My website is often found through Google. I know this because at least once a week, I get a phone call: “I found your website through Google”. That’s a fact that one can’t ignore. The first thing that strikes me about these phone calls is that people want to know how I work because often there was a negative experience with other designers.
Together
I’m honest; I like working together with the client which means I listen to the wishes of my clients, keep in touch on the process and send regular updates. During that first phone call, I first listen to what the project is all about, then I answer any questions. Finally, I tell a bit about myself and if necessary I ask questions that are important to know about the project. For example, about what they have in mind in terms of design, or examples of the style they have in mind. If it would be something I can’t do, I would tell that in the first conversation but mostly I can take up any project.
Budget
When the client has become enthusiastic (and they always are), I ask them to email all the information they have about the project. Based on that information, I write a tailor-made offer that fits within the budget. To keep things flowing, I always try to send the quotation within a day.
It’s a deal!
As soon as I get approval on the quote from the (now official) client, I want to start as soon as possible and ask for the information needed to get started, e.g. the content of the book. I like to work passionately on an assignment where things keep flowing. As soon as a client delays a project for a month or longer, I can lose interest in the project so we would like to avoid that of course. That is why in some cases I am chasing the customer. From emails with ‘have you looked at the file yet?’ to ‘Are there any corrections?‘ to keep up the speeds of the project. During the whole process, I keep the customer informed by sending regular PDF files in which the customer can indicate corrections until we create the perfect result.
Final phase
During the final phase, the client receives a print-ready PDF, which can be sent directly to a printer, together with the invoice. If the client wants me to do the printing process, I make sure that the files go to the printer and then send the final result directly to the client.