Presenting Design — Chapter 7 Reflection

If you aren’t the salesman of your own design or product, you will never sell it to the client. That is something stated clearly in this chapter, and is something that I have learned the hard way doing freelance web design. I would often try to send mockups and wireframes to clients so that I could get the design approved, but would often be shot down with no feedback because I was not there to explain it with them in person (or, at the very least, through a video chat).

Now, I will only give initial designs and big changes on development in real time as I can explain ideas or try to find out what qualms or issues they have. The other benefit of discussing in person is being able to understand the client’s needs, as well as give the client a clear idea of what the end product will look like.

Another big issue I had when I started was I never made contracts, as most of my business was with family and friends. I started to get burned on the deals, as they asked for more features then originally agreed to or would request huge changes halfway through. It never really occurred to me that I would need protection from my own client, so that I wouldn’t have to work unnecessarily on a website or have a large portion of it just be wasted. Being there in person makes it easier to sell and negotiate the contract as well. Whenever I would negotiate online, it would be hard to explain my position on the design, or why certain features would be unnecessary. I believe the best course of action would be to always work with your client in person or to work together online through a video chat.