Rapid Recharge // Asking the Right Questions

Aired Wednesday, Oct 14, 2015. Episode 147

Knowing what to ask during an initial client interview can be tricky. When you are starting off you don’t know the questions you should be asking. With time and experience these get easier and you understand better what to ask and how to prompt the clients to clarify their answers.

I am constantly changing and revising the questions I ask. My questions change as the economy fluctuates and as marketing trends evolve. We have to stay on our toes. We have to know the current lingo. I have not found a single list perfect for every type of client or every design situation. But I have had a lot of luck with the type of questions I ask and the information I am seeking.

I am going to share some of my best questions from my current intake form. I will share how asking the right questions initially has helped me solve client problems more effectively.

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We had some incredible questions from the audience during the show and beforehand. One I did not get to share on-air but was so awesome I had to share it here is by Joe Carter-Brown (twitter @abrowncreates) and commented on asking the question, “What’s your budget? ” Joe shared, “It seems so simple, but many designers I know don’t want/like to ask that question. However, it’s helpful to know. Many clients think we’re like car sales people and that they can pit us against each other for the lowest price, so they will try to get us to give them a number blindly so they can see who will undercut the other. When in reality designers have their value in mind and one worth his or her salt isn’t going to haggle with a client about price simply because some “cut-rate design monkey said he would do my website for $500.”

Joe goes on to say, “Not to mention most designers can usually work with many different budgets and as a result can offer different services based on what that budget level is. So if I know that my client has a larger budget for his website design, I can offer more within that range, but if it’s lower maybe I can still work with it, but I just won’t include all of the bells & whistles I’d normally include in a larger budget. If I have to guess what your budget is then I run the risk of denying features you may want/need, or conversely I come in too high because I thought you could afford the time it would take me to design out that really awesome, parallax, scrolling feature.”
Thanks Joe for the insightful email filled with truth.

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