Win Over Clients

Win Over Clients— Ask Powerful Questions

@theChrisDo YouTube.com/TheSkoolRocks TheFuturIsHere.com

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©2016 Chris Do @theChrisDo #BizOfDesign

Anybody here love their clients? Maybe a more relevant question is anybody here have clients that love them? Let’s change that.


#WinClients


What are you worth?

5

$ XX /hr.



Are you getting: $50, $75, $100 and hour? Over $100? How about $500? Congrats. Now, would you be shocked if I told you, I have clients who are happy to pay me more than $1000 an hour? How is that possible? What am I doing differently that makes me more valuable?


1x 10x 100x


Why can some designers charge 10 or even 100 times more than another designer?


What makes them more valuable?


Any ideas? Is it the quality of the work they do, the experience they have, number of awards, staff or size of their studio? What do you think it is? I’ll tell you why a little later, but here’s a hint: the answer is in the question.


What would you charge to create this symbol?


Why can design icons like Michael Bierut or Paul Rand charge six figures for a logo?


You could draw this. You know how to use illustrator right? So it’s not a matter of technical skill.


Amateurs vs. Experts.

15©2016 Chris Do @theChrisDo #BizOfDesign

Doc, I have a pain in my eye.


Imagine this—You go to see a doctor. Upon entering the room, the doctor asks you, “What seems to be the problem?” You tell him, you are experiencing pain in your eye. He nods, asks a few more questions. Then, he writes a prescription. His prognosis? Get a new wardrobe—your style is all wrong. Your clothes don’t fit you and frankly, they look cheap. BTW, he says, “I happen to sell clothes.” What’s your feeling about this doctor? Offended? Annoyed? You’d be right in wanting a second opinion.

17

Amateurs give advice.



Is this a practice you’ve been guilty of as a freelancer orbusiness owner?As creatives on the service side, we tend to not have many opportunities to be clients. Therefore, we can overlook what it might feel like when someone talks to us this way. Getting “unsolicited advice” from someone can be downright aggravating. The problem is, we don’t like being told what to do, especially from an uninformed point of view. Amateurs give advice.


So what do experts do?

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Experts diagnose.



Experts ask questions. Lots of them.They run tests. They eliminate variables. They look at your history and behavior. Only after careful observation and diagnosis do they form a hypothesis. Then they take measured steps to test and validate. Asking smart questions is what makes them an expert.


Slow down. #premature


In design culture our tendency is to move fast. Get it done. Go go go. Slow down.


Thales624 – 546 BC


Let’s go back a couple thousand years to Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, Thales. When asked, “What’s the most difficult thing in life?”, Thales responded, “To know yourself.”


Self Actualization

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Survival

Security

Belonging

Importance

+

-


What the easiest? Give advice.


Do you know what makes some people more valuable?


The answer—


Your value is determined by the quality of the questions you ask.


So what are good questions to ask? Good question.


Low vs. High value questions


Quantitative, fact based questions are important for getting the job done, but tend to be lower value questions.


What does it look like? When is it due? Who is the target market?What is the budget?

+

-


Qualitative questions tend to be higher value.


How did you come up with this idea? How do you want peopleto feel? How will you judge if this is successful?

+

-


High value questions surface “purpose”. They tend to cause people to be more reflective. You are helping people, companies or organizations to know themselves.


Why is this important? Why do you believe this to be true? Why did you start this company?

+

-


How valuable is this? The world’s largest management consulting firms are paid tens of millions to tell companies “why they started”.

40

Purpose Beliefs Design


Steve Jobs “Think Different” internal meeting.Sept. 23, 1997 Watch the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMQhOm-Dqo


Ask questions to surface deeper meaning.


What can you discover if you ask deeper questions? You can help align a company around a shared purpose which serves as a decisional filter to govern all decisions. Here’s an example.


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From vendor to advisor to fiduciary.



What can you discover if you ask deeper questions? You can help align a company and its people around a shared purpose— which serves as a decisional filter to govern actions, new initiatives, investments, hiring practices, marketing efforts.

47©2016 Chris Do @theChrisDo #BizOfDesign

Win Clients?


Stop selling. Start closing.


When you say it, you are selling. No one likes being sold to. In fact, we instinctively resist and distrust those that sell to us. When they say it, you are closing. If you help a client realize the problem and solution, you don’t have to convince or persuade.


You could spend the next couple of years meeting with clients, experiment with questions and make adjustments as you go. I’ve done exactly that, and have come to the realization that there are 3 “golden questions” you can ask in almost any meeting. Here they are—


3 Golden Questions


1. What are you trying to accomplish?


2. What’s getting in the way of you achieving this goal?


3. Why do you believe this to be the case?


The next part is the hardest part.


Be 100% present.


Surrenderyour ego.


Act as if.


Stay in the diagnostic phase for as long as possible.


Talk to strangers.


Be aninteresting person. Be interestedin people.


What can you discover if you ask deeper questions? You can help align a company and its people around a shared purpose— which serves as a decisional filter to govern actions.


One final story


Meet Carrie


Carrie is someone I’ve been coaching. I had a simple exercise for her— find a client that you don’t want to work with. Maybe, it’s someone who can’t afford your services or has a project you’re not really interested in. Instead of trying to sell your client, try your best to help them. Serve them without benefitting yourself in the process.


The very next day, Carrie sent me a text exchange she had with her client. The results were pretty incredible. Carrie had helped her client win a piece of new business, something which her client hadn’t been able to do for months!


How was this possible? Carrie acted in a selfless way and was in service of her client. How did that make Carrie feel? Well, for the first time in a long time, she felt like an expert, in control, happy, and… valuable.


#WinClients


Appendix


Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Ennsbuy on Amazon

Brand Flip by Marty Neumeier buy on Amazon

Zag by Marty Neumeier buy on Amazon

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh buy on Amazon

Reference:

Start With Why by Simon Sinek buy on Amazon

Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. buy on Amazon

Value Proposition Design by Alexander Osterwalder buy on Amazon

Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte buy on Amazon

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@theChrisDo YouTube.com/TheSkoolRocks Facebook.com/BizOfDesign

#TheFuturIsHere #WinClients

http://www.youtube.com/theskoolrocks

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Win Over Clients