Lower-quality clients stink, but are an unfortunate part of the Graphic Design business. Even here at Integraphix, we get some demanding clients, but like I said before, that's part of the business. These types of clients focus on how little they can get away with paying you. They make outrageous demands about the amount of work they want you to do and how quickly the turnaround should be.
Sound familiar? Chances are you, and many other graphic designers, have suffered from working for clients like these. We all have at some point, especially when only starting out.
So how do you avoid working for clients like this? You attract higher-quality ones. Easier said than done though right? Well, you’re in luck! I have 3 simple ways to attract better clients who not only appreciate your work, but are fun to work with. They'll also pay you.
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| Chicago Graphic Designer Integraphix |
There are no tricks involved. It has to do with adjusting your attitude and approach towards clients and the Graphic Design business in general. You MUST stand your ground and not compromise on what you’re worth and who you’re willing to work with. This attitude alone will help and you’ll be well on your way to attracting higher-quality clients that you actually want to work with.
1. Don't be desperate. Make THEM need YOU!
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| Chicago Graphic Designer Integraphix |
You know why the desperate people in high school always dated each other? It's because they didn't care about the quality of their relationship, and didn't pay attention to their feelings of attraction and mutual commonalities. This applies to Graphic Designers and Clients. The absolute #1 way to get low-quality clients is to appear desperate. If you're taking anyone you can get, you'd better bet they're gonna want the world from you for about $20. As a freelancer or business, when you scrape for the bottom of the barrel, that’s what you’ll get. Low quality clients exhibit these traits:
- • Focused on low price
- • Unreasonably demanding the quantity of work and time to deliver it
- • Wanting to make a million changes without paying you the extra amount of time to make changes.
- * They also don't see your time as a billable product: only the end result.
Don’t be desperate – instead, make the clients need you.
When you turn the tables like this, you get to be selective about who you work for. And when you’re picky with who you work for, you end up working with higher-quality clients who:
- • Pay you what you’re actually worth
- • Agree to the quantity of work and time it’ll take to deliver it
- • Know the value of a graphic designer's time and see their design as a process and not an end-product.
Don’t be desperate. Make the client need you. Do not listen to that awful “what if I can’t get any clients” voice in your head, stand your ground, and don’t settle. Sooner than later you’ll start getting the clients that want you for you.
2. Don't undervalue yourself: Offer a lower-priced trial but NOT lower costs overall.
This is the #1 problem start-ups and freelancers get themselves into. Don’t cave in to reducing rates. When you stand your ground, the client will decide either that they can't afford you, or that you're worth the price. You can hope that they'd realize that THEY are worth the price, but we can't have everything. Remember: lesser graphic designers would’ve been more desperate and worked for whatever price they could get.
When pitching to clients, don’t tell them that you can reduce rates. Say what rate you work for and leave it at that. Let the client decide if they can afford that or not – otherwise, you’ll get the lower-quality clients that chase the lowest price and nothing else.
When talking to clients, if they say that the price is too high, use wording like “I’m probably too expensive for you, so you’re better off looking for cheaper graphic designers elsewhere”. Not only will you not settle for lesser pay, but you might actually provoke the client in a friendly way into paying you. They’ll think, hey, I’m good enough of a client, what does this graphic designer mean I can’t afford it? And they just might end up paying you.
That’s good and all, but very few clients will pay full price for unproven talent. So if needed, you should offer a lower-cost trial. If the client is unsure, tell them that you’re wiling to do the first task or project or whatever at a lower rate. Then if the client is happy with the work, they agree to pay full price for subsequent work. This way, you reduce the risk for the client while still standing your ground price-wise and attracting higher-quality clients.
3. Focus your message on the clients you really wantIf you don’t make it clear how you can help, then you won’t be able to attract higher-quality clients who are specifically looking for that solution. So you need to crystal-clearly focus your message on the benefits that clients really want.
For example:
• When you simply say that you are a chicago web designer, you’ll attract amateur clients who are looking for someone to design their website.
• But when you say that you’ll impress the client’s customers that are in this key demographic (and the client has had trouble reaching) and make them more likely to convert by buying/joining or whatnot, you’ll attract the high-quality clients specifically looking for that.
See the difference?
Focus your message on the benefits the higher-quality clients would want:
• Decide who your ideal clients are
• Find out what problems they have that really need solving
• Clearly say that you can help with that in your emails, website, conversations, and any other messages
By focusing your message on the benefits, you’ll increase the chances of those higher-quality clients paying you to do work for them. More more tips, subscribe to the Integraphix blog!
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