Five Tactics to Sell your Designs to the Client

In the field of graphic design, you may come across a client who wants to take control over the design process and insists that you use his design suggestions, some of which may be either impossible to implement or which would be counter-productive to the project. As a graphic designer, you need to be able to convince your clients to your point of view – and make sure you do it tactfully. The idea is not to go what “what is right” or “what works”. Rather it is all about convincing the client that your designs are the best suited for their business needs. And this is a skill that every graphic designer needs to learn.

Here are five ways that you can achieve this goal.

 

•       Remain in Control Throughout

A client-graphic designer relationship is a two-way street where the input of both parties is always critical. However, as a graphic designer, you should learn to remain in control of the situation, so that the client is never able to run rough-shod over you. This will also help you to define the client’s expectations from the very start of the project so that the client can always be sure of what they will be getting.

 

• Never Reject Clients’ Ideas Outright

You are the expert in the field, and you should know what works and what won’t and what the industry standards are. Yet you should never give the client the impression that his or her ideas are rubbish (even if you do think so). Employ a “Yes..But” technique, in which you tell the client that their ideas are good, but state a reason why yours would be better.  This makes the clients more receptive to your ideas and more willing to implement them.

 

• Educate Clients

Some clients may be unsure of what their role is in the graphic design process, and of what your own role is.  For this reason it is generally recommended that prior to launching a project, you conduct a meeting with the client to outline your entire work processes of your work. This will help the client to be clear about who is responsible for what.

 

• Package your services attractively

It is an unstated rule of doing business and closing deals that how you present yourself and your product counts for more than what you are selling. The same holds true in the field of graphic design. You may have designed a very attractive logo in the most stunning of colors, but if you decide to present a very low-quality version to the client, it is not very likely that they would show interest.

• Communicate the Benefits

It is very important that you communicate to your client the benefits of what you are offering – in the language the client wants to hear.  Your client is not interested in how good your design is technically. They are only interested in how it will benefit their business. Where possible, focus on how your design will help them enhance business value or the bottom line.