Meeting clients

[d0dge]

Hi guys

I've designed several websites for clients and usually i just do this over the internet,

this weekend im going to meet this client in real life which hasnt clinch the deal

What should i do or bring? I dont have a laptop.... I was wondering.. print some of my works and a questionare?

How about you guys?

regards

[intrudah]

I made a print up to fill out while I was at my first meeting

Added my logo on a blue paper to look professional like I had done it before

Just take notes if necessary

[d0dge]

Is it okay if i print up a contract and let him sign in after we clinch the deal?
What should i put in there?

[dru_nasty]

Find out what his needs are for his site. What's the reason...is it informational, or is it e-commerce. Take plenty of notes. Find out his budget. Let him know what services/plans you can offer him within his budget and still deliver a product that will suite his needs. Not sure how big of a client this is, but its always best to follow up with a nice letter or such thanking them for the meeting.
After meeting draw up a quote on what needs to be done, and approximately how much it will be. (Unless you already can give him some set pricing).
Then DEFINITELY draw up a contract outlining what work will be done, and in what time frame, and for how much. Let him know this protects both of you. You will ensure your payment, and he is insured he will get what he wants out of it.

If you got a couple bucks, pick up a book like "the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing & Ethics Guide". Theres a ton of info on the business. Example contracts and such.
http://www.gag.org

:thumb: good luck

[smoothhabitat]

Dress nice and be yourself (uh, but be professional).

[trundrumbalind]

Don't bring a contract!!! That'll put them right off. People need to check things out with their finance department or think things over before they can decide. Pulling out a contract will just destroy what will probably be a really friendly conversation.

I've done this loads of times before and a laptop is really a HUGE advantage. You should start saving--definately.

The least you can do is put up some ideas of different styles with their name or logo in it on the net. That lets them see what's possible and then you'd take notes on which one they like, things they'd change and what not.

[dru_nasty]

AFTER being the key word in my post.

[CanadianGuy]

Go borrow a laptop. C'mon man, you're supposed to be technilogically advanced lol. The funny thing is that most of the meetings I've had I really only used the laptop for less than five minutes. I've found that most people are most comfortable talking about themselves and their projects so keep it light and ask a lot of opened ended questions. O yea, whatever you do make sure you have a good initial greeting and leave on a high note (big smile and big handshake :wink:)

[smoothhabitat]

Don't come right out with a contract. No need for a laptop either. But go to the meeting with the attitude that you already have the client and start asking questions about what their goals are and what they are about.

Try to be enthusiastic about your clients needs and interested in what they are doing. This becomes a lot more obvious and necessary in 1 on 1 meetings... hard to express in emails. They'd much rather hire someone that they can work with as a "team player" rather than some nerd who's just pumping out websites.

[d0dge]

Thank you guys, it's been a really big help from all of you

Appreciated :)

[prstudio]

what they said plus eye contact - dress nicely - slacks and dress shirt - if the place is an informal meeting place go dress casual - if its more formal go dress

don't talk too much about yourself but dive into what they want - and then offer up examples of where you've done that exact thing or something similar in the past.

be serious about the subject of delivering a quality product, but be light hearted enough that they feel comfortable around you as a human being - take good notes -

:)

oh and 3 deep breaths before you leave your car to go in hehe :)

[RabBell]

if you're picking the meeting place make sure it's somewhere appropriate

the local mcdonalds is probably way out...

depending on the client a small quiet bar would be good, you know a trendy kinda place, with bigger clients perhaps it depends where the bar is, for instance a nice hotel perhaps

and like everyone says smile, eye contact, always look interested, dress accordingly and if you're gonna take a notebook for notes (which you should by the way) make sure it's a presentable notebook and not something hanging in pieces

good luck, let us know how it goes :thumb:

[ya3]

...and get a shiny white 12" iBook, just for looks :beam:

[CanadianGuy]

if you're picking the meeting place make sure it's somewhere appropriate

the local mcdonalds is probably way out...

depending on the client a small quiet bar would be good, you know a trendy kinda place, with bigger clients perhaps it depends where the bar is, for instance a nice hotel perhaps

and like everyone says smile, eye contact, always look interested, dress accordingly and if you're gonna take a notebook for notes (which you should by the way) make sure it's a presentable notebook and not something hanging in pieces

good luck, let us know how it goes :thumb:

What the heck Rab? You actually meet clients at a bar? I thought that was only on t.v. lol. I'd never have a first meeting at a bar.

O yea, almost forgot: Make sure you follow up with a thank you email as soon as you get back from the meeting. Whoever said 'speak like you already have the job' is dead on. Say stuff in your follow up email like "Hi Jimbo, What a great meeting today! I'm really enthusicatic about taking your business to the top. You were spot on about.....great idea about.........Can't waiit to get this project on wheels....Yours Truly. blah blah blah"

One thing not to forget is to be sincere.

[mrhines1]

I work at a golf course and we meet with sales reps at the local bar and talk over lunch. Nothing wrong with meeting at a bar.

[SlowRoasted]

if your not going to bring a laptop i would get some very nice prints of your work and put them in nice binding for them to see.

I would bring a contract, just decide while your there if its appropriate to bring it out or not. Its all about selling man. The best time to get them sign is right after you've hyped them up about your skills as a designer. If they have to call their finance department thats fine. I dont think it will turn them off. Im in marketing and I am learning about this kinda stuff all the time.

[leshadi]

These are things you should do anyway, to be sure you can handle the job well. If you already have details about the project, flesh out what is clear and isn't, what you will need, content, etc... Then bring these notes to the meeting and address every issue to get more detailed info for your evaluation.

Do not discuss a price at the meeting, say you will contact sonn after with an evaluation, you can inquire to th project budjet though, and roughly tell him what can be provided as services.

If you bring a contract, you already have a plan for the project and everything is clear ? Sources of content, deadlines etc... ? If so, make all these conditions clear in the contract. The contract should detail the project, and what will be provided. It should also state things you are not responsible for, typos in submitted content, content arriving later or not arrivng by integration phase, etc... for larger contracts, add an advance before work starts. Nothing over 20%.

Of course dress according to type of client/business, maybe not a bar, I do that with long-term clients but a café is probably safer.

Well that's my two-cents...

[SlowRoasted]

You may also want to research a little on their company and impress them with things you know about them:D

[smoothhabitat]

Not only research their company but research their competitors. Know their market.

[j_polo9]

definately ask them lots of questions about the mission or purpose of their organization, what are they trying to sell, what kind of product or service? What kind of branding materials they already have (logo's, letter heads, business cards, company colors, tag lines, etc.) Who is the intended audience for the site? Competition? technolodgy: What types of broswer support, connection speed, download times? What technolodgies are needed, flash, html, payment processing, database? How do they plan on hosting the site, do they expect you to take care of the domain name? Do they expect you to maintain the site, what are the milestones? Do they plan to advertise the site? What is the theme for the site, what colors and adjectives describe the project as a whole? How they expect the content to be created? Do they expect you to write all of the content? You know questions like those. Take lots of notes. Relax, they are prospective clients but they are just regular people.

[prstudio]

Not only research their company but research their competitors. Know their market.

well said...

oh and make sure you follow up the next day and thank them for taking time out with you and re-affirm the positive highlights of the meeting with them

and be nice and like CG said - sincere - :)

[Ryall]

one thing not mentioned so far:
Be prepared to explain internet technology in very simple terms... too many web designers like to throw around tech terms, almost to make themselves look smart cuz you know a ton of stuff he doesnt. DONT DO THAT - they KNOW you know more about it than they do, thats why youre having the meeting! When you can explain how different solutions work in a simple easy to understand fashion, people get comfy with you, they also dont feel like youre trying to trick them out of more money by making it sound complicated and super technical.

I always come up with some anologies before a meeting for certain aspects of the project to help the client understand... it is ALWAYS appreciated and almost always at the end of the meeting they mention some other guy that did the opposite (who do you think they choose in the end ;) ).

Peace

[SlowRoasted]

pr and ryall got it right, good statements:D

[d0dge]

GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSS THANK YOU ALLLLLLLLL

Hehhe, i did what ya'll told, i said the right things , ask alot of questions related , dress well, manage to get a laptop from my friends (i just bring it and didnt use it tho LoL) , i explained what im proposing, i did a few sample interface for them to preview... explain what is soo special about their website , everything went smooth cept the price :/

I didnt quote them, i ask for their budget... they said its rougly around USD800 :(

Basically the website will have 3 section, Profile (Biography,Awards) , Gallery, Contact (flash form , Location)

For the gallery it will be flash based, images will be loaded externally using php , and each image can add its own descryptions , Also an admin section where they can upload files on their own to the gallery
Overall its almost same like imageVue made from mjau-mjau, except the whole thing i did it on my own and its more basic and maybe 1 or 2 features less.....

What should i say? And how much rougly the price for such sites cost?

Im lost :(

[leshadi]

What do you charge per hour? Whatever that is times the hours you evaluate you'll spend on the project. If what they want is over budget, tell them so and bring solutions for that budget... then, if there is no agreement, well, hey, you aren't a charity organisation are you?

Unless you think you can build a business relationship which will bring more work from them , or taht you'll be developping something you can make profit off by rusing the app for other clients...

[d0dge]

IC, i'll try to discuss this with her..

Is it recomended that i saying all those web design thingies and saying how hard it is and saying stuff we use which she dont understand a thing?

btw she's a fashion/jewelry designer... freelance...

Im thinking of a slogan right now..

Any suggestions? :D

[Ryall]

you should have said on the spot that what here budget was does not cover the cost of what you proposed.... a dynamic based flash site using php to load images is way beyond 800.... I wouldn;t even talk about something like that for such a budget. What you need to do is NOT tell her she doesnt know crap, but INFORM her that "there are different ways to get down the road, you can get a honda or a benz.... they both get you to point B, but one does it better than the other and offers more features, but it also costs more." She's picked something closer to the benz option.... let her know thats fine and dandy, but she'll have to pay for it. Then explain what kind of 'car' you can build her for her budget... she'll understand you, and she'll either go, dam*n I guess I cant afford what I want, lets talk about what CAN fit in my budget OR she'll be like oh I see, so thats a bit more.... well I really want it to be like that so how mouch more do I need to spend to get it? (or of course, which is most likely she'll say... ok I dont want to spend too much more, but I'd like to get somethind close to what I talked about - what can we do?)


Peace