Learn How to Prepare for Web Designing Meetings with Clients

Congrats, you are successfully through that “pitching for hire web designer, portfolio sharing, or maybe contract signing” phase. And have triumphed in convincing a client for a front-end meeting to discuss on their website designing exact requirements. Now you have to prepare for the big meeting where you are going to sit, talk to that client. Extracting all their project’s specifications, expectations, objectives to design a website that could standout & drive extreme value to their brand. If that’s the case, Kudos to you!

To pull off a successful web designer-client meeting, it’s imperative for you as a designer to understand what your client’s business is all about. Apart from just mugging up some latest web design tips, you need to do some extra homework on your part. Where, you need to pre-identify your client’s business objectives, audience-type, mission statements, and complete history of their product or services. After all, designing is more than just about coding, it’s about mirroring experiences on a virtual landscape.

To win your client’s trust and confidence, apart from honing your expertise and cramming your client's business—polish your interpersonal skills as well.

Here in the following article, we will talk about the exact things you need to prepare for, before approaching a client meeting.

5 ways to prepare for a designer-client meeting apart from looking at some of the latest web design tips:

1. Send your client a meeting reminder
2. Research for your client’s business or industry type
3. Prepare a checklist or handwritten notes
4. Hone your interpersonal skills
5. Have a practice meeting with someone

Let’s discuss each one in a detailed manner.

1. Send your client a meeting reminder

To confirm the onset of the meeting, make sure to send a professional reminder. You can send an automated email 72-24 hours before the meeting, or even arrange a phone call reminder.

By doing so, you will be sure that things are ready to fall as discussed. And your clients will even feel valued and important.

2. Research for your client’s business or industry type

To carry the meeting in the best possible manner, have a little study on your client’s business first. Look into what industry type, product/service category, the transaction method is affixed into their setup. This will help you prepare for what you need to design.

• Research about the professional you are going to have the whole meeting with. Dig out about their style, ways of doing business, professional experiences, roles, and more.
• Research about the client's business niche or industry. Gather an understanding of what’s the core functionality of their business. If their setup is all about fostering online career training courses- get proper insights on that.
• If they already have a working website, have a deep-rooted study or analysis of that. Discover the areas it’s lacking in. Compare the structure with market competitors to cement the gaps well.
• Identify your client’s real motives for doing the business. Whether it’s educating the audience, reaping the profitable revenue or both.

By doing deep research & analysis, you will be clear of what to expect during the meeting. And won’t have to burn your brain cells that hard during the point of discussion.

3. Prepare a checklist or handwritten notes

Prepare a productive checklist before the meeting, covering all the questions you need to ask. Put basic to extreme questions within that list - that will be needful during the designing phase.

• Here are samples to what you can ask your clients:
• Can you describe your business in a few lines?
• In your currently working website, what do you think is missing?
• What are your ultimate goals for this project?
• Who do you think is your exact target audience?
• Who do you think are your key competitors?
• What specific features are you looking forward to having on your newly-made website?
• In what areas you are different than your competitors?
• What long-term objective or expectation you have from this project?

And you can insert as many questions as you want…

Make handwritten notes covering what you need to say or discuss. Jot down whatever insights or research you have gathered. Pen down everything you feel is important to be stated during the meeting.

Your handwritten notes may contain the following key points:

• Industry’s insights, competent website’s case studies.
• Sections or pages, the would-be website could have.
• About additional services or value-added services that you are willing to give—maybe of SEO or content marketing.

Pro tip—If possible and have some time in hand, prepare a prototype to your client’s website with a basic layout. Just to let them understand how the final outcome is likely to come as. You can make the basic notebook sketches or layout as a raw website. Or can carry the previous or similar project-type website’s wireframe as well.

4. Hone your interpersonal skills

Even though you are past that pitching for “hire web design services from us” phase. That doesn’t mean you can sit and relax with your interpersonal skills. You still need to sharpen them. To keep the client’s trust and confidence in your deliverables alive.

Key tips to polish interpersonal skills before the major meeting:

• Keep up with a positive outlook. Make sure to hold on to optimistic approaches. Keep replies & conversations as affirmative (even though if they seem tough at first).
• Be an active listener and listen to everything with great empathy & concern.
• Practice positive body-languages and gestures. Avoid gestures that are at all offensive and too much arrogance-driven.
• Find polite words on how to acknowledge and appreciate someone’s expertise and knowledge.
• Work on a tone that’s subtle, clear, and composed. Avoid the usage of difficult to apprehend words. Make use of words that are assertive and actionable.

Practicing all these will easily ooze your charm in front of your client.

5. Have a practice meeting with someone

Once done with entire hard work for the meeting, sit with someone to schedule a mock-up interview. You can set up a colleague, family member, old client to help you in the purpose. Make them sit in front and speak whatsoever you have prepared. Set up a minimum time duration to complete the meeting. By doing this, you won't beat around the bush. And will know exactly what needs to be covered in the limited hours or minutes of the meeting.

By doing this, you will build the utmost confidence for the actual meeting. Also, you will be able to identify the pointers you have missed in between.

Conclusion

To pull out a successful web designer-client meeting, having a thorough preparation is a must. And that thorough preparation mainly includes -

• Sending clients reminders before the meeting
• Researching every inch on client’s business niche/industry
• Preparing questionnaires or pointers that need to be covered during the meeting
• Polishing on social skills
• Holding a mock-up interview

You as a designer need to be meticulous towards three things in exact to get the best from the approaching meeting. First is your skills, make sure you have a hold on-up-to-date web designing practices. Second is finding every inch about the client business offerings—as it will help you evaluate what exactly you need to design. The third is your interaction and communication skills. By having clear and composed conversations, you will be better able to retract the key resources or information to drive the project’s journey.

So now know what to do after pitching for the “hire web design services.” Prepare with these points to get the best past meeting. If you have anything interesting to add, do care to share in the comments section below!