How to pitch your design work like a mattress salesman
I had a meeting the other day about making a website for a potential client. This was an associate of a friend of mine that is starting up an HR business. Sometimes when I want to get a freelance job, I will mock something up without being asked. This was easy for this client, she had no website, no logo or anything. I used an existing template I had created some time ago and added a simple logo, some dummy text, a few buttons with some appropriate names. The mockup was pretty quick to throw together. At most I spent an hour and fifteen minutes on it.
My approach on my original cold call to her was “Hey, I know you don’t have a site and that’s bad. You need a way for people to read more about your services. Look at how quickly you can set up a site.” And I sent a long a link to my mockup. My thought was, she is a one person act, doesn’t know much about this stuff, probably wants to ease into a website by going the cheap route.
The little bit of initiative I took paid off. It always does in case you were wondering. I got my chance to interview with her to talk about a potential relationship. I saw it more of how I would be doing her a favor than anything else. I also made several assumptions of what I would be talking about. I should have paid more attention when she told me she was interviewing other designers too. But truly, I wasn’t in dire need for the client. It’s more experiential and relationship-building from my perspective since food is already on the table.
I took all these cues from her during our meeting at the bagel shop about pricing. I explained that a large site wasn’t necessary, she could rest easy. I had several ways to crank out a site with minimal time, one that though not as fancy, could be up and running in a few days. I’d also be happy to work with another graphic designer which she was possibly going to use as a branding and logo developer.
It was a pretty good meeting despite me not bringing any samples. I did bring a notepad and a color swatch book in case we got into planning. We never did but everything was positive and I was happy to meet her and try out this interview process that I’m not used to.
Some time went by (summer vacation delays) but I finally heard back from her that she went with another web developer, one who “works with a company that provides a full range of services to get me started and to support my site as it grows.”
Web development is pretty competitive and a refusal doesn’t really hurt me at this point having a 8-5 job, but I still feel that pang of “What did I do wrong?” I actually appreciate the chance to deconstruct the situation. And though her brief final email probably isn’t enough to work from, I’ll attempt to analyze what went wrong.
1. Assumptions – I went in knowing in my mind that this was a small time site. I was sure that there would be more time spent meeting than actual site work and that she would want to pay as little as possible and start small. And remember those cues I picked up on that she was concerned about price? Well of course those cues would be there. The question is what important cues did I miss due to my assumptions clouding my picture?
2. No examples or case studies brought to the table – Now that isn’t entirely true, because she knew that I did some work for an associate of hers. What was missing was printed out examples as a way to compare another’s situation with hers. Now the nice thing is, I don’t actually need to have done these websites I could use as case studies. I could just use them to feel out what this client might need or contrast from. I should have brought a range of case studies from the small time to the large scale site. three or four case studies would have done it. I also probably embarassed myself and my bad drawing skills trying to draw something on my notepad to illustrate a sidebar or navigation menu. Had I a few printouts, even Xeroxes, I could have just pointed to them.
3. Lack of relationship building | wrong model – I pitched the cheap, one and done self-sufficiency model when I should have pitched the service model “I can do anything you need, working with you on the cost and we’ll build it together. I’m be here long term.” My actual approach might have worried her that I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on it. We all know that when you buy cheap goods, the personal attention, care and precision are often compromised in the product. Who would blame her in having similar expectations with a ‘cheapo’ easy site. She doesn’t know I always go above and beyond because she doesn’t know me.
4. No proposal sent after our meeting – It’s obvious now why she’s going to go with another company. They probably assessed the situation, described all their potential services and then sent a proposal with a reasonable estimate. Was their estimate higher than mine would be? Probably so, but from her perspective, the money is worth it when you have a full service developer who tells you exactly what you can expect. I should have sent a proposal with an estimate, or sent a sales sheet that contains the services list and average costs of the packages.
5. Didn’t fall into the middle of the road – Most people don’t need the best expensive, but they don’t want the cheapest either. When I bought a mattress years back, the salesman had me lay on the absolute cheapest mattress in the size category first. Uhh, no thanks, I like my posture the way it is thank you. He then worked his way up through the middle to higher prices. At that point, I was wanting to get the best mattress I could afford because the salesman reminded me that my sleep was in fact important to me and affected by my purchase. Most people mattress shopping don’t want to pay for the hand carved oak bed set, but they aren’t going to get themselves a long term mistake. They want the mattress that is satisfying, one that will last a while, not one that makes them say “If only I would have spent a little more money for a better one.” A website, just like a mattress isn’t easy to get rid of. The mattress is already in place, you’ve dragged it up the stairs and covered it. The website gets printed on your business cards, email signatures, letterhead.
The final point of breakdown is that I failed to inspire something in my her. By going the cheap route the only inspiration or benefit is being finished quickly. But where was the sense of possibility or the feeling that the site was going to help grow her business? Right now, the other company or designer who may or may not be better than me is probably going to make more money than I would have due to instilling the sense of assurance and inspiration for her. Sure she could have only spent a couple hundred dollars with me and her site might be done already. Now she might be spending two to ten thousand dollars to have a killer site and a long term relationshop. Inspiration could have made it mine.
What matters at the pitch is the high expectation. One can always back pedal as they get more into that company’s proposal. With mine, I didn’t offer her anything else but the low end. I guess now I’ll have some extra time to work a little on my pitches.
July 20, 2006 at 12:22 pm | general | 1 comment
old school flatland bmx bandit
I’ve been pretty stoked lately on riding again. My friend at work Birk took some shots on top of my office building’s parking garage. They turned out great. Take a look at the flatland freestyle slideshow.
June 7, 2006 at 8:46 am | general | 1 comment
A riddle for you
Pictured below are two stacks of books. All of these books were checked out by me recently from the library. Today is the day I have to take all of these back to the library. One stack I actually read, the other I did not. Guess which is which?
Update
Wierd! I posted this, and then, over a week later I see this.
April 22, 2006 at 6:53 pm | general | 3 comments
Checking out the City Market
One thing I really like about Kansas City is the City Market. Here you can buy your weight in fresh vegetables from various local farmers and private growers. It has always been a good time walking around the market square and browse what everyone is selling. No doubt there will be street performers around too.
Today’s plan is to check out the Steamboat Arabia Museum, which is a boat that was recovered years ago that sunk in the Missouri River in 1856. A group of treasure hunters researched and thought they knew where the boat was. Rivers change their course over time, just like small rivers. After the river changed course, the boat was buried for a hundred years but a group headed an excavation based on their calculations, and found the boat something like 40 feet down, with all of its cargo intact. So now these are on display at the museum.
Juri has been wanting to see this for a while now. Off we go!
April 22, 2006 at 9:57 am | general | No comment
Cat Illustration
March almost over and I haven’t even accomplished half the stuff I wanted to this month. Arrgh. Police school has been great. I’m also very excited about next week. We’ll be at the helicopter pad.
Juri is always making funny drawings. I absolutely had to do a vector drawing of our cat she drew on our dry erase board. It took a few minutes.
March 30, 2006 at 11:11 pm | general | No comment
Write my memoirs?
Last night, I had all these memories of when I was little, all the silly things kids go through, the friendship dramas that always seem so big when you are in the exchange, but looking back are just amusing or stupid. Anyway, I started thinking that I could write a book about me. Not that my stories are so important, but more of a way to preserve ideas and how my life crossed paths with so many important caring people.
Preserving this history may impact others, or may have a lesson to teach. Or it may serve as entertainment or a bridge to a past that vibrates through time. I’m not sure. It was just these very strong memories.
March 27, 2006 at 7:40 pm | general, writing | No comment
Back from Hawaii
Back from Hawaii, from a very memorable vacation. I feel so relaxed. Despite all the travel concerns, the timing of flights and train rides things have been pretty smooth. Check out the pics.
Oahu wasn’t the pristine place I originally thought, but there was plenty to do and see. We spent one day inside, and that was fine with me. The rest of the time we saw it all. One place in particular was a fun excursion. The company Dole, which makes all those canned peaches in syrup we all love, have a pineapple plantation on Oahu. They boast having the largest hedge maze in the world. Check out the Dole plantation maze on google maps satellite imagery.
One comment I must make about Hawaii, is that if we intended to prevent the Japanese in World War II from invading the island, we failed miserably. Hawaii is crawling with Japanese. This was good for me though, plenty of lovely ladies to people watch.
February 26, 2006 at 11:44 am | general | No comment
We got a flipping sex panther
I did a couple things this weekend that I’ve never done before. It’s nice to stretch yourself once in a while. First, I cooked steaks in the oven tonight. Never did that. Stirfry was always my game. The top sirloins turned out good. I bought some A-1 for the occasion and dinner was just like my dad would have made it.
The 2nd thing I did, I can’t even believe it. I got a cat. This happened on Saturday. I’m not a cat person, mostly because my experience with cats has pretty much never been good. I remember a day on the playground in grade school, when this cat from a neighbor’s of the school, or a stray was in the lot. I went over to the cat to see it closer and it flipped on it’s belly in an affectionate way. Being used to dogs, I thought, well I should pet the little guy. Upon reaching in, I was relieved of the skin on my finger. I can hear the cat saying “Burn! ha haha” right now.
Fortunately our cat is extremely nice. Not standoffish, not scratchy and he likes being handled. Pretty cool. The cat’s name was Noah before we got him, so we’re keeping the name. Juri calls him “No-chan” I asked the lady at the store about de-clawing because I thought it was a common thing for inside cats. She informed me that that is a debilitating amputation. Didn’t know that. I think I scared her that I was going to hurt the cat. I later read that declawing can cause all the attitude problems that I specifically don’t like about cats.
Our cat is strange. I think they all are. When we walk around the house, the cat likes to trip us up even when it means he’s geting knocked around. And he’s kind of clumsy. First cat I’ve ever been with that will come up to you and kind of kiss you with his nose, on your nose. Wild. Since he’s black he’s like those panthers in Team America World Police. As a tribute to the excellent movie Anchorman, we’re going to also call him Sex Panther.
February 12, 2006 at 10:52 pm | general | No comment
Cyril the magician
I wanted to share a magician that I stumbled upon. Cyril Takayama is an American born man of Japanese and French descent. He’s an awesome street magician and I’ve really enjoyed the clips I’ve seen of his super powers. I had to share these.
Here is a round up of some videos of his street magic.
- Burger Trick
- Hershey’s Kiss Trick
- Levitation
- Water Bottle
- Linking Lifesaver candy
- Green Tea trick
- Matchbook tricks
- Moving Cards
- Card prediction
- Shaker Trick
- Bunji — OMFG
- Game of Darts
- Oh hell here’s the lot
Want to order some DVDs?
December 11, 2005 at 9:56 pm | general | No comment
general updates
I opened my site up today and decided that it’s high time to make a posting. Things have been pretty interesting over the past week or so, despite that I have been somewhat ill, over the thanksgiving break. I’ve been fretting over this personal project I’m doing for friends, who have been entirely patient for me to deliver it, and I have not since finished all the pieces of this video for them yet. That gives me a nice rush of self-loathing about every two hours or so.
When I’ve been laying around doing nothing, several of my favorite software programs have been updated. Over the last week, Inkscape came out with version .43 and it is so much faster and more stable. Not any revolutionary changes, but it really works well. I still need to write up my comparison with Inkscape, Xara and Illustrator. I feel that story needs to be told.
Another advancement was with Blender 3D. It’s up to release candidate status for version 2.40 and has better everything. Fluid and cloth simulations are a big one for some, I haven’t figured them out yet. I really like the ability to soften shadows with Buffer Shadow using spot lights. Blah blah, most people reading this don’t care about that.
Something more well known is an upgrade to Mozilla Firefox, an excellent web browser. Years from now, I can only wonder what methods people will use to browse the web. Will they be browsers like now with more, less, or no features. You never know. Flash could be the browser of the future. Anyway, what’s cool about Firefox update to 1.5 is that there are a sleu of developers with extensions who have been resting on their laurels during these 1.01 – 1.07+ incremental updates. The extensions break and don’t get fixed. I think the 1.5 extensions are better than ever and probably we will see this larger update paves the way for some of the classics to come back.
November 30, 2005 at 8:33 pm | general, graphics | No comment
