, I think that this could be a client who’s not that well educated in the design process. They claim that you know, a previous designer has burnt them or whatever, like they haven’t been happy but who knows what process that designer had, whether it was a professional designer, whether they had the great systems in place. The way to get around this one is actually to get out ahead of it. So you will not get this kind of question very often if you are positioning yourself correctly.
Donna: Absolutely.
Kris: So if your website, when they land there, if your socials, when they land there are telling the story of the transformation that you provide, that tells them of the journey that they’re going to go on and the massive benefits of working with you, how they’re going to elevate, how they’re going to be able to make more money and all the rest of it. They’re not going to be asking this of you.
Donna: They are not. And that’s really, really important to have that transformation like Kris just mentioned. That’s the key. It’s not about the actual example of what you’re going to do for them. It’s about the transformation that you’re going to offer them. And that’s going to look like what it’s going to look like once you’ve received a brief, right?
And if this is just a cost proposal, then the aesthetics of this project haven’t even been discussed in our process, anyway.
Kris: Right? They’re scared that they’re not going to get what they want. They’re scared they’re not going to like it. So it’s up to us to make them feel at ease. To put all their fears at ease, really. And a lot of this can be answered on your website as a Q&A. Like, what happens if I don’t like it? You can even put that on there. And the answer is, I go through an incredibly bespoke, detailed process to ensure that I get you the most elevated results based on your brief.
It’s that sort of language, you know.d I have a process that leaves no stone unturned to make sure that you get brilliant results.
Donna: Absolutely. It’s about the results. And so then what I would be doing is I’d be speaking to the transformation as opposed to examples, and then I’d be directing them to my website to have a look at other work that I’ve done for other people as well as any passion projects that I’ve been working on.
If my portfolio is more about the type of work that I’m not wanting to attract at the moment, I’d be sharing passion projects so that they can see an example of the type of work that you will do, the type of aesthetic that you have, if it’s an aesthetics based question. So I’d clarify that and say, okay, if this is what you’re needing, and I’d direct them that way.
But if it’s about them specifically, like a taste tester, it’s a no. But speak to the transformation and speak about how important it is to go through the process in order to get to a point of having something to show them because they may just be, as Kris said, a little bit uneducated and so they don’t understand that you have to go through a process which is requiring them to pay you to go through that process before you’ll arrive at an example, if you like, in inverted commas.
So yeah, you don’t have them on a shelf to show them. Like you’re not a shop front where you just grab one off the shelf and show them. It is a process and that needs to be articulated via how you will arrive at something for them, as opposed to here’s a little taste test.
Kris: So if you are getting asked questions like this, really look very carefully at your website and your socials and the journey that the client’s going on.
Does it clearly articulate your process? Is the client really clear on the process? Because I have a feeling this one, it sounds to me like if they’re asking for examples. And the examples was inverted commas, like, so I’m thinking like, it’s not for a brand. I’m thinking it would be for something like maybe social media posts or something like that, where they just want to see, like, just whip us up a few.
Donna: Yeah, we do not whip.
Kris: We did an episode about we do not Whip.
Donna: Yeah, that was a long time ago.
Kris: We have a discerning thorough process that we go through.
Donna: It’s speaking about the process. That’s it. That’s the key.
Kris: It’s impossible to give you examples because I have a thorough process that I follow and that’s how I guarantee elevated results and targeted results and results that are going to get you where you need to go, they’re going to help you achieve your goals.
And the process involves a thorough briefing session where I really unpack everything with you. And my process also involves a lot of client collaboration where we have a client portal where, I’m sharing things with you there and you can give me feedback and all those sorts of things.
Donna: There are a lot of moving parts, lots and lots of moving parts, but I think the key to this is, if you are getting this question, then really take a look at your language and the messaging that you have on your website and your socials.
Because if that messaging is right and you are speaking to the transformation and you are showing yourself as a designer and you’ve got a style that’s evident there or examples that are evident there. It could be multiple styles, it could be really multidisciplinary and have a really broad aesthetic.
But if you’ve got some examples there and the most important thing is that messaging, speaking to that transformation, that will minimize questions like this.
Kris: Yeah, I really do think that I’d be doing an audit on my website and the process of how clients come into my business and At what stage are they asking this question?
Are they just popping into my DMs and asking that question? If that’s the case, can I funnel them into a more strategic process? So get them to fill out a form. I would love to work with you. Here’s the process. Here’s the process of working with me. Go and fill out this form and we can have a meeting and we can talk about it in more detail.
So it’s about making sure that that path is really clear for them. And that all the steps along the way, so they wouldn’t even assume that’s part of it. It’s not part of it to get examples.
Donna: Yeah, exactly.
Kris: So there’s a miscommunication here. I’m thinking with the client or they’ve bypassed something. But it could be that they just landed in your DMs and asked something like this. But it’s never too late to go. So excited to work on this project. Here’s my process. Go and have a look at this.
Donna: And I just want to circle back to something Kris said earlier about fear, that they’re coming from fear. They had a bad experience. They’ve got a bad taste in their mouth. So it’s not your job to sort out their mental health after having a bad experience.
Let’s just pop that on the table. But what you can say is that You can empathize with them. You can say, look, I’m really sorry that you had that experience. My process is this and ensures these types of results and this is the transformation I offer and I hope to show you this pathway and provide for you a transformation that you’re paying me for.
So I want you to feel really safe. And feel really in complete control in my environment. So here’s my process, this is what we’ll do, this is how we’ll do it. So come on board and let’s give it a go. You know, just have some empathy around the fact that they’ve got the wobbles up. Because often we just get a bit offended.
Or sometimes we get offended and we go, well I’m not that designer, I don’t operate like that, or whatever, whatever, whatever. But sometimes we just need to put their shoes on and go, okay, so they’re scared. They’re scared and they just want to be reminded that A, you’re a different person. B, this is a different process. And C, what are you actually going to do for them? What’s that transformation you’re offering
Kris: Yeah. All that language that Don used just before, like, reassuring them, all that was saying was…I’m going to hold your hand through this process. I’m going to really nurture you. I’m going to really look after you without actually explicitly saying that, but it was like, I’m going to take care of you. And it is about reassuring them and making them feel really safe to make this decision.
Because what that client is saying is I don’t feel safe.
So how can you make them feel safe? And usually having a step by step process makes people feel safe. Having a really clear pathway makes people feel safe.
Donna: That’s right. That’s right. And I’d even be cocky enough to say, let’s change that. Let’s change that bad experience that you’ve had. And let’s, let’s just try and nullify that and have a better experience. Let’s have a great experience this time. And once they actually see your confidence and how confident you are, that that’s going to be infectious.
It’s contagious when people have that beautiful level of confidence as well. So don’t be shy to be the guide, be the authority, let them know that you’ve got it. You’ve got them. It’s all ok. You are the authority, let them know that you’ve got it, you’ve got them, it’s all ok.
Kris: Yeah, it might even b e worthwhile to have some case studies as well to direct them to, if you’re finding that their still resistant, like ’no I want the examples, I don’t want to have a briefing with you. I just want the examples’. And they might not be the right client for you.
Donna: Yeah.
Kris: Maybe that other designer that they worked with charged $200 and it just wasn’t an overly professional experience or it was an inexperienced designer or whatever it is, but It’s not your problem or issue what that was.
Donna: Not your problem.
Kris: it’s not up to you to fix all the problems of the past and what that client had happened to them before. And apologize for that designer and dall the rest of it, that’s not it.
But just having some case studies to direct them to and case studies don’t have to be complicated. I think that designers get really overwhelmed by the thought of having a case study. Like, Oh gosh, what is that? How do I do that?
And you know, that feels overwhelming. But really it’s about taking an example of a past client project that’s worked really well.
And writing what was their situation before working with you? What were their problems? What needed to be overcome? What was not working in their business and, and in their branding or whatever it is that you do for them. Then you talk about the process of working with you and – that’s another way to talk about your process
Donna: Yeah.
Kris: through a case study and then the outcome – the results.
Donna: the transformation.
Kris: what’s happening for that client now.
Donna: Yep.
Kris: So maybe you need a couple of those on your website. You don’t need many, but something like that to direct people to could be helpful as well if you’re getting this kind of question.
Donna: And also testimonials on your website as well that speak to the transformation.
Kris: Oh yeah.
Donna: So any social proof that you have, and remember if you are just starting out and you don’t have case studies that you can do because you don’t have any existing work or you don’t have testimonials because of the same reason, you can actually have testimonials from people who have worked with you.Like working with beautiful designer, designer, you know, Kristine, was XYZ experience. They are always professional, always on time, diligent, you know, the creative da da da da whatever the thing is, you can pop that on your website because that’s a testimonial to your character, to the way that you work. So don’t be shy to get testimonials from wherever you need to get them from. So I think that covers it, Kris. I think we’re there.
Kris: Yeah, yeah.But straight up, it’s a no. You’re not getting examples, haha. So we went around the world and back again, but with respect, with kindness, that’s not part of my process.
Thank you so much for reaching out about this project. It sounds really great. It’s not part of my process to give examples up front. We go through a really thorough process and explain what that is, but no, you won’t be getting examples
Donna: Absolutely. Other than samples of work that are already existing on your website, but not created examples bespoke to them, that’s not happening. Alright, good luck with it, let us know how you go. And if you have a question out there, listening to this, any questions have percolated to the surface for you and you’re like, ooh, I’ve got an additional question, please go to our website, designandprosper.co/podcast and there’s a little field in there like we were saying earlier where you can either type in a question or there’s an audio version there. Leave us the question and we always get excited. We’ll answer it for you in one of our upcoming quickies.
Kris: Okay, everybody. Have a great rest of your week.
Donna: week. Bye!
Kris: Bye.
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