Surviving the Economy and Keeping Clients

[Cwilk]

Many of us are getting sucked into that black hole that the economy has created this past year. It started out as a fairly strong year and showed promise, but now the year has slowly turned into an upwards trickle where clients just don't want to part with their money.

So, now what do you do?

Here are some of my observations, thoughts, and opinion(s) on surviving the economy:

Keep your current clients happy. If that means giving a discount in order to make sure that the client won't go elsewhere, then do it! Send out an email giving a one-time discount for a project. Or help them find ways to cut costs without stopping their advertising and marketing completely.

Show your client you care about them in inexpensive ways. Throw in a free set of business cards with one of their other design projects to show what a great client they've been, or send them a note in the mail thanking them for using your company all these years.

Communicate by actually picking up the phone. I know that none of us like being on the phone and email is easier, but call your client and discuss the economical situation with them. Find out if they are okay and ensure them that you are not going out of business as well. See if there are any projects that they've put on hold... you might be able to help them afford them if you know about them.

Become more creative with your company presence. This ensures that you'll survive the economy while others are sitting back because that's what many designers have always done. By being proactive, you're keeping your name out in the public. If you're busy — advertise. If you're not busy — advertise more. Otherwise people will think you went out of business. But remember, you're a designer, so get creative with how you advertise.

Go out and grab those new clients by spending your time and not money. So the economy is bad… That means that while other designers are sitting around and starving for business there are clients out there who are looking for new designers. NETWORK!!!!! Don't go out to pubs and such, go to Toastmasters. It will help you speak better. Go to a trade conference in your town and pass out business cards. Conferences are usually pretty cheap to get into if not free. Join your local Chamber of Commerce or find out how to attend one of their 'mixers' for free. There are lots of ways to network without spending money.

Team up with a designer or programmer. Many of us can only be one or the other at the highest quality. So if you're a designer, send in your portfolio to a programming company that may be looking for designers or vice-versa. This is also a great way to network too. But make sure you work with someone who is reliable and that you're willing to reciprocate by sending work their way.

by Christina Wilkinson
Sabre Design © 2008

[D856C]

I'd add a few points.

Develop a Unique Selling Proposition. Differentiate your business from the commodity designer. This is far more about return on the client's investment than "getting creative." Not a vapid slogan -- a practical business proposition.

The side benefit of developing a USP is you have a legitimate reason to contact clients. Never phone to "Chat" when clients are concerned and looking to cut expenses, have a reason to call. That reason had better be about improving the client's business, not yours.

Focus on Results of What You Do. That new ecommerce layout sure looks sweet. ....But did it do anything for conversions? Most designers would never even consider testing one layout against another, or the notion one pretty design could possibly outpull another equally pretty design. That only insures designers will be the canary in the coal mine of any recession ...first to get the heave-ho as an unaffordable indulgence.

Nobody needs a huckster flogging the latest PhotoShop fad.

Stop thinking like an artist and think like a business consultant. Too many designers are looking for patrons of the arts rather than clients. Get real. You're only as valuable as your ability to increase sales. Most designers, if tested on what the word branding actually means, would fail miserably -- branding is still about m-o-n-e-y -- so stop the nonsense.

The only problem designers have is an utter inability to link what they do to a practical business result. No, I don't mean the general good feelings what you do probably, maybe, somehow helps clients. This is entirely psychology, namely snobbery about not sullying yourself with 'base commerce,' the data is out there. Dump the grandiose abstractions and produce a sale the client didn't have before -- and couldn't get without you.

[VLAHAKISA]

One of my clients is a respected sales trainer and speaker and he recently wrote an excellent blog on Selling In A Creative Industry.

I thought it was really good, I've linked to it from my own blog about 'advice on being a freelance designer' because I thought it was such a spot on piece.

It's basically about how creatives tend to be busy being artists and shy away from the business side of things, as mentioned by Inforgraphic design above.

He also has other blogs about selling that the members here may find useful/interesting.

His blog also focuses on not being scared to be a bit 'salesy' as a designer, and how designers tend to be too busy being nice to their clients to actually do a hard sell on them.

So after reading it I went and contacted an old client that I hadn't heard from in about three years and essentially asked for the business instead of dancing around what I really wanted and I won the business and she's been feeding me with work for weeks as a result.

I would never normally be so direct, I'd just contact and say things like "Oh hi, how you doing" instead of "Hi, how are you doing, you haven't had your website done yet, do you want me to do it for you".That's what I said essentially, and she said yes, and then had a load of other stuff too.

Amanda

[Cwilk]

So I've just come out of really busy month and I've created 3 new clients. Here's how I did it:

Last year I found out that a newspaper was looking for a designer (it wasn't known to the public but I found out in a round about way). The client was publishing themselves as part of another newspaper. So I did research on printing and did a quote for design and printing for the client to break out on their own. After all.... its the clients newspaper. Well that didn't work out because no one contacted us. So now forward to 9 months later and we get a phone call. The ownership changed and they found my proposal and called me for a meeting. Our foot was in the door so it was our job to lose. Well we not only got the project, but it increased from a 4 page newspaper to a 16 pager. And to make things better, the client decided that they could afford to do a monthly instead of a quarterly. So now we have a new monthly in our schedule.

The next project is a realty magazine for our local area. I did research about 1.5 years ago on what might be the best way to market our realtors. Since the economy is poor right now, most people think that realtors can't afford to do anything..... well that's exactly why I went to that market. I just made it affordable. So I met with a group of them this morning and sold them on the idea of doing a publication that is distributed out of the area. I immediately got 3 checks for over $700 each from 3 different realty companies. My goal is to sell 7 (2 page ads) and I've already sold 3 of them just this morning after making my presentation.

The next project I'm still waiting on a green light for. But I've done some pro bono work for a major celebrities nonprofit organization. Well it may have paid off big time. I was in Los Angeles over Easter break and I got a phone call from that celebrity. They were holding off making a decision regarding their new website so our company could give them a quote. I had to do the quote on Monday morning before we came back home but now its in the clients hands. The best thing is that they remembered the fact that we had already done work for them. So if patronage and a little luck is on our side, we'll have a major website project within the next couple of weeks.

On one last note, when we were walking around the beach in Southern Cali, we were looking at homes we couldn't possibly afford. But a realtor came out to talk to us as we were looking in the window of one place and when she found out what we do for a living she took us inside and introduced us to her broker. They immediately wanted to know when we'd be back in our office and want us to do several projects for them including a website.

So that's how our past month has been. I just wanted to share with you how I was able to create some new clients and how we may have gotten others just recently.

Christina

[nerdy]

Its a touchy subject, but I would also suggest revising all freelance contracts to emphasize that any breach of contract will make the client subject to court costs and any fees occurred in an attempt to collect a debt. Perhaps even suggesting that the entire amount in held in escrow through a credible site like iescrow.com.

Recently had a very good client put his entire business on hold due to financial troubles. Even though we had only begun to discuss template concepts and I had not even begun doing the code for the actual site, he sent an e-mail with an apology and a confirmation of a Paypal payment of the remaining amount on the contract (he had already paid the majority). The payment was for $800 and although this may seem like chump change to some lucky few, knowing that he is singly responsible for starting this new business makes it seem like thousands. I respect him an enormous amount for keeping his end of the contract and have offered to finish the website anyway and do a bit of small work (loading data onto USB bracelets) for no charge.

Unfortunately, not all clients are this nice. If they run into financial troubles it could be very easy for them to cut and run, leaving you without the funds promised.

A bad economy can bring out the worst and best in people. Considering that violent crimes escalate with the heat, I am curious to see what this summer will bring...

For everyone else suffering from economic times, I wish you the best.