Consistently get clients for your design business
As a business owner, having a reliable source of new clients is perhaps the most important and challenging part of our job. If you are tired of relying on referrals and spending way too much time on social media without seeing any real results, you have come to the right place. We will walk you through seven steps to set your business up for consistent, qualified leads that will help you build a sustainable creative business you love to work in.
OVERVIEW
Packaging your services
Building a lead funnel
Working on your website
Proposals that work
Referrals
Selling to existing clients
Collaborations
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1. Packaging your services
We all know our own services inside and out, but when we speak to our potential clients, we want to make sure it’s super clear what they will actually get when they work with us.
Having multiple, well-defined options also means that you can appeal to a wider audience but still keep your niche. Many times the people who visit our website are interested but not ready to buy. If we can offer packages at different levels of commitment, we can start a relationship with people who might eventually become our clients later down the road. We will talk more about this in the section about creating your lead funnel but for now, let’s have a look at an example of how you could present your services.
When potential clients see distinct options, it will be easier for them to choose and they will be choosing between your different packages rather than between you and a competitor. When you offer different packages it also makes it much easier for you to determine how long a project will take and you can create templates for presentations, mockups, invoices and contracts.
Types of packages
You can structure your packages however they best suit you. Here are three different structures to use as inspiration.
Offer one core service with optional add-ons.
Offer a few different packages that target different customers.
Offer different levels of commitment like in the example above.
How to convey your packages
When we package our services, we always want to come back to the three P’s: pain point, product and price.
Let’s start with pain point.
When we are clear and focused, our potential clients feel safe and excited knowing exactly what they are paying for.
How detailed you get really depends on the type of clients you want to attract. If you want to get hired by other creative companies, you can assume that they are more aware of terms like ‘content creation’, while this might be very abstract for someone outside the design and marketing field.
You also want your language to focus on the benefits you provide your clients rather than the features you offer. Features like ‘responsive website design’ are often quite similar between different creative companies so we want to convey how our clients will feel and what their business will look like after they work with us.
For example, in our agency, a common problem many of our clients have is that they find it hard to implement the brand once it’s finished. They have a very limited amount of time to post to social media and create content so they need a brand that is easy to use. Because of this, we added social media templates to our brand package which became a big selling point.
When we think about the pain point, we want to look beyond deliverable. Clients might be asking for a service like a new website, but try to read between the lines and see what pain point you would be solving for them. In the case of the website design, perhaps you are helping them create a way to reach more customers, sell their products and explain their purpose. If you want to go even deeper, it could be the freedom to sell their products independently from retailers. Once you find the pain point, it will be much easier to explain the value of your services.
Next up we want to consider the practical details of the product. Make a list of exactly what is included in each of the services you provide. It might look something like this.
Example service: Branding for startups:
Customer research and personas
Style scapes and brand exploration
3 design concepts
Responsive logo design, colour palette, icon set, 2 pieces of stationary/merchandise and social media templates
3 rounds of iterations
By doing this exercise, you can quickly see if any of your services overlap and there could be confusion. To make sure it is easy for your potential clients to pick the right service for them, it can be a good idea to use descriptive names or even make a bullet point list like the one above to make it easy to compare options.
The last thing we want to consider is price. The price needs to suit both you and your clients and this can feel hard to determine to start with. The easiest way to determine the best price point is to ask yourself the following questions:
Start by looking at what other creatives are charging for a similar package. Is your offer different in a significant way that warrants a big price difference?
Review your costs. Consider how much time you need to spend, taxes and any other important costs like paying for software, computers, learning, marketing, accounting and anything else you need to cover.
What does your ideal client’s budget look like? You can base this on experience from your previous clients and how much push-back you have gotten on your suggested prices when you send proposals. You can also look at the turnover and profit margin of your ideal clients and how much they typically allocate to creative services. Another great way is to join Facebook groups and forums with similar businesses to yours and ask for their pricing and experience.
A benefit of having clear packages is that you will have an easier time determining what price works for you since projects will be more similar to each other.
Once you have a clear idea of your packages, make sure you make it easy to learn more about them on your website and social media. You can create one page explaining all your options or you can dedicate a page to each, the important thing is clarity.
2. Creating a lead funnel
A lead funnel is a great way to build consistency in your business and help take some of the work off your plate.
The idea is to think about the different stages someone goes through when they buy from you. It typically looks something like this.
Awareness: A potential client finds your website or social media.
Relationship: They read your content and learn more about you and what you offer. They might sign up for a lead magnet or newsletter and receive information and updates from you on a regular basis.
Consideration: They need help and since they are aware of you, they see you as an option.
Research: They might read more from your site or make comparisons with other creative companies.
Sales: They reach out and ask for a proposal.
When we know the steps, we can tailor each touchpoint to give your potential clients the best possible experience and make them more likely to buy from you. The idea of a lead funnel is also to automate much of the work that needs to be done to help potential clients move from one step to the next. You can do this by using tools like Mailchimp to add interested people to an email list where they get a sequence of emails over time, or just by optimising your website, social media and proposals to help you save time.
When we create our lead funnel, we want to think about how we can add value at every step of the way.
Building awareness & trust
To create your funnel, start by thinking about what type of knowledge you have that your potential customers would be interested in. We want to pick a topic that is related to what we are selling to make sure those interested will actually be qualified leads for our business.
Once you have picked a topic, think about how potential clients will find you. The top of the funnel, the awareness stage is typically driven by social media and SEO. We need people to see our helpful advice in order for them to learn more about us and move further down the funnel.
Have a think about where you would like to focus your energy. If you already have a blog that drives traffic, maybe your website is the top of your funnel. If you prefer to post to social media and have a good connection with your followers, perhaps social media is a better fit for you.
Once you know how you will reach new people, we want to think about a way to build an ongoing relationship with interested potential clients. This can either be through an email list or if they follow you on social media. The goal is to continuously provide helpful advice and over time you will show your expertise and stay top of mind.
If you want people to sign up to an email list you want to offer something valuable in exchange. This can be a pdf guide, free course, cheat sheet, templates, mockups or anything else that you can create once and use as a lead magnet. Create a landing page on your website where people can learn more about what they get if they sign up and can enter their email. If you connect your signup form to a marketing platform like Mailchimp, you can also set up an automated sequence of emails. This will help you build a connection with your potential clients without you having to do anything once it is all set up.
Below is an example of a simple landing page for a lead magnet that helps people build their own brand. You can see a preview of the workbook, read about the benefits and sign up.
If you are using social media to build a relationship with your clients, make sure your account bio and content is focused and shows the benefits of following you.
Consistency and iterations are both really important when you use social media for your lead funnel. You want to have a clear schedule for what and when to post and use analytics to see what type of content is performing the best. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content like videos, reels, stories or traditional images. You also want to keep an eye at the best times to post. Most platforms have an analytics section that will show you the best times for your followers.
Converting leads to sales
Once you have an easy to follow plan for how to get people interested, and you have a way to continuously engage them, we need to make it easy for them to reach out. This can be as simple as setting up clear links in your social media bio, adding a form to your website or a short prompt at the end of each newsletter. The goal is to remind potential clients of what you offer so that they can reach out when they are ready. How long this will take can depend on many factors, like how much you charge (how big of an investment it is to them), how often you engage with them and if there is a seasonal aspect to their buying decisions.
Improving your funnel over time
When you first get started, you will have to make some educated guesses for what will work best with your ideal customers. An important step in creating a lead funnel that truly works for you is iteration. Keep an eye on who is signing up for your lead funnel, are they a good fit? How are people responding to your marketing, sales page and emails. Have a look at how your funnel is performing every few months and see where you can improve.
3. Working on your website
As creative businesses, our websites are our storefront. We want to make sure we help guide new visitors through our site and answer all their questions.
Most potential clients that visit your website will be looking for a few things:
The quality of your work (your portfolio).
What it will be like to work with you (process and testimonials as social proof).
If you have experience in their field (if you have examples in your portfolio that applies to their industry or the service they are hiring you for).
If your values align (your team, mission and work style)
How much you charge (if you don’t list this, you can answer when they reach out)
By knowing the questions clients have, we can design our website to answer them. To make sure your website is working hard for you, have a look at these areas:
Your portfolio
When potential clients visit your portfolio they need to understand the context of the work. If we only show beautiful mockups and design work, we are not communicating the value we can add through strategy or how well we met the brief. We want to make it as easy as possible for potential clients to imagine what it will be like to work with you.
Here is an example of what the introduction to a portfolio project could look like:
Building trust
We all want to work with people we like. When someone visits your website, they want to make sure working with you will be a nice experience besides you creating quality work.
Two quick ways to do this is through testimonials and by showing pictures of your team and office on your website. By reading about the experience other clients had and learning more about who you are, potential clients will feel safe reaching out.
Showing your process
This is a step many creative companies miss and it is a really important one. Not only for getting new clients through the door but also to make sure the projects run smoothly once you are working together. Most clients are not sure what to expect from the creative process. By walking them through the different steps and what to expect, we are easing their mind and starting the onboarding process.
4. Proposals that work
Once we have a lead funnel in place bringing people in, and clear packages to choose from, we want to make sure our proposals really convert leads into paying clients.
At the same time, we don’t want to spend hours each time we create a new proposal since we don’t know if we will get paid for the work.
The best way to consistently have high quality proposals that feel custom without spending too much time is with a template.
Many of the sections in a proposal, like your team or process are the same from one proposal to the next. Many sections like the budget, timeline and cover also need very limited customisation in order for them to apply to a new client. This means that you can spend the majority of your energy on the project scope and selecting the right case studies to show.
We suggest including the following sections in your proposal:
Cover page
Introduction describing what the client is looking for and your approach
About you/your team
Your process (this can be combined with the timeline if it suits you better)
Case studies of your previous work and how it applies to your client’s project
Timeline
Budget
How to contact you and any terms you want to include
Free proposal template
Access the free template as a PDF or join the Facebook community for an InDesign version.
5. Referrals
Having past clients and people we know refer leads to us is a lovely way to get new clients. There is already a sense of trust and referrals cost us nothing to generate. However, referrals can be inconsistent so it is good to have multiple sources of new clients if you want to build consistency.
We can do a few simple things to encourage referrals.
The first one is to ask. It can feel obvious, but many creatives feel unsure asking. The reality is that most people want to help out but are not thinking about who to refer to you in their day to day. By asking, we give them the opportunity to feel helpful to both you and the person they refer. A good time to ask for a referral is at the end of a project when you are fresh in their mind.
The next way we can encourage more referrals is to offer an incentive. Some creative companies offer a percentage of the project budget to the person who referred the client. This can be a great way to incentivise referrals but it also saves you a lot of time and money you would have spent on marketing to get a client for the same value.
Lastly, we want to mention customer service. With a clear process and quality work, we get clients who feel excited to share their experience. Make sure you have enough space in your budgets to provide a really high quality service and always help your client understand what to expect, what you will offer and even when you are expecting them to send files to keep the project timeline. Pay extra attention to the details and try to anticipate their questions.
6. Selling to existing clients
When you sell to clients who already work with you, half the battle is won. The trust and awareness is already there any they know what to expect.
Many times, clients hire us for one service and are unaware that we offer other things. By letting them know of other ways you can help, you can keep the relationship going and increase our revenue.
This can happen either at the proposal stage when the client is first starting the project with you, or at the end of a project as you are wrapping up.
If you notice that the problem the client is trying to solve could be helped by other services you offer, you can suggest that they add them to the project scope at the beginning of the project.
Similarly, if you have services that are a good fit for your client after their initial project with you is done, you can send them a hand off package with a thank you and an overview of your other services. Some creatives also give a discount to existing clients to give an incentive to keep the relationship going since they do not have to invest in marketing to get a new project. Before giving any discounts, make sure that it is financially feasible for you and that you have enough profit margin to still take on the project.
7. Collaborations
When we want to find new clients, we are often limited by the size of our network. One way to get around this is to team up with other creative companies that offer a complimentary service. It can for example be a webdesigner and a branding studio collaborating or a marketing consultant and copywriter working together. The goal is to offer clients a package deal that adds value, plus you can use both companies’ networks to find new clients.
One benefit of collaborating with the same partners over time is that you can develop a joint process and way to manage the projects. This will make the experience better for your clients and can help you take on more work.
Another great reason to collaborate is that you can take on bigger projects and types of clients that would typically turn to a larger agency. By working with you, the client gets a team where each member is an expert in what they do.
If you prefer to work with your clients separately, you can collaborate by referring clients to each other but not work on the projects together. This has the same effect as in the section on referrals, more trust and more qualified leads.
Have you tried a tip we missed or a question after reading the article? Let us know in the comments below and we can help out.
