Transcript – Podcast 69

[00:00:00] Donna: Hello and welcome to episode 69 of the Design and Prosper podcast. Today we are going to chat all things welcome guide. Have you ever been curious about exactly what should be included in your welcome guide? Let’s chat about it.

[00:01:34] Donna: Hello, welcome.

[00:01:36] Kris: Hey everybody. So today we’re going to be talking about what to include in a welcome guide. Mm-hmm, and why you need one.

[00:01:45] Donna: Yeah. We are always wanting to help designers implement strategies to encourage well-behaved clients. Often, problems that arise during the project management process are a direct result from a lack of understanding from our client.

They just haven’t been educated. So it’s our job as designers to educate our clients on how we work. Not the design industry in total, the whole entire design industry, but we, that’s our business. We need to be their guide throughout your process so they always feel seen and heard.

[00:02:20] Kris: Yes and also we want to put that capital letters on how We Work. Mm-hmm. Rather than how your client works as well because sometimes they just want to sweep you up in their process. Like, this is the way it’s going to happen. And you’re like, um, hang on, this is my own business, isn’t it?

[00:02:36] Donna: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But if you have a lack of boundaries, really quickly, a client will sniff that out. And then they’ll go, oh, okay, so the way that I work is this, this, and this and then they’ll start to dictate their business foundations, their business principles, their business flow onto you. So be very careful of that little sneaky thing can come up and grab you and bite you on the bum.

[00:02:57] Kris: Yes. You’ve got to be the guide. You’ve got to guide them throughout your process so that they feel seen and heard and safe and nurtured.

[00:03:07] Donna: Yeah. All the beautiful feels. That’s right. Yeah. And often we can forget that a client may not have ever used a designer, or at the very least, it’s the very first time that they’re working with you.

So it’s really important that you help and guide them because they don’t know what to expect and they certainly, you know, don’t know your systems and processes yet, so they might not know how to behave.

[00:03:33] Kris: Yeah, you think about it, just say you were using a design professional. It might be in a different industry.

Like you, you’re using an architect for the very first time. Like that can be intimidating, right? If they don’t guide you through and clearly explain everything and, and have a place to nurture or something that welcomes you on board. Mm-hmm. You’re going to be a bit lost, aren’t you? You’re going to be like, oh, when does things happen?

And you know, what, what do I expect next? And there’s that uncertainty, and what a welcome guide does is it reaffirms a good decision made.

That’s one Important factor in charging premium prices.

[00:04:12] Donna: Yes. Your welcome guide is the perfect tool for gently, yet clearly setting up all the important boundaries and expectations. It’s so much more than saying welcome aboard and you know, pretty fluffy document. It’s so much more than that. It’s actually one of your most powerful tools in your client management toolkit.

[00:04:34] Kris: Okay. So let’s address why you need one. So we did, we did do that a bit there, but you, you get the idea. People need to feel safe and comfortable, but there’s some more layers to it. So first of all, it’ll warm and welcome because clients love that surprise and delight. And it’s like, oh, okay. And we like to team it with a welcome gift as well.

That doesn’t have to be expensive, but just a lovely, beautiful, thoughtful, something that welcomes them on board.

[00:05:02] Donna: Yeah.

[00:05:03] Kris: It will educate your clients on your process

[00:05:06] Donna: Capital ‘Y’ for Your process. Yeah.

[00:05:10] Kris: It’ll set clear expectations.

[00:05:13] Donna: Yes, absolutely. And sets those really healthy boundaries. It also reiterates the most important clauses in your contract. So you can gently pull those out, those scary clauses that are very litigious looking in your contract. Pop them into the welcome guide where it’s warm and safe and lovely, and they land a little bit softer, but they land with clarity.

So we love using the welcome guide that way.

[00:05:39] Kris: Yeah. And um, just on that, You can change up the language that you use.

You can make it much more conversational, a little bit more fun, and just a hot tip you want to reiterate and reinforce those clauses in your contract that really annoy you. Yeah. that really, like, they’re not happening. And then you pull them out and put them in your welcome guide and you, you talk about things like late payment and when you don’t provide information at a certain time, it’s much more conversational, friendly and not in sort of contract clausey speak.

[00:06:14] Donna: Yeah, yeah. Softer. Softer, but it’s still firm.

[00:06:17] Kris: Yeah.

[00:06:17] Donna: Yeah, and it showcases your brand. So this beautiful welcome guide is potentially one of the last pieces of your brand puzzle that the client is going to be exposed to, because from this point on, the focus is all about them. It’s all about the work you’re going to do for them.

You’ll be showcasing their brand. You’ll be highlighting what they look and feel like and sound like. So this is your last hoorah if you like, with regard to your branding. So we want to make this piece a really important special piece in your branding puzzle.

[00:06:50] Kris: All right. So what do you need to include in a welcome guide? So here are what we believe are the key components of a really kick ass welcome guide. So first of all, well, you have a welcome.

[00:07:05] Donna: Really? This is groundbreaking stuff. This is where you get to reinforce the know, love and trust. You know, you’re reinforcing the good decision here. You’re using your brand language. You write an inspiring and warm welcome.

[00:07:22] Kris: Yeah. You might have a beautiful photo of you and it’s just like, here we are.

We are just going on this beautiful journey together. So happy you are here.

[00:07:31] Donna: Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. Then the second thing that we would include is a page or spread dedicated to what you’ll need to have before you start the project. So it could be a pre-work page, whatever you’d like to call it, but this is where you get to outline any pre-work that’s required.

[00:07:50] Kris: yeah, what you need from them.

[00:07:51] Donna: What you need from them. So you share an explanation about what your client will need to provide and by when. So be very clear. I need you to do this by this time. So it’s all the pre-work. Get this to me so I can kick this project off.

[00:08:06] Kris: Yeah. And then later on when we’re talking about those clauses in a nice way, we’ll get into that.

But that’s where you say, and if you don’t this going to happen.

[00:08:14] Donna: That’s right.

[00:08:16] Kris: We also recommend that you have a section called, how we’ll communicate. So you want to outline the preferred way of communicating. You want to have whether you are using a portal, we like to use a Trello board for a portal.

Whether you’re going to be using emails or some other kind of project management tool. You might even reiterate your availability, your hours of work, how long typically it would take for you to get back to them. You might even have links here to video instructions the things that they need to follow.

[00:08:46] Donna: Yeah, absolutely. And you might even have a lovely little description on how your client should provide effective feedback.

[00:08:54] Kris: Yeah. And just a little note on that, just be careful how much you say there. Because you don’t want to seed the thought that they’re going to have to complain or they’re going to have to give you negative feedback.

We just, we don’t want to lay it all out on a platter for them. Like, here’s how you complain and this is how I want you to do it.

So you could be directing them to the portal and you could say, after a proof has been submitted, here’s where you’re putting any text changes or anything like that. You just run through the process. Even if you’re using a portal, run through the process in the welcome guide, so that’s really clear.

[00:09:28] Donna: So it’s clear, beautiful.

Hold their hand. This is what the welcome guide is all about.

Then we have an our next section, which we like to call, my process or your Process. So it’ll be titled My Process, and this is where you have an opportunity to educate your client on your process. Again, emphasis on your process. This is your business your way.

So how do you work? Tell your client all about it in this section, use bullet points for clear succinct communication. We don’t want any ambiguity here, so don’t waffle on really nice and clear. This is my process. This is how it works. In point form.

[00:10:07] Kris: Yes. Don’t waffle on, but don’t worry if this information has been on repeat elsewhere.

So you might have already had this in previous documents. You might have had it in your proposal document, you might, you might even have it on your website. But it’s okay to reiterate it here. Reinforce it because people skip things, they skim. Mm-hmm. You know, you just want to make sure that it’s somewhere.

[00:10:30] Donna: Yeah, absolutely. I, I, that’s a really good point. I think the welcome guide is all about reiteration, reinforcement and repeat. Essentially what we are saying is distill down the most important clauses from the contract. Repeat them in a kind and soft and gentle way here. Reiterate the way you work. Repeat, repeat, repeat. That’s what the welcome guide is all about. So, absolutely do not be afraid of that.

[00:10:56] Kris: So then we have tools and resources. So you might have some essential tools that you prefer to use or you might have something that they need to use to ensure the process is really seamless. Like, for example, a client portal.

We love Trello, so you might be talking about that there. You know, outline anything there, you can use hyperlinks, have a little description there of why these tools are essential.

[00:11:21] Donna: Mm. I like that. I like the inclusion of why they’re essential, because clients, if, if they are not using a particular tool, they’ll, they’ll wonder, why, why can’t I just do it this way?

I’ve always done it this way. I’ve always only ever read in Word document or I’ve never needed Acrobat pdf, or I’ve, I don’t need this thing, or, or that thing. And, and it’s really important for you to reiterate why it’s important to your process and usually it boils down to efficiencies and you, you are wanting the most seamless way through your process.

And, and that might mean that your client needs a particular thing that they haven’t had, like Trello, for example, our preferred client management portal, it’s free. Won’t cost them a cent, but it’s an absolutely essential part of your process if you’re using that tool. So they’re going to need that.

So they might need a little bit of explanation as to why it’s so important. So yeah.

[00:12:16] Kris: Yeah. Resources could also be image libraries or photographer details that you recommend and things like that as well. So it doesn’t necessarily have to be the tools that they need.

You could also use this section just to talk about the tools that you will use, just because it gives them a little peek behind the curtain and a glimpse into what you do and how you do it. And that’s, that’s interesting for client, and, and it positions you as an authority. They’re like, wow, you use all these tools. That’s amazing. I don’t have those tools.

[00:12:49] Donna: I have those tools.

Again, reinforces the great decision that they have outsourced this work and they’re, they are paying a professional to do it. So yeah. Great, great inclusion.

The next section we include would be timeframes. This is a really important section, so include a really clear timeline with due dates for each milestone, and clearly highlight who is responsible for each task or milestone.

And what Kris and I like to do, we like to highlight our clients milestone that needs to be met in a different color or a different way of type setting. So at a glance they can see. There I am. That’s me. I’ve got to do that and have it done by then. That’s me. That’s me. And they can see where they are responsible.

So, and you could even include a little link to a calendar so that they can actually apply it to their calendar straight away. It depends on how savvy you want to get with this, how high tech you want to take it. But the timeline is going to be a really, really important piece of the puzzle that needs to be super clear for your clients so that they don’t miss those important deadlines.

[00:13:53] Kris: Yes. Another lovely section that you could include is the working together section. So this is the perfect boundary setting page like we were talking about before. This is where you, you’re going to preempt problems. and those annoying things that happen on repeat with clients and they could be your little personal bug bears as well.

I really get annoyed when clients do this or take this liberty and you don’t want any issues to pop up that are, are going to hinder the flow and the ease of the project.

So it’s a little like the terms and conditions and the clauses, but friendlier.

[00:14:32] Donna: Not as dry.

[00:14:33] Kris: Yeah. And you don’t need pages and pages of this.

It’s just really pulling out the essentials. You could have a couple of pages, but the, the boundaries really are there to protect you from things like, what happens if there’s some rush work or what happens if the client wants to make lots and lots of changes, what happens?

[00:14:57] Donna: You turnaround times, things like that could be included there.

[00:15:00] Kris: Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.

[00:15:01] Donna: And again, use bullet points for really clear, succinct communication, so don’t be afraid to really distill it down to nice, clear, really easy to comprehend communication and that, that brings us to one amazing tool that Kris discovered for us, and we have not looked back since we discovered it, or since Kris discovered it.

It’s called the Hemingway app. So we recommend you run everything through that app, that it will just completely transform writing that, it feels a bit convoluted, a bit heavy. What it does is it actually looks at comprehension. So we have put a body of text from our website sales page into the Hemingway app, and it comes up as being at postgrad level.

And we’re like, oh no!

And the recommendation is about year six level. We want grade six. We want the comprehension to be grade six. Nice and clear and super simple. So the Hemingway app is our best friend. So with this, with the Working Together page, we want it to land with clarity, so we recommend that you run all of this through the Hemingway app and just make sure you, you’re hitting about grade six, grade seven, and you’ll know then that the comprehension is really, really clear.

[00:16:21] Kris: Mm-hmm. And you might be using Grammarly and that can be similar with the paid version as well, but Hemingway is just a bit different. So give it a go.

[00:16:29] Donna: We love it.

[00:16:30] Kris: Yeah. We’ll link it in the show notes so you can have a little play with it. It’s really transformed the way we write.

It’s made so much easier.

[00:16:38] Donna: So much easier. We get the giggles. with it. It’s so fun. So yeah, you’ll have fun with it, hopefully.

Okay, so another section is your frequently asked questions. This is kind of similar to the last little bit. You can list any frequently asked questions here. We also like to use it as a place to address any potential pain points that your client might have or any potential barriers that they might have about working with you, or, you might be working on one small aspect of a project, and there might be multiple phases, so it might be an opportunity for you to address some concerns or questions that they have about moving forward into the next phase.

So really think about, what information would be really important for this client to know and understand, for them to feel safe, for them to feel seen and heard. And that’s what we would add here. So you can have a generic list of FAQs, but then also think about tailoring a couple to that client as well, just so that you’re really answering any concerns that they have about moving forward.

Yeah. Especially if you’ve got any little red flags with that client. But it could be things like, what happens if, I don’t like the one concept that you present?

Yeah,

[00:17:53] Kris: And if you are looking for prompts like this, I have to just do a little plug for our nicely said scripts kit, because it is chock-full of stuff.

Chockers full of all these sorts of things, like client problems that happen, like little tricky things and you could pull those out and use them on your welcome guide as well, like the QnA’s.

But we put a lot of work into those.

[00:18:14] Donna: Yeah.. There’s lots

[00:18:15] Kris: Yes. It’s, it’s jam packed.

Yeah. So another section. , you might want to put some additional surfaces.

[00:18:23] Donna: Love this section.

[00:18:25] Kris: Love

[00:18:25] Donna: it.

[00:18:25] Kris: Yeah. Yeah. So your clients might not know the full extent of what you offer.

[00:18:31] Donna: Mm.

[00:18:32] Kris: So you get a chance to toot your own trumpet here and start to sow the seed for future projects. Yeah. What happens next?

Yes. I also do this. Wow. I didn’t know you did illustration and photography or whatever it is that you do. It just helps to reinforce, even if it’s been on your website, even if you’ve mentioned it previously in, you know, your proposal, your email, or whatever it is that, any other correspondence you’ve had so far, put it in again.

[00:18:59] Donna: On repeat. Yeah, absolutely love that. Love that opportunity, that this is really a multifaceted tool for you. It does all sorts of things. It’s going to work for you in all sorts of ways, and by adding your additional services in here. It’s acting as a marketing tool for you. Yeah. So it’s really, really powerful when you can see all the layers that we’ve been talking about, and there’s still a few more to go.

You can really see that our little welcome guide works really hard for us. Mm-hmm. . It really does.

[00:19:31] Kris: Yeah.

Then we want to have a section, which is what happens next? So next steps. So you want to map out the client journey because clients love to have their hands held, they love to be guided. They want to know what’s going to happen next.

[00:19:47] Donna: They want to know. They want to know exactly like Kris was speaking

about you go and engage an architect, you’ve never engaged an architect before. It’s perhaps your first time. Wow. I want to know what I’ve got to do. I want to know what my responsibilities are. I want to know what the expectations are.

All of the above. So when a client gets to know what happens next, what happens next, and then this will happen, and then that will happen. The bottom line, they feel safe. And I think we’ve said safe quite a few in this poddy. Yeah because feeling safe, feeling seen and feeling heard are really primal, humanistic things we want to feel when we are parting with a lot of money.

We highly value, highly value these feelings, especially. If you want to charge premium prices, then you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to show up with the goods and you have got to make your clients feel safe and, and feel really good about making this decision to work with you. So at every opportunity, we want to make them feel that way.

[00:20:45] Kris: Yeah. Like if you think again about that architectural firm example, like it’d be the same if you were working for the first time with a copywriter or maybe an SEO specialist, or just any kind of service business to business kind of thing. It’s really hard when you’re in the dark about a process and you have parted with some money and you’re like, Ooh, what happens next?

[00:21:07] Donna: What’s next? What’s next? Absolutely. Then finally, you end with a thank you page. So that’s where you get to share a little bit of love with your client, and you thank them for trusting you and you thank them for, for going on this journey with you. So again, it’s an opportunity to use your brand language and to reiterate the know, love and trust factor and to help make them feel safe.

So yeah, it’s a beautiful document. We’ve got a couple of additions that we, we want to mention as well.

Mm-hmm.

We are massive believers of testimonials throughout a welcome guide. We want to sprinkle them through, sprinkle all of that client love throughout the whole document, and reinforce the great decision that they’ve made to work with you yet again.

Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce, and it’s an opportunity for you to share that social proof that other people have had a huge success with you. It’s just an opportunity for the client to feel really safe.

[00:22:05] Kris: Yeah and also testimonials can help you just create a really visually interesting, welcome guide and it helps to space things out so it can become a really substantial document. Mm-hmm. Which is really lovely and that brings us into the next point we wanted to mention is this is about you and your brand and putting your brand highlights throughout it you’re messaging your beautiful brand elements. This is all about your brand. It’s elevating your business and it’s fun. It’s fun to be able to do that as well. Yeah. You can sprinkle throughout your photography, your brand elements. Maybe you’ve got illustration, maybe you’ve got patterns, your colors, your typography. It can be a really, really fun to play with this and it may even inspire your clients as well. They might want one as

well.

[00:22:50] Donna: They might. Absolutely, yes.

[00:22:52] Kris: We love that as a win-win because it’s like we’ve started working on this project.

Next up, can you do me a welcome guide?

[00:22:58] Donna: Yes. Love that. Welcome guide. I’d like one of those for myself. Yeah, that’s exactly right.

[00:23:02] Kris: We’re always setting the example as designers for the collateral and the different pieces of the puzzle that need to build a brand within a business.

[00:23:12] Donna: Yep. That’s it. So that brings us to the end of the key inclusions that we would have in a kick ass welcome guide.

[00:23:19] Kris: Yeah. Just before we go, I have a question for all you beautiful people out there. Let us know, would you like to be able to purchase a welcome guide template from us?

[00:23:29] Donna: Would

[00:23:30] Kris: like that? Should we do one? Let us know because we , we have one as part of the academy, but we were thinking of having it for sale in our shop

and let us know. Reach out and let us know if you’d like us to do

[00:23:42] Donna: do that. Sounds good. Sounds good. All right. We will leave it there. Have fun with your welcome guide. I think that is the key takeaway that very last point Kris just shared. This is the last piece of your brand collateral puzzle that you’ll get to share with your client.

We’ve mentioned that before at the very beginning of the podcast, so really take advantage of that, you know, because from here, ,

[00:24:07] Kris: on

[00:24:07] Donna: it’s all about them and their brand and what you are creating for them. So this is all about you and, loud and proudly your brand messaging, your brand story, your beautiful photo of you.

Again, clients love a peek behind the curtain, so there could even be beautiful photos of your studio in there. It’s a really personal to your brand. It’s really clear about the process. It’s really clear about the timelines you are speaking as a complete professional here. Every step of the way, they will feel safe.

Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:43] Kris: As well as totally upping your professionalism. Yeah, totally making it easier for them to trust

[00:24:50] Donna: you

[00:24:50] Kris: Yeah.

[00:24:50] Donna: Yeah

[00:24:51] Kris: because they’ll know that you are the trusted professional.

[00:24:55] Donna: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:56] Kris: All right. Well, have a beautiful rest of your day, everybody, and we will connect again very, very soon.

[00:25:03] Donna: Yes.

[00:25:04] Kris: Bye.

Bye.