Learned It From Experience: L.I.F.E. Lesson #2
Early in my career, I was so eager and anxious to get a client. This was also a time when to get first appointments, I had to spend hours cold calling and offering a free design consultation. I got hung up on and told ‘no’ a lot. So when someone said “YES” come on over, it was exciting.
I stood in the family room on a free consult ready to land a client! As we walked around the potential client would ask things like:
“Should I replace the flooring in here?”
“What color would you paint this room?”
“Do I need new window treatments? And what would you do on the windows?”
I answered, but the more questions came, the more detail the potential client wanted.
Then he said to me (about 30 min into the consult)
“I’d really like to get as much information out of you as possible in this free hour.”
I’ve gotten better at qualifying potential clients. I’ve also gotten more confident in my response to comments like that.
The initial free consultation isn’t for all the design ideas you can give. You, as the designer and the client, are actually interviewing each other. You have to be able to work with them as much as they can work with you. Design is a partnership.
The clients that try to get as many ideas out of you as possible in that free consult are not actually wanting to hire a designer.
I’m not telling you not to give them your ideas and thoughts. But, listen to your gut. If it feels like you’ve gotten into territory that you would normally be charging for that idea, then stop yourself. A client who will milk you dry on the free consult, what do you think they will do if they have to pay for it?
Run. You don’t need that client. When starting out, you want to take every project, but you need to weigh the pros and cons and if you’ll end up having more headaches and less profit. It is not worth it.
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