The Kickoff Meeting: create a relationship, not a client in 30 min.
Bring the right mindset and shift the room.
The kickoff meeting is not about going on auto-pilot.
It’s about making your client feel heard and understood so that you can match them to the right solutions.
Client thinks: “I need help with X.”
You think: “This is great — now I just need to ace that first meeting. Say the right things, be super smart, and win them over.”
Let’s step back from that for a second… What does it take to truly be a great design consultant? Is it just about being the best? Or is it serving your client the best? Ultimately, great experience wins.
1. Introductions: 5 min
Share your secret sauce as briefly as you can with a cherry on top.
Try something like this:
Great to meet you. I help [type of business] do [x] thing. I’ve been a [role] for [number] years and have worked with around [number] of similar companies.
And if the project is something you’re passionate about, share this with them:
Working on your project would be exciting for me because of [blah].
2. Know Your Client: 15 min
Listen to your customer for 15 minutes uninterrupted.
A powerful kickoff meeting is all about listening. This is precious time. It’s your job in those mere 15 minutes to focus on expanding your understanding of their world and remove any assumptions you had coming into the meeting.
When I first began consulting, I would intentionally set a 15 minute timer on my phone (on vibrate in my pocket). Try it out. Time yourself. This is a technique I learned from Tom Chi, Principal at Google and Unreasonable Institute. He says this:
“The first step is getting to know your customer, what matters to them, and how will doing what you do… serve what matters to them” — Tom Chi
If your client has trouble formulating thoughts, try using a few open-ended prompts. For example, if you’re working on a website design project, here are a few that you could use to gather insights:
- What are your business goals with the site?
- What do you already love about your site? What’s working well?
- Do you have examples of other sites that you appreciate?
- What kind of editing ability do you need on the site?
Try not to focus on being clever at this stage — this is a business meeting and you should be focusing on them rather than your great ideas. Your creative strategy should come during the engagement of the project.
3. Find Alignment: 5 min
Now you ask, “What are we both trying to get out of this meeting?” Find the sweet spot of what the client needs and the specific details.
One of the most frustrating things is coming out of a meeting and having no concrete takeaways. No matter what engagement you’re in with your client, you will need press hard into the specific details to take the next step.
Ask questions such as,
- “Is there a project brief?” > You might need to create one of these.
- “How will you measure success for the project?” > Make sure to define success metrics that highlight the project goals.
- “What is your rough budget?” > Knowing what resources the client intends to utilize is critical for providing an appropriate proposal.
Work with your client to align on key expectations and goals to keep the project on track for design and build.
If you’ve listened well in the first portion of the call, you may even be able to calculate in your head what your role would look like. Most clients are looking to you as the expert to help make this judgement call.
3. Close with a Call-to-Action: 5 min
After this meeting, you should have a pretty good idea on how you fit.
The meeting went well?
Great. This means that you should be taking care of any post-meeting follow-up logistics. Book the follow-up meeting and email over any key takeaways.
Not sure how the meeting went?
As a consultant, it’s instinctual to want to land the project and work with this awesome new company who’s reached out to you. However, you might not be the right fit — and thats OK.
If the client seems unsure, be direct in asking them what they expect of you. Don’t make them feel pressured to go with your services. For instance, if the client needs video production work, and you know a fantastic video editor in your network, make that connection for them. You will be much better off waiting for the projects that truly highlight your talent.
This creates a win-win, because the client always ends up with the right person for the job, and you always end up with the right client for your services.
In Conclusion
As a design consultant, listening is super important early on to find out what the client needs and how you can help them.
Next time you head into a client kickoff meeting, try this method of focusing energy around serving your customer. Building relationships is paramount for creating lasting engagements and achieving success.
About the Author
Katy is Partner at Twos Complement, a design and engineering studio that helps small teams execute on big visions. Connect with her everywhere @katyjeremko.
We want to know, what do you think? How do you approach the first kickoff meeting? Share your thoughts, give feedback, and comment below! 👏🏼
