7 Surefire Ways to Win More Design Clients
Although we’re a small agency, we regularly win branding projects over bigger agencies. Whether you are a consultant, freelancer, or agency owner, this post shares the no-nonsense approach we use to win more of the project inquiries we receive.
With our creative agency almost a decade old, here are a few things we’ve learned about onboarding clients. As a small agency who have managed to work with some awesome brands including Colgate, Marriott International, J.P. Morgan, and Pimco, here are some of our tried and tested ways.
An approach we’ve honed over the last ten years, we find this approach works so well for us, now after any inquiry, we first discuss internally if the inquiry is a project we want to take on.
I’ve broken the onboarding process into three phases:
→ Pre inquiry — the ‘creative professionals tax’
→ Inquiry — turning inquiries into freshly baked bread
→ Post project — keeping in touch with your low-hanging apple trees
→ Pre inquiry — the ‘creative professionals tax’
1. We share our branding projects
This one seems obvious, but I can’t count how many creatives reach out to us asking for either freelance work or a full-time gig without sharing their work. Seniors included. I once had a design director apply without even a CV, and after repeated asks to see some work were ignored, I gave up asking. I understand it’s scary — sharing your creative work is like sharing part of your inner self. Clients need to see something visual, real, and tangible to chew and digest. Although it doesn’t have to be the same industry, or exactly the same kind of design problem you’re solving, to believe in you, clients need to see something.
Having your up-to-date portfolio online is a fundamental tax of being a creative professional. Much like having Adobe CC. Just pay up. Nobody will talk to you without it.
“In this (creative*) world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes (and your AdobeCC payments*)”
— Benjamin Franklin (with *Authors additions!)
2. We share our brand strategy thinking
OK, I know the first one is a no-brainer. Sharing your thinking is not something designers are often comfortable with and not something required by creative law(!) but clients, love this and it’s so often overlooked.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve written semi-regularly about design and branding. When I first came to Hong Kong I even interviewed and met some of the Hong Kong branding superstars. A term I now loathe(!) I’ll put these onto Medium one day.
I love writing about design. I think clients love to read because it gives some insight into our creative approach, humanizes and demystifies the process, and again, gives them something they can believe, and start to really understand. I think it’s rare a potential client will reach out having not-read something from our insights. Having a blog also gives you some creative agency over its look and feel, you can treat it as a creative exercise. Some creatives love self-initiated design projects, I suppose illustrating our insights page is a creative exercise for us, one we’ve become quite attached to over the years.
→ Inquiry — turning enquiries into freshly baked bread
Awesome, the potential client has seen your work and sent you an email! This is where it gets serious.
When an inquiry comes through it’s coming through one channel. One form on our website. With my co-founder, we do a ten-minute google of the company and discuss whether the project is a good fit for us. We politely decline any company we don’t want to work with or don’t feel is a good fit, with a simple email.
This also goes for projects we feel are not a good fit for us. We rarely do F&B branding projects for example. For any inquiries, we do decide we want, this is our approach to winning them:
3. We talk about money early
Money money money. We love talking about money. We love making money. We love talking about money. We’re a design business. We don’t do this for love. (I mean we do, but… also for money…)
The amount of creative professionals who shy away from talking about money is frightening. The number of freelancers who reach out to us with no rate card, or we have to ask multiple times to share a ballpark quote. You need to talk money quickly with the client. Whether it’s in your response to their email or the initial qualification call. In our initial response to an inquiry, we let them know
We keep it brief and talk about money straight away. We’re experts, and experts don’t waste their time and definitely don’t have time to waste other people's time.
We clearly set the expectations, and give the inquiry an easy early opportunity to ghost us. No hard feelings, we’d rather share our fees now than waste our time in meetings. We are polite, matter-of-fact, and clear with our expectations on the next step, the proposed call.
The client confirms our call
4. We ask the right questions & we’re ruthlessly honest
Questions illustrate your expertise. A good designer, asks good questions. Just as much as the client is trying to find the best agency for their project, we need to work out whether the project is actually one we want, and whether the client is a good fit for us. Having this abundance mindset, the “we don’t need this project, we want this project” approach, helps express our confidence and expertise.
On the initial qualification call we ask:
Why do they need to do this project now?
What problems they’re facing?
Why is this project is important to them?
What success would look like and give them?
What would failure look like?
What would happen to them if they don’t do this project now?
Find their fears, and label them. If you can help, let them know-how. If you can’t, point them to someone who can. We often refer inquiries to other agencies. People remember honesty, and they will come back to you in the future. I’ve written more about this here.
Clients are people, businesses are people. If the project is not for you, or you have any doubts, you should not take it. It is far, far more damaging than it’s worth. If the risk is there, it outweighs the reward. Putting your client’s interests first will come back around to benefit you in the future. If you’re honest and kind, you will stand out. The fact that you’re honest will ensure they will have no qualms in referring friends/ colleagues to you in the future.
5. We share our brand strategy process
This is by far the best approach we have found when onboarding clients. Clients love (and I mean love) seeing our process.
Half of our inquiries say how refreshing and trustworthy they find seeing our approach during the initial call with us. Clients love this because they can see into the project, see what working with us will look like, put down their fears, and imagine starting the process with us. I’ve gone more into detail in another post, which you can view here.
6. We understand the industry and the problems they face
When you’re creating your proposal clients need you to understand the problem they’re facing, and how you can help. Along with your fees and timeline, your proposal must detail your approach to their unique project.
Within the proposal, you must understand and communicate that you understand their business, their problems, and their goals.
→ Post project — keeping in touch with your low-hanging apple trees
7. We followup
Time to check in with your favorite, hard-earned client!
A good follow-up keeps you in mind for future projects and client referrals. Don’t make it clingy or awkward, business is business, cut to the chase. Nothing too lengthy, keep it positive, simple, and to the point.
More posts in Business of Design —
About BrandWerks —
BrandWerks is a design resource company focused on advancing the practice of brand strategy.
We know that brand strategy can be a difficult beast to master. We create brand strategy templates and resources that help designers, agencies, and brand strategists master brand strategy.
Our tools are actionable and fully customizable and founded in a commercial approach that helps guide you and your clients through the process.