Lots can be said about commoditization and the impact it can have on you and your design business. I don’t want to get in complicated discussions about this topic, nor do I want to discuss all the subtle nuances of it.

Simply said, I want to discuss commoditization in terms of the impact is has on the design entrepreneur. And that is… when it reduces your services to a common, everyday, product in the mind of your prospect and client. And therefore causes the client to buy design and communication services based on price alone.

Commoditization is what happens to your service when it becomes indistinguishable from others like it in the marketplace.

When this happens on a consistent basis in your company it means that you stand to make a lot less for your services tomorrow than you did yesterday.

Why does commoditization happen?
It could happen for any number of reasons. But here are the big three that I’ve identified….

• Overabundance
the marketplace is flooded with competition. Many of our clients can get what we do from many sources. There are thousands of small design and communication shops all over the country. And many of them are easily accessible. You can get services from small one person-home-based firms, many printers offer design communications as a service, you can get it online at huge virtual companies. You can buy freelancers easily on sources like E-lance and other similar websites. And many of our clients always seem to know a cousin, neighbor or nephew who does (seemingly) the same thing that we do.

• Technology Advancements
Technology has made the barrier for entry into this profession/marketplace much easier to attain. As technology makes things easier and easier for us to do. It also makes it easier and easier to do for our clients to do. Many companies we deal with have bought Adobe programs and web programs in hopes of reducing cost by bringing work in house. It also means that our experience is threatened because now those entering the marketplace with less experience can seemingly produce the same results. This means our experience doesn’t carry the weight and respect that it should.

• Loss of value
The marketplace has lost the value in what we do. Partly because of the noise in the marketplace today. There are so many factors to a successful business of which design and marketing is only a small piece of the puzzle. And all other businesses are claiming that their product or service is the most important or most relevant.

But we don’t get away of blaming only the external elements for our problems.

We are partly to blame for a loss of value too. We’ve allowed this to happen and contributed to the devaluing of our service. How do we do that? Through our lack of understanding of our craft. How it applies to the businesses we service. How they should use it effectively. When they should use it. When they shouldn’t use it. How to use it to its greatest advantage. When to invest with it and when not to.

Many designers approach design as a one-size fits all solution.

ie: You have a business? Therefore you need a logo. The reality is that not ALL businesses NEED a logo or would even benefit from one. This is an over simplification I know but it illustrates the point I’m trying to make here to you. You can’t just apply what you do as a designer to every business the same way with knowing more about the firm you represent and how you can help them.

And why do we have this approach as design communicators? Mainly because we don’t know the answer ourselves. We don’t fully understand how to use design and how our clients can best use it. And as a result we don’t defend or educate our client so that they know better.

Therefore we allow them to oversimplify of design and communication process giving it a low priority position in their minds. Which reduces the value and significance of it in their businesses.

Becoming commoditized is a slow and painful death for a design business. Many can see it happening but are not sure what to do abut it. And as a result many designers do nothing about it while they watch their business become indistinguishable from every other design service out there.

Commoditization is a reality of doing business. And before you start feeling sorry for yourself – telling your self that you picked a tough business to try and develop – give your head a shake. All businesses are under constantly under the threat of being commoditized.

They make it their purpose and goal to protect the stability and the profitability of their business from erosion of value that commoditization causes. And they do this by improving upon, and differentiating their services (or products or whatever it is) from any of their competitors. It’s an on-going process of review and development.

And it’s no different for you in your design or communication business.

So how do you do this? How do you improve on your services or communications output?

Well one simple way that I know of to differentiate your services from your competitors is to ADD something that is uncommon among your peers.

It doesn’t take more than a few minutes of scanning the Internet looking at designers and design firms and other MarComm companies to discover that most businesses look the same. They sound the same. And they offer the same services.

The problem that we have today is that clients can get whatever they want when it comes to design services. So you only need to be a glorified “Order-Taker” to do business with them.

And since what you provide them looks sounds and tastes like every other design firm out there their natural and logical response comes back to price. And they ask themselves the question: “Why should I pay more for your services than I would from one of your competitors?”

This type of marketplace environment makes many designers are reactionary. Waiting for a client or prospect to come to them and make a request. I want to talk about a proactive approach to modifying your services and moving your positioning from “order taker” to a new level.

And that is to stop thinking of yourself purely as a designer and start thinking of and positioning yourself as a consultant.

Much of what is missing in the marketplace today are services that help guide and direct the client to making the best choice. To help them avoid pitfalls, common mistakes. They are lacking guidance to spending their money wisely on the best investments.

When you take more of a consultant role you are not only taking a leadership position I their businesses but you are assuming the role of trusted advisor.

Here are 8 easy ways to add more of a consultant role into your business and help protect you and your business from being treated like a commodity.

1. Always educate your client on the best design approach to take

Inform your clients on the most effective methods and design approaches to take.

Tell them the best way to use the tools you create for them.

Talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each end-product you are creating for them. And provide proof by using past examples and case study stories you have from past clients or projects. Or do some research and find out how others have applied successful design strategies and then share these with your client.

Put an importance on doing the right things to get the best results.

2. Be Current and Relevant

Connected to educating your client is your responsibility to provide current marketplace feedback in relationship to what you create for them. Stay on top of how design and communication tools are being used I the marketplace. Inform them of popular trebnds and developments. Provide studies or feedback on how the marketplace uses the tools and projects you create.

3. Be the “Knowledge Center” for what you do

Connected to education and marketplace feedback is positioning yourself and your company as the Go-To Source when your client needs information. This can be as simple as making yourself accessible o the phone for questions or more formal by providing newsletter updates, market watch alerts or a resource binder of best practices and guidelines for creating the most effective communication tools.

You can also add value and differentiate by creating knowledge tools like binders or an on-library specifically for clients.

4. Focus on the end result with every project

To get out of the ‘order-taker mode’ (ie: they ask for a newsletter and you say “sure” anything else?). Get in the habit of asking clearly what they want to accomplish with each project they request from you. Get them to identify the problem that each project is solving before you start. Or HELP them define what the problem is before you start “doing”.

Often clients come to us with what they ‘need’. Not what the problem is. You can easily shift this focus by starting a conversation around their request. As a consultant you are finding and identifying the problem, goal and objective of each project as well as providing the final solution.

5. Demonstrate you understand their goals and desired outcome

One of the best ways to elevate your services beyond that of mere designer is to put an importance on their goals by writing them down in the form of a creative brief.

This is just as much about acknowledging you heard their needs, goals and desires, as it is about demonstrating leadership. This often seems like a burden or an added step in the process especially after you’ve interviewed and understood your client already. And as a result is often difficult to do from a time allotment perspective. But writing out your objectives and goals in the form of a brief adds a higher level of professionalism and value to what you do for your client. And believe me it is valuable to your client.

In this fast paced environment we often rush ahead to get things accomplished without fully thinking things through before we start. And your clients are no different.

Providing a brief gives your client a second chance to look at the project with a fresh perspective. There are often more focused and clear and use the brie to fine-tune their efforts. This saves them and you wasted time and effort.

I have clients who also use this tool to discuss the direction with their bosses as a way of getting final buy-in on the project and direction. This makes them look good. Which means you achieve a new level of value to your client.

It also gives you an opportunity to review the objectives and determine if you can accomplish them with the project you have been asked to do. And to address any issues with your client before you spend too much time and effort on the project.

6. Evidence the Invisibles
Just like the majority of an iceberg sits below the water line – up to 90% of the total ice burg – and what you only see is only the 10% that is visible above the surface of the water. There is much that goes on behind the scenes in your business that is not visible to the client but creates huge value to them. They just don’t know it. And what they can “see” they can’t “get.”

Your client doesn’t see (or sometimes even care) about what you do behind the scenes. This makes it very easy for them to think there is nothing to it. ( have you ever heard your client use the phrase “you can just whip this up” or “it’s really simple”) Comments like these indicate there is a mindset developing to disconnect them from what you do. And it starts the process of devaluation in their minds.

Don’t allow them to get into this mindset towards you and your services. Let them know in many different ways what you are doing for them behind the scenes.

Many designers let the opportunity to inform their clients about the work that goes on behind the scenes for fear that they will be seen or viewed as braggarts. Or they fear that they will only bore their client.

It’s your role and job to demonstrate and communicate what is going on behind the scenes in your business. Why do I say this? Because your client won’t always pickup on the value of your services. They aren’t always self-evident to them. So it’s your job to let them know what is going on behind the scenes.

This won’t only create greater value in their minds but it will elevate the quality and status position in the mind of your client.

7. Define your process
Place an importance on process. That there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. And show your client through examples the results of each approach. Place an importance on following and adhering to systematic processes. And attribute the importance to receiving predictable results as evidenced by your clients.

8. Inform before they ask

One of the biggest problems clients have besides not knowing what comes next in the design process is knowing when they will get it. Designers are often sketchy and evasive when it comes to deadlines and updates. They sometimes avoid updates and client contats for fear of getting an increased workload or a change in scope that will impact therir current progress.

But you can’t be like this. To be elevated and valued means that you need to lea the process. Don’t keep your clients guessing what happens next in the process. Tell them what they can expect next and when.

Then be careful to do what you say you will do and follow through with it.
You not only stay accountable to your client but the become accountable to you.

Consulting is about adding more value to your services than your counterpart competitor. And then it’s leveraging that competitive ness to justify higher prices and retain those fees due to the additional value you create. When you add services standards like I just described you make it harder to put a simple price tag on your project because what you bring to the table is so much more than any other service.

Well that’s it for another episode.

I hope you start looking at your business today for ways that you can create additional value for your client and change their mindset they may have from commodity to valued consultant and advisor.

Have a great week…

What is one effective way to increase your client base?

Well the easiest way would be to hire a sales force of people to go out and knock on the doors of potential clients, make presentations, and convince the prospect that they should be dealing with you.

But because hiring a bunch of sales people is often cost prohibitive to most small design businesses and communication firms it’s not likely that this is going to happen any time soon.

Unless, that is, it’s a “paper” salesforce….

Building a design firm is no easy task. Building one that works for you rather than the other way around is even trickier.

In fact, building a successful design business has less to do with actual designing than you may think. If you’ve been in the business for a few years, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It takes many different hats, or personas to be successful.

You have to be part Market Analyst
Find where the biggest opportunities are for your business.

You have to be part Social Butterfly
Connecting and networking with others to create future business opportunities.

You have to be part Sales Person
Finding those businesses with the greatest needs and convincing them you are the
best choice.

You have to be part Dr. Phil, a Psychologist
You need to learn how to deal with many different types of clients and their personalities, quirks, idiosyncrasies. And you have to do it well so you continue working with them.

You have to be part Detective
Discovering what your clients are really asking for and give them what they really need – not always just what they want.

You have to be part Accountant
You need to know how to be profitable on every project you do. Not only for yourself but also for your client.

You have to be part General
It’s your job to forge ahead into the great ‘unknown’. Breaking new ground, leading you and your company forward with confidence and conviction.

And this is only the tip of the ice burg. I’m sure there’s many more personas you can think of that have pushed, pulled and stretched you to new limits.

In this podcast I want to talk about 5 key roles I’ve identified in my own business that I think are critical if you are going to create a successful and highly profitable business for yourself. These roles go beyond designing and incorporate 5 very important mindsets into your business. Those 5 roles are:

1. Designer as Entrepreneur

2. Designer as Sales Person

3. Designer as Trusted Advisor

4. Designer as Consultant

5. Designer as Marketing Expert

In the next few weeks I’m going to be talking about some of these in more detail to help you improve your performance as you conduct business day to day. And so that you can create greater profitability in your business.

This week, I want to focus on 4 of these 5 roles and discuss them in more detail.

To help me do that, I’ve asked a very successful and very recognizable icon within the design industry to help me unpack these roles.

His name is Kit Hinrichs.

Kit is an icon in the design industry; with over 30 years of experience.

Kit studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and worked in several New York design offices before forming his own independent design firm.

Kit has been an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York and at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. He has lectured at the Stanford Design Conference and is a frequent speaker at numerous other design associations and universities across the country. And he is also the co-author of four books.

Kit’s work has been honored and published widely, and several of his pieces can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

He was awarded our profession’s highest honor – the AIGA Medal, in recognition of his distinguished achievements and contributions to our industry.

Now, Kit is a partner in the infamous and highly successful firm Pentagram, and is based in San Francisco.

At Pentagram he leads a graphic design team that focuses on corporate communications, promotion, packaging, editorial and exhibit design.

I think you’re not only going to enjoy this episode but you’ll be able to pull-out some very interesting insights that you can apply to your own business.

So sit back and enjoy! …

But even if you have all these factors in your favor you could still be missing out on future business success. And the reason could be attributed to a very subtle viewpoint that you may hold about yourself. You see, I think that inside each one of us is two distinct personalities.

One is the personality of the Artist. This is the person who loves the design portion of what you do. The other is the the Entrepreneur. This is the one who got you into this mess in the first place!

Who you are when you run your business can either make or break your success. So let me ask you –

Are you an Artist? Or an Entrepreneur?
Lets find out…

Ron’s been in the commercial photography business for over 30 years. And in this podcast he shares with us some of the benefits of using a custom photographer, how to find one, what we can charge for them. Plus, he tells you how you can make additional fees by using their services.

Plus he’ll not only let you know where to find a good photographer but also how to select the best one for your business.

… This is the podcast for information, tips and resources for the creative entrepreneur

This week…
were going to talk about investing in your design business… and making it extremely profitable…

The New Year is a time when most investors look back over the year they’ve just had and evaluate how they’ve done.

For any investor to be satisfied with their investments, they have to see progress.

They constantly compare their current status to their past status to determine if they are making sufficient progress.

They do that to determine whether they should make any adjustment to the way they spend their time and energy in the future.

This mindset is no different for you as a creative entrepreneur when it comes to your design business.

So let me ask you again… what types of activities were you investing in this past year regarding your design business? And did they pay off?

Maybe you had a great year. Stellar. Maybe it was extremely profitable.
Your marketing machine was up and running at top speed.
You got some great clients.
You worked on exactly the types of projects you wanted.

If this is you, then I want to congratulate you. Because you have probably worked very hard at creating the type of business you want. And that’s fantastic!

Or…

maybe last year was a little more challenging for you.

Maybe your business didn’t progress like you had hoped it would.
It could have been a little more stressful and uncertain.
Perhaps you had to deal with difficult clients because you felt you had no choice.

Maybe your competition was extremely tough.
You didn’t win as much work as you had hoped.

Or maybe your profits didn’t meet your expectations.

No matter what your 2007 looked like – good, bad or indifferent, you want your 2008 year to be even better.

So what will it take improve over last year?

Some solid investments in your business.

You will improve on the performance of your business when you invest
your time, money and efforts by working ON your business. Not just in it.

I first heard of this concept “working ON your business” in the book the Emyth by Michael Gerber. And when I first heard it I realized that at that point, I spent most of my time working IN my business and very little time working ON my business.

Working IN your business is about the daily routine; dealing with clients, handling administration and solving design problems etc.

Working ON your business is about creating the type of business you want. It’s the planning and development side of your business. It concerns, vision processes and new business development.

If you want to see dramatic change and improvement in your business you will have to start spending time working ON your business.

Working ON your business is about focusing on those activities that will be the most beneficial to your business in the long-run. They are pro-active in nature instead of reactive.

So what exactly are some ways you can work on your business?

Here are just a few “ON-Your-Business” priorities you can start investing in this upcoming year – to ensure this year is a successful one for you.

1. Invest in your vision and goals

You have a clear vision for where you are going.
And you’ve got to have practical goals that will help you get there.

Your vision is the big picture of what your business will look like when you ‘get there’ (wherever there is to you).

Your goals are practical milestones that will help you make that vision a reality.

What was your vision for your business when you first started? What is it now? Has it changed? Should it change?

Maybe the marketplace you once sold to is drying up Perhaps technology is lowering the barrier of entry into your area of expertise.
And competition is increasing dramatically. To the point where your services are being commoditized.

If this is the case in your marketplace you may have to reevaluate your vision and goals?

There is no better time to reevaluate your direction then right now.

Write down on a piece of paper where you would like to be in 5 years. Or think of this in another way: “What do you want to be ‘known for’ in 5 years?”

Then jot down a couple of practical goals that will help you move in that direction. I wouldn’t worry about making these ‘perfect’ – just do it.

Once your vision is written you’ll need to create a series of goals that will help you get there.

Now before I move on to Investment ‘number 2’, let me list a few quick tips for setting goals to help you achieve your vision:

• Make them
Having defined goals is a good motivator. They will encourage you as you progress towards your vision.

• Set the bar high
Make sure your goals stretch you enough to cause learning, growth and progress.

• Write them down and refer back to them often
It’s easy to get off track. Having a few goals written down is a good way to get back on track. But remember, even writing them down won’t help if you don’t look at them from time to time.

• Be specific
The more details you can include in your goals the easier it will be to evaluate your progress.

• Focus on progress not perfection
Moving towards your vision is more important than achieving each goal perfectly.

OK let’s move on from our goals and vision for your business and talk about another key investment this year…

2. Investing in your personal growth

Personal growth is critical to your success (no matter how you define success). If you aren’t in a continual mode of learning, then your life is going to get pretty monotonous – real fast. And make no mistake, monotonous work is brutal work. Learning will break the monotony.

You should always be pushing yourself to learn. In our world today we have no shortage of learning resources. But dispite that fact many design entrepreneurs don’t take the time to learn. You need to. There is no excuse for not learning new and improved ways of doing things. Here are the top 5 I use:

• Read
This can be a tough one if you don’t like to read much, or if you can never find the time (which is what I was like for many years). But reading is an important learning tool that helps you challenge and reshape your thinking. Pick up some good business books (email me if you want a list of books that are on my list of ‘best reads’) and start reading.

• Take a class
You should have some time throughout your year where you schedule in some hard ‘class time’. This can be a night class or a part-time class but it certainly doesn’t have to be limited to that. You can even go to scheduled professional development days. Many design groups, associations have scheduled events throughout the year. Contact your local associations to find out more and join in.

In fact I’ll be speaking at the RGD professional development day in Ontario Canada this month. I’ll be speaking along side other design entrepreneurs like Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram and Karl Thomson of Compass360 to name just a couple of speakers. If you are in Canada during this time frame you may want to check this out.

If you want more information for that you can check out the link on the front page of the FGDO website. Just look in the sidebar in the top right hand corner and click the link to find out more.

• Listen to learning modules
One of my favorite ways of learning is to “take it on the go”. I love to listen to learning modules or CD’s that I can listen to during my ‘unproductive times’. I use my mp3 player and car CD player to learn when I travel to clients or I am working out.

Learning modules are available on all types of topics and are available on the web for download. Or you can purchase great CD’s from your local book store. They are well worth the small investment.

• Have a mentor
This can happen by spending some direct time with a professional you respect in the business. This can be a professional mentor you pay for, or it can be more informal by just taking a mentor out to lunch.

It can even come by studying someone you admire and respect from a distance. The bottom line is, you will learn a lot from spending time with another respected pro.

• Join an association or a business group
Connecting with others is a great way to learn and grow. By sharing (and allowing others to share with you) you benefit directly from their past experiences.

3. Invest in your marketing

Your marketing should be designed to get you the type of clients you WANT and NEED in your business.

Marketing is critical to your business success. The bottom line is – if you don’t have any clients you don’t have a business.

In a recent poll on ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com 68% 0f all design entrepreneurs polled spend less than $100/month on their marketing efforts. And 36% of those designers spend less than $25/month!!

You should be investing a reasonable amount of time each week on your marketing efforts if you want to see your business grow and remain healthy through all types of marketplace environments.

The time you spend on your marketing should be focused on not only on identifying new prospects and converting them into clients but it should be directed at your current clients as well.

Focus on creating a marketing system that can work without you. Your time is precious. You want to create a system for finding and getting clients that works on it’s own. Automatically. (You can find many tips and tricks to do this in the article archive as well as the learning modules and teleclasses I have on the FGDO web site.)

Design your marketing machine to help you identify high probability prospects– and then helps you convert your prospects into clients. And create a program that makes loyal (repeat) customers of the ones you have.

If you need some more help developing a system that works for your business you can download the Podcast #103 entitled: “3 Steps to profitability”.

4. Invest in delivering outstanding service

This last point is about defining what your business is UNIQUELY GOOD at and to be in a constant state of developing it.

It’s delivering on your promises, and exceeding your clients expectations.

Every time, without exception.

Being able to find and get clients for your business won’t mean a heck of a lot, if you can’t deliver a great service. Because delivering great service ensures you will have repeat customers. And repeat customers are crucial to your business success.

So be dedicated to delivering on the promises that you make.

This means everything from setting, keeping and conducting meetings. To consistently creating design solution that are profitable to your clients.

It will mean that you need to keep clients informed of project progress.
Quote competitively. Provide valuable information and consulting.
Alert your clients to possible pitfalls and problems.
You’ll need to be responsive to emails and phone calls.
You will need to invoice and collect in a timely fashion.

And you will always need to be polite, courteous and collected – even in the face of problems and upset clients.

All of these duties are a reflection of the level of service you provide your client.

This may be very challenging for you if you are a solo design firm or even if you are the owner of a small design firm of a few people. If this is you, then you need to remember – not only are you the ‘chief cook and bottle washer’ – but you are the VP of customer satisfaction.

Doing everything in your business can be very challenging.

In fact sometimes it may be downright impossible. So, to achieve a high level of service to your clients you may have to delegate some of your responsibilities. So don’t be afraid to enlist some help from time to time.

This might mean that you will have to pay for a freelancer to support your design services. Or it might mean hiring a student to answer phones. You might have to hire an accountant to do your monthly billings. Or you may even have to hire a full-time employee to support you in your business.

Wherever possible you should try to delegate everything but your core strengths. Now this is easier said than done. Especially if you work alone. But the sooner you delegate those things that you aren’t the best at – the quicker you can get to developing your core strengths and providing outstanding service.

In my on design firm, I have spent the last ten years looking for and hiring key people with unique skills and talents to augment what I do. This not only helps support the level of service my company provides to my clients it creates a stronger product offering.

It’s important to realize that at some point you won’t be able to do everything yourself in your business. And to get better you’ll have to delegate some responsibilities. This doesn’t mean you have to hire someone full time – but it may mean that you do hire temporary help.

True. Bringing on new people adds another level of complexity to your business. Now you have to ‘manage people’ on top of managing your clients. And the next thing you know – the person you hired to take the pressure off has instead added a whole new stress of its own. So to minimize that impact create standards and processes for the way you work. Clearly define how you approach problems and solve them. Write them down. And refer to them often.

This applies whether you are a one person shop – or a 10 person firm.

Writing down the way you do something will help set standards in your business and it will ensure a consistent and predictable product every time.

Share this knowledge with your freelancers and staff. So that they CONSISTENTLY deliver the type of service and quality that you want to your client every time.

Delivering outstanding service won’t only be a great point of differentiation from your competitors – it will be what your clients count on when they refer you to other companies.

Ok… I know, I know. These are lofty investments to make. Especially in one year.

But remember to focus on progress and take it one day at a time. First figure out what you SHOULD be doing in your business. Then INVEST your time, money on the most beneficial activities.

So what about these 4 investment tips are they simple and easy? Yes.

But they come with a cost. And nothing goes into the business investmet bacnk until you start to take action on them.

So, invest well in this upcoming Year,
and do the things in your business to benefit to all areas of your life
(not just while you’re behind your computer).

And have fun progressing each day towards designing the business YOU want.

Have a great start to 2008.

See you again soon.

Michael
michael@forgraphicdesignersonly.com


This week…
Were going to continue our discussion of adding value to your design services so you can justify, charge and retain the highest fees possible in your business.

And for this podcast that means that we are still focusing on creating content. But this episode isn’t about creating content to market your services – it’s about creating content for your design projects. Which will result in making more money for you and your business.

It’s not as difficult as you may think. I’ll show you how in this podcast.

But we’re going to do something a little different this podcast. We’re going to have an interview with my very good friend Steve Slaunwhite.

Steve is a top-ranked copywriter in our industry. He is the author of many books and specialty publications, he is a much sought-after public speaker, and a coach to copywriters.

Steve is going to share how you, as a design entrepreneur, can add value to your business by controlling the content of your work.

Please email me if you would like the entire transcript….

this episode – How To Get Higher Fees For Your Design Services

Hello and Welcome to the
FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS ONLY.com live PodCast
My name is Michael Huggins…

and this is the podcast for information, tips and resources for the creative entrepreneur.

This week…
How to Charge More Money for Your Design Services

What’s one of the quickest and easiest ways to charge more money for your creative services?

The answer to that question (believe it or not) is an easy one – differentiate your services from other designers and design firms. How? By adding more value and a greater advantage to your design services than your competitors are currently offering.

One way you can do this is by sharing and leveraging the information you ALREADY KNOW to your prospects and clients – in writing!

Writing down your expertise and sharing it with your prospects and clients is a ‘must do’ exercise for the creative entrepreneur. If you are not communicating the value you bring to your client’s business you could start to experience a slow and steady erosion to your profit margins. And put your business in the vulnerable position of being commoditized in the near future.

Communicating the value of your design helps you get and retain higher fees for your work. Usually designers do a pretty good job at communicating the value of their services when they’re in a one-to-one situation. But often they fail when it comes ‘packaging it up’ and putting it in writing.

Writing tops the list as one of those things designers hate to do the most. Right next to cold-calling and public speaking. So why the apprehension to writing? My guess is that it has a lot to do with not knowing where to start or even what to write about.

Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, you can’t afford not to communicate the expertise you have in written form. The written word is one of the keys to influencing and persuading prospects & clients. Not to mention help make your business more recession proof.

And the best part is, you can start building value into your business right now. Easily. By scheduling some time into each day for writing.

Think of writing like an exercise for your mind.

Writing is to your brain what physical exercise is to your body. Schedule the best time of your day to do a “writing workout”. In my own business I schedule the beginning hours of each morning for my “20-minute writing workout” – before my day gets over run with the issues and challenges of the day. Scheduling your day around your writing time allows you to think clearly without fear of interruption or distraction.

So if you schedule your writing time, your next challenge is – “what do you write about?”

Choosing topics to write about is not as difficult as it might seem.

In fact you have all the information you need to create content right now. And it’s easier than you think. I want to give you 5 sources you can use to create content for your business.

Then you can start using this content to get more clients – justify higher fees – and target the type of work you really want.

Here are 5 great sources for creating content that you already have:

1. Your Sales Process

Often when you are meeting with a prospect you are ‘selling’ your services. Your communication is loaded with facts, service features and client benefits that you use to convince your prospect that you can help them. You use very specific language and communication to try and persuade your prospect you can help them achieve what they want to accomplish.

Your sales process is valuable information you need to write down. Writing out your features and benefits as well as answers to frequently asked questions will help you understand the exact advantages you bring to your clients.

And it’s information that you can use in other ways to sell the value of what you. You can leverage this information in articles for a newsletter or ezine or even press releases. You can even use it as part of your follow up program to your prospect list to help convert your prospects into clients.

2. Your Client Questions

How many times have you spent on the phone or on your email answering your client’s questions for a project you are currently doing for them? Or possibly you have a client who isn’t convinced that they should move ahead on a project just yet, so you need to address their questions before they are comfortable in moving forward.

If your business is anything like mine this is a regular occurrence. Answering your client’s questions is an important activity that you can’t avoid if you want to keep your good clients – but it IS a time consuming exercise. And it’s an exercise that you don’t want to waste if you don’t have to.

What do I mean?

When you create answers to your client’s questions, leverage this information by sending it to other clients. You’ll find other clients (and prospects) may have the same questions but just never bothered to ask you. Many of your clients will find the answers helpful and insightful. So don’t be surprised if in the future they ask you more questions.

This is a good thing.

Because it means they regard you as an ‘expert’ in what you do. And as an expert you insulate yourself from becoming a commodity. Because you’re not only providing design services but now you’re combining it with a consulting feature. This type of service has a higher perceived value in the mind of your clients.

3. Your Unique Approach to Design

How you approach a design project is key to your success. It influences how you approach your business every day. You may believe that: ‘design is the key ingredient to a businesses success’. You may think that ‘design is only a small component of a larger communication process’. Whatever you think – it’s important to your business. And it’s probably why your clients are working with you right now.

Your thought process, your philosophy, your approach and how you apply it to make your clients more successful, is not only interesting information – it’s sought after. Clients and prospects want to hear what your specific approach to business is. They want to be convinced that you are on the same page as they are. That their goals are your goals.

Often clients need to hear your approach again and again to be reassured that your approach will be best for them. They want to know how it applies to their business and the benefits they will get from it as a result. If they feel you have a unique approach that will give them an advantage they’re more likely to pay higher fees to get it.

So create content and package it into valuable marketing tools like reports and white papers. And then send them to clients and prospects as a form of education and proof that supports your unique design approach.

4. Your Recent Successes

Projects you are currently working on (or ones you’ve just recently finished) are a great source for creating content in your business. When you share examples of what your other clients are doing with you, you not only provide them with education but you give them a tool to become more profitable. When you can demonstrate how your design benefits other businesses you give your client the ability to apply the same techniques to achieve the same results.

That’s what makes this type of information so powerful.
Your success story is a form of ‘proof’ that your design approach works!

Use these stories in promotional pieces to your existing clients. That way, you can encourage them to use new services or increase their frequency with you. I’ve used this tool in my own design business often. And as a result, I’ve persuaded my clients to try new design services with very little haggling when it came to the price.

When you can present ‘proof of success’ you’ll often have a lower price resistance from your clients when they are ready to buy.

5. Industry Best Practices

If you’re inclined to be good at your craft, then chances are you’re always learning. My guess is, you are constantly studying how design is being used and applied in the marketplace. You may study it, write it down or just take it in. But you are always learning. If this is you, then you have another resource to draw from when you create content.

Use the information you discover to create relevant topics for articles. Create content that tells your marketplace about the best approaches to design that are currently being used in the industry.

By doing this, you become a trusted source of information. A type of ‘industry scout’ who has inside information to share. If you do a good job at sharing this type of information clients will start to seek your advice on projects before moving ahead. This creates a stronger relationship between you and your client because they trust you. This one fact alone makes it more difficult for your competitors to steal your clients away from you.

Meaning you have a long-term client at top rates, that not only creates greater income but also security for you.

Creating written content and using it to promote your business gives you a distinct advantage over your competitors. Because you create a position of value and authority in the minds of your clients and prospects. Not to mention you create greater loyalty towards you and your business.

So don’t wait for the New Year to make your New Year’s Resolution, start your exercise program today. Schedule your ‘20-minute writing workout’ tomorrow and reap the benefits of higher fees and a stronger business for many days to come.

Well that’s it for another week…

Thanks for joining me on the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com live podcast. Where you as a creative business owner…

• Learn how to attract more clients,

• Earn higher fees,

• And get more of the work you want

Have a great week.

This episode: 3 Easy Steps to Growing Your Design Business

Hello and Welcome to the
FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS ONLY.com Live PodCast
My name is Michael Huggins…

and this is the podcast for information, tips and resources for the creative entrepreneur

This week…
3 Easy Steps to Growing Your Design Business

Whether you run an established design business or you’re just thinking of starting one – marketing is crucial to your business success.

And if you think creating a brochure and website will end all your marketing woes – think again. Your marketing has to have a little more planning and thought put to it if you are going to create a viable and secure business.

Although the ultimate goal of your marketing is to get more clients into your business (so that you can service them for many, many years). You also have to use your marketing for other purposes – like creating strong relationships with your existing clients.

Or encouraging them to use your services more often.

Or to encourage them to purchase higher priced services and products.

To do this you’ll have to create a series of marketing tools that help you do some very specific things in your business. Things like:

• Find new prospects
• Qualify your prospects
• Convert your leads into clients
• Promote new services to your clients
• Reinforce your position in the marketplace
• Get testimonials
• Get referral business
and that only names just a few…

How do you create a program that does all this? And how do you stay on top of each activity? It can get a little overwhelming to manage. Especially when you are busy enough just doing the daily work of servicing your current clients (never mind trying to get new ones)!

The answer is in creating a marketing plan that breaks down your marketing into simple, easy-to-handle stages or components. So that you can automate it as much as possible. Freeing up much needed time and resources for you.

In the early days of my own business I was overwhelmed with the many tasks required to build my company. I knew marketing was critical to my success, but trying to keep on top of the many aspects of my marketing was wearing me down. So I began to think about my marketing in its most basic functions so I could create a program that once finished could practically work on its own.

And what I discovered was that I only needed 3 essential marketing stages to make a successful program. By simplifying my marketing to 3 easy stages it became both easy to manage and a source of dependable revenue.

The 3 marketing stages you need in your design business are:

1. “Getting”
2. “Converting”
3. “Keeping”

They are the only 3 components you need to have for profitable and successful marketing program. In fact you can think of each stage as a kind of like a mini marketing program unto itself!

Lets look at each in a little more detail…

1. “ Getting”
This stage is all about using your marketing to help you FIND and QUALIFY true prospects. I say “true” prospects because contrary to popular belief – not everyone is a prospect for your business.

Its very important for you to understand that a prospect is FOUND not MADE. You can’t MAKE a prospect you can only DISCOVER them.

This means that no matter how much you sell your services to a person – if they aren’t a real prospect – they won’t buy. Conversely, there are people out there who are looking for your design services right now – your job is to find them and connect with THEM. And forget about the others.

Your “Getting” stage is all about discovering prospects and generating leads for your business. For any marketing plan to work well you’ve got to have a solid “Getting” component to it. And the purpose of this stage is to motivate your prospect to take action with you.

In the “Getting” stage you focus on creating tools that help you identify your prospect and pre-qualify them for you in advance. So you maximize your time by spending your energies only on your best prospects.

When you create persuasive marketing tools, they will generate leads for your design business every time you use them. What are the best marketing tools to use to identify prospects for your business? Here are just a few that work well (and are low in cost to create!)…

The best “Getting” stage marketing tools are:

• Sales letters

• Special FREE reports

• Lead-generating websites

• Lead-generating Ads

• Lead-generating Email marketing

In order to have a successful “Getting” component you should be using at least 3 or 4 of the tools I just listed. Then integrate them so they work together.

For example: If you use sales letters to generate new leads for your business, provide your prospect with a reason to also connect to your website. Or motivate them to get into your email marketing program. This gives you a greater advantage of reaching them effectively and making a meaningful connection with them.

2. “Converting”
Once you’ve identified a TRUE prospect and you’ve connected with them through your “Getting” component, then your next job is to convert your prospect into a paying client. That’s the objective of the “Converting” stage – to take a prospect and turn them into a client.

This doesn’t just happen by chance.
And in most cases it won’t happen over night either.

Rarely will prospects become a client after your first contact with them. So you need to use your “Converting” component to establish a relationship with them. Relationship building must always be your goal. Ultimately you want it to result in a strong ‘client relationship’ but in order to get there you have to start the relationship at the beginning.

To build your relationship with your prospect and convert them into a client, understand that your prospect will need 3 things from you along the way:

1. They will need to KNOW what you do.

2. They will need to LIKE your design and business approach.

3. They will need to TRUST YOU to help them.

There are lots of ways to accomplish this. But the best way I’ve found is through creating marketing tools that help educate your prospect. To address these 3 areas of need. You can also look at it like this – you want to give your prospect more information about: WHO you are. WHAT you do. And WHY they should trust you.

You’ll need to create some very different marketing tools than you have in the “Getting” stage of your program. Some of the best tools I use in my own business to accomplish this are:

• Success Stories

• Industry Specific Portfolios

• Newsletters

• E-zines

• And even Proposals (yep, your proposal is a marketing tool too!)
And if you have downloaded the audio program on “Creating Winning Proposals” from the ForGrapohicDesignersOnly.com website – you’ll be very familiar with this truth.

All of these tools are designed to help you build a relationship with your prospect. To help your prospect get to know you and your business in greater detail. So they are more comfortable and confident in you and your abilities. All of which makes their transition from prospect to client easier – not to mention quicker.

3. “Keeping”
This final stage to your marketing program is just as critical as the other two segments. But unfortunately many designers don’t treat it that way. In fact many designers don’t market to their clients at all after they get them on board.

Even when you’ve converted your prospect to a client your marketing efforts to them should never stop – it just has to change focus and have a new objective.

If you don’t spend time on designing a marketing program that focuses on keeping your clients, then you are wasting your time and money on the two other stages. And you’ll being resigning yourself to a frantic mode of always looking for new clients in order to keep your business afloat.

Happy, satisfied clients can make your marketing much easier and a lot less stressful. Because your happy clients continue to come back again and again with very little effort on your part. Not to mention that marketing to your existing clients is usually a lot cheaper than your other marketing components.

Your “Keeping” stage is designed to strengthen your position with your client. And it should be designed to so that you can justify higher fees, persuade them to use you more often, as well as encourage them to refer you to others.

What kind of materials do you use for your “Keeping” component? Here are just a few you could use:

• Case Studies (featuring current or past projects)

• Reference Sheets and Guides (outlining best practices on design strategies)

• Insider Secrets

• Industry Reports

• Current Business Success Stories (featuring one of your star clients)

• Incentive Programs

The whole goal of your “Keeping” component is to continually add value, constantly position your firm and create incentives for their patronage. Not only will you benefit from their continued loyalty you’ll make it very difficult to lose clients to your competitors. And that in itself is worth the effort.

Breaking down your marketing into these 3 easy stages will ensure you create a marketing program that covers all the bases. From finding your a prospect and converting them – all the way through to having them as a loyal client for many, many years to come.

But it won’t happen haphazardly. You need to carefully plan out each stage and then get busy at creating the tools that will attract, convert and keep your most valuable asset in your business – your client.

If you’re interested in learning more about creating persuasive tools to help you get more clients into your business – you can find more information and marketing tools on the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com website, under the resource section of the site.

Well that’s it for another week.

Thanks for joining me on the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com live podcast

Where you as a creative business owner… – learn how to attract more clients, – Earn higher fees – and get more of the work you want

Have a great week.

This episode: 6 Ways to Win More Work for Your Design Business

Have you ever been in a competitive situation with other designers or design firms where you needed to pre-sell your services (and your approach) in order to be awarded the project?

Quite often in these types of situations designers need to sell their services based on written proposals. This can be as simple as a 1 page quote or as complex as a 20 page proposal outlining your capabilities, cost breakdown and your design approach.

On average, 90% of the design work you’ll go after will require a detailed quotation or proposal.

Even from current clients.

That’s why it’s so important to create a proposal that is as persuasive as possible.

So, how successful are you at winning proposals? Does the thought of presenting a proposal get you excited ? Or does it fill you with panic?

There was a time in my business when I dreaded being asked to submit a proposal. Because I was often unsure what elements would help me beat out my competitors or would cause me to lose out on doing the project all together. It was one of the reasons I found the proposal process so stressful. Not to mention a waste of time if I wasn’t successful in winning it.

But through the years I learned how to turn a stressful process into a positive one. Mostly through trial and error and through studying what makes some proposals soar and others sink like a stone. And as a result, over time, I started to win more and more proposals than I lost.

Just the other week I interviewed a very special guest on a teleclass I conducted on forGraphicDesignersOnly.com. The class was focused on this subject of creating winning proposals. And I invited a very knowledgeable guest to help me explain what exactly is needed when creating proposals – Emily Cohen. Emily has been a consultant to design firms and design professionals for over 20 years. You’ve probably heard of Emily before she is a frequent speaker at many of the HOW design conferences, AIGA events as well as many other top-billed speaking engagements.

In our class together Emily and I talked about what makes a winning proposal – one that gets you the work you’re bidding for – and what makes a proposal a complete flop.

If you’re interested in downloading the teleclass you can go to ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com and click on Resource section. There you’ll find the class on proposals as well as other audio programs designed to help you grow your business.

So without question, proposals are one of those activities in your business that you need to do well. The impact of this truth hit me early in my business when I lost multiple projects to competitor when I competed against them. It didn’t take me long to figure out something was wrong . So I devoted a lot of time to learning about how to create good proposals. Many proposal techniques I learned by trial and error. Some worked – many didn’t.

But I was learning each time I did another proposal.

And as time went on I started to notice some distinct elements and patterns that were crucial to helping me win more than I lost.

I discovered 6 principals that helped me attain the best possible position for getting the work.

I want to share them with you today so you can apply them to your own design business.

Here are the 6 principals I learned for creating effective proposals

6 principals to creating effective proposals

1. Clarify what the prospect wants to accomplish

When making a proposal it is important not only to understand the project, but also their desired outcome after the work is complete. Ask simple and direct questions that will help you identify how you will win. A question I like to ask is “Mr. Smith. What has to happen at the end of this project, for you to consider it a success?”

You’ll often be surprised by the response of your clients, and the clarity it will give you when they respond. Sometimes clients don’t have a clear picture in mind when they make a request for a proposal. This question can really help your client clearly define their expectations.

And as they clearly define what they want you can more accurately create a solution and a budget to fit it.

2. Identify your competitors

Many proposal situations will involve competing against other firms and designers. It is perfectly okay to ask how many other firms they have invite to make presentations and who they are.

Take careful note. Then research the firms to find out more about them, their approach, philosophies etc… This will give you a tool to help you craft a proposal that differentiates you from your competitors.

This competitive type of situation happened to me in my own business just recently.

A prospect called me out of the blue. Someone I had never heard from before and asked me to p a proposal together for a complete re-brand of their business. They were in growth mode
And wanted to position their business against their main competitors within the industry they marketed to.

Now whenever a prospect calls you without ay effort of your own doing the very first thing you ask is “how did you here about me?”

Which is exactly what I asked this prospect. And I found out

3. Don’t over emphasize your services

Many designers and design firms make the mistake of first focusing on what they do and how great they are. They spend a lot of time trying to convince the prospect that they are the right ones for the project before they learn more about their prospect.

A good rule of thumb I use in introductory meetings is to ask good questions, listen, and take good notes – 5 times more than I try to “sell” my services.

My Mom says I was born with One mouth but two ears! So that means I should listen twice as much as I talk. I figure if I can increase that number I only end up on the winning side more often.

But this doesn’t mean you don’t do you part when it comes to saying your piece.

And it doesn’t mean you don’t highlight the biggest benefits of your services or give them a little background on your company. Do it, but be sure to be brief. Then make sure you move immediately to principle 4… which is…

4. Focus on your client’s problem and their desired outcome

Transition your proposal process quickly from what you do (and how great you are) –to focusing on your prospects needs.

Ask them questions that will help them define the full scope of the problem. Often prospects have a problem and an idea of what MIGHT help them solve it. But they need a professional to help guide them. Do this by asking questions that help you and them to fully define their problem. Learn about their business, project objectives and their desired outcome.

Your questions should not only give you background information on your prospect but help you qualify them to determine if you can really help them. And if your services are a good fit for them.

This not only means that you’ll be successful in creating a solution for them if you are awarded the project, but it also means your prospect will win in the end too because of the results you’ve created.

This keeps the focus on your prospect and their future success.

5. Use your question process to stay engaged

Intelligent questions are a powerful tool in the proposal development process. They position you to your prospect as an expert and someone who is knowledgeable in their field.

But there is another subtle bonus that comes from your question process – it becomes a tool you use to keep future contact with your prospect. Follow-up questions are a great tool to help build and strengthen your future relationship.

I often use additional questioning as a form of follow-up tool. Rarely can you have an initial meeting with a new prospect and get all the facts. Which often means a follow-up with more questions. This can happen in the form of phone call, email contact or in another scheduled meeting. You can even suggest an interview with other key individuals in the organization.

All of this additional questioning continues to build your relationship and strengthen your knowledge of your prospect.

6.Engage your prospect so they become involved in the process

Being knowledgeable in what you do, does not mean being a know-it-all when it comes to presenting your proposal. Be flexible in your final solution. Make your presentation interactive. Invite your prospect’s participation. Get them to edit, revise and update what you’ve created.

Although you know how to create effective visual communications, you DON’T know everything about your prospect or their marketplace. You need their help to fully understand. And you’ll need their help if you are going to get the project.

Allow them to comment and interact with your proposal. Invite comments and critique. Get them engaged in helping you create the best proposal that is tailored exactly to their needs. You’ll get less resistance and a greater response when it comes to getting them to sign on the bottom line.

If you’re interested in learning more about creating persuasive proposals go to the resource section of the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com website, where you can get the download of the audio class I conducted with Emily Cohen.

Well that’s it for another week.

Thanks for joining me on the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com live podcast

Where you as a creative business owner learn how to attract more clients,
Earn higher fees and get more of the work you want

Have a great week.

This episode: Dealing with price objections

This week we look at 6 ways that you can turn around price
objections from your clients.

For the last couple of weeks on ForGraphicDesigners Only.com we’ve been talking about the importance of proposals and proposal writing.

I’ve been talking to a lot subscribers lately about proposals – and I’m finding that a lot of solo designers, freelancers and 2 & 3 people shops have an oversion to doing proposals.

The feeling is that they are a lot of work that robs time and energy from your current projects and then at the end of it all there is no guarantee that you will get the project or the account at the end of the process.

So many designers have told me that they don’t like doing them and try to avoid them whenever they can.

But the fact is… a well planned, well written proposal is often a required component of getting the type of work you want.

If you want better clients and higher paying projects you should learn to do them well and persuasively.

It just last week I spoke to my friend Emily Cohen on a teleclass call at ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com about how to create proposals that win better clients and higher paying projects.

Emily’s has been a graphic design business expert for over 20years, Emily consults with creative firms and professionals across the country specializing in helping with writing and creating proposals and contracts.

She has her BFA in graphic design from the State University of New York.

And she’s a requested speaker at conferences like How and In-House, many AIGA events and even this year’s Mind Your Own Business Conference..

If your interested in learning exactly how to put together proposals that help you get more of the work you want then I really suggest you listen to this class. You can download your own copy of the audio class and the transcript by going to ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com and looking under resource section of the site and clicking on the download.

In the creative communication business we all understand the need for creating persuasive proposals…

But what happens when you’ve presented your proposal and your client says “I’m sorry, I like your proposal, but your price is too high.”

What do you do?

You could just drop your price – and then feel resentment and
rejection because you are undervalued and under appreciated.

Or you could just walk away… And forget about doing the work all together.

Or you COULD take another approach….

When you find yourself in this situation, you can start by asking
your client a simple question: “Are you open to looking at other
options so we can find a way to work together on this?”

If they say “yes” (and they almost always do) then you are ready
‘play ball’ with them.

And that means switching into your ‘Negotiator hat.

Now, don’t let negotiation frighten you. It doesn’t have to be
head-to-head combat. In fact, your negotiation will go much better
if you treat it like a tool to get to know your client better,
rather than a means of outsmarting them.

Adjust your thinking about negotiation. View negotiation like a
type of fact-finding mission that will help you find a mutual
solution for both you and your client.

Start off your mission with one very direct question to your client…
“What were you hoping to pay for these design services?” Their answer
will reveal if you are ‘in the ball park’ or if they are ‘out-to-lunch’.

If the numbers are workable (meaning you can reduce your cost and
still be profitable) then negotiate with your client using other
aspects of your service as bargaining tools.

Dropping your price to meet their budget number is the quickest way
to devalue your services. And a fast way to commoditize what you
do. The trick to good negotiation is to offer options to your
design services that still retain the value of what you do in the
eyes of your client.

Your goal in your negotiations is to present your client with a better solution than the one you just put forth originally.

So what can you negotiate with?
Here are 6 things I use in my negotiation process.

1. Build negotiation into each proposal
==================================

In his best selling book “the 7 habits of highly sucessful people” Stephen Covey talked about the concept of starting with the end in mind.

Good negotiation starts with the end in mind. Design your proposals
with built-in items you can negotiate with.

To do this I often build the ‘ultimate solution’ into my initial proposals – a
full service approach to solving the problem. Do I do this even if my
client hasn’t requested it. You can build in services like copywriting,
research sessions, client interviews, custom illustration, art direction, photography
even print production are some of the options you can include.

Most clients view negotiations as a critical element of their job
description. And an integral part of their business success
(whether they like to negotiate or not). Especially if you are dealing with maketing managers of age firms.

Having a larger price that can be altered easily by taking out
value added services gives you a comfortable platform for easy
negotiations. While positioning your business to your client as a
value-add company that you want to be.

Essentially – Someone who has their best interest at heart.

2. Offer a discount for projects paid in advance
==========================================
One immediate way to reduce your price without reducing the value of your services isis to offer an incentive to your client for paying in advance.

Offer a 10% discount on your price for orders paid up-front. In
fact, some companies even have policies that require them to go
with the supplier that offers these types of discounts.

This is a powerful incentive to your client because they see an
immediate savings. And it’s valuable to you because you are
creating much needed cash-flow (worth the discount)!

3. Break the project into phases
==========================
This approach works really well with big projects that have many
components or have an undefined finished size.

Some projects like websites may start off so large in scope that
they carry a big price tag that the client is unwilling to pay in
one lump sum. These types of projects can be broken down into
phases or sections and billed as each stage is complete.

Often you can complete other components at a later date as a
completely separate project.

If you are starting large projects close to the end of your
client’s budget timeline, you can work this to your advantage even
more. Because your client can break up their large costs over two
different budgets, softening the impact of a large price tag item
while still leaving room for other projects in each budget.

Price negotiation tool number 4 is…
4. Combine more projects for a reduced rate
=====================================
Often when you go through the briefing process the client shares
their intention to follow-up with future projects. Sometimes this is a ‘carrot’ to help them reduce the cost with the promise of more work. Other times it’s quite legitimate.Keep note of this, and use it to your advantage.

For instance your client may ask you to put a proposal together for
a sales kit that involves Folders, corporate brochures, client
lists etc… with the intention of adding sell sheets to the project
scope shortly after the first phase is completed.

You can encourage your client to initiate the future project NOW at
a discounted rate rather than wait. Thereby reducing their overall
unit cost. And the large scope of work to you is worth taking on at
a lower rate if for no other reason than the “insurance of future
work” factor!

5. Offer reduced rates in exchange for longer lead-times
===================================================
Another way to reduce costs without depreciating the value of your
work is to offer a discounted rate in exchange for longer lead
times.

This allows you to schedule the project into the slower or quieter
times of your business (such as off-season work, or during scheduled client
project reviews or the client approval process…).

The client will appreciate the price break and you will be able to
book a full, steady schedule of work into your business.

Price negotiation tool #6
6. Alter your creative process
=========================
Finally, you can alter your creative processin rder to reduce your costs.

In my design process for example, I try to present no less than 3
concepts per project. If any of my clients have a concern for the
initial costs I present I can easily reduce the design time by
removing the additional concept time.

They don’t get the benefit of design exploration but they do see an
immediate cost savings. In some cases I got the project by reducing
the number of concepts in order to be cost competitive – only to have the client request that I build it back in once I have been awarded the project. And I’m able to push the fees back t where I had originally quoted.

Having a set design pattern and process is just one way you can
automatically build-in future negotiation tools.

The key to getting the highest price is to be comfortable and
efficient at negotiating. Never drop your rates without negotiating
for something in return.

You might be saying to yourself
“Yah, I hear you Mike, but this a more difficult and more involved than just lowering my price.” And t’s true. Negotiating to retain your value does take a little more effort. But you prevent your client from reducing your services to a commodity and you protect yourself from competitors by not making it easy for your client to shop out your services to others.

Believe me it’s worth it.

Well that’s it for another week.

Thanks for joining me on the ForGraphicDesignersOnly.com live podcast

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Have a great week.