Speaking with clients

February 12, 2004 | View Comments (14) | Category: Web Business

Summary: Speaking with clients on the phone and how I suck at it.

I have a problem. My problem has to do with me speaking with clients for the first time. Or I should say speaking with potential clients for the first time. For some reason before the conversation and after the conversation I know exactly what I want to say and what I should have said. But during the conversation, I probably sound as incoherent as a 13-year old boy asking the cute girl out for a date. I begin to think life would be easier if they would just either IM me or post questions through email. Hell, read this site to get an idea of what I am about, but by all means don't ask me questions verbally. Do I lack experience? I don't think so. I have spoken with plenty of people concerning projects. It's just on the phone I lack a certain confidence. I have never had that salesman persona.

Maybe it's the lack of face-to-face interaction I have with them. If I can hear your voice, I am more comfortable seeing your face. Seeing someone's face reveals to me so much more about what they are thinking then hearing their voice over a phone. On the phone if you mess up and say something idiotic you try to correct yourself, but usually find yourself just interrupting the client.

The person contacted you because they believe you can help them with something. So this should mean you know more than that individual about whatever the problem is. If it has to do with design, then you should be the professional. The easiest clients are the ones who understand this concept. Unfortunately, not every client is like this.

I get the type of clients who ask me how do I plan on making the site better. Umm, it doesn't really look that good now, so I am going to make it look better I tell them. But how? Ummm. You just have to trust me on this one.

While speaking to a client the other day, she asked me what feeling do I get when I look at her site. I have always been an honest person, but sometimes there are situations where you just don't want to be too honest. You know? Well I was too honest I think. I told her the site looked like it was made in Frontpage by an amateur and I expected more from a company such as hers. She tells me that she created the website in Frontpage and had no experience and didn't sound too pleased over the phone. Of course I couldn't see her face so who really knows? Everyone just needs to get iChat A/V so the world can be a better place.

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Comments

#1

If it's important enough to you, you could always spend some time with a business coach. They are good at helping you learn proper phone etiquette, speaking skills, even how to have small talk with a client. I've heard from several people that have really been helped by it. I don't know of any in your area but I'm sure there are some in the phone book.

Derek Rose (http://www.twotallsocks.com/)

#2

Ha, I have the exact same problem. I have considered actually going to a speech class, or buying a book on better writing, etc. but cant find the time to do either. I usually just try not to worry too much about it, because usually the impression I had about how the felt, is completely wrong.

Josh Dura (http://www.joshdura.com)

#3

Funny thing is I just got off the phone with someone and I think I got my point across very well. I think a lot of it has to do with the personality of the other person on the phone. I hate to give this I am a serious business thing off so when I can talk to someone like a normal person I always feel more comfortable as was the case right now.

Josh: Yeah, lots of times when I think the person must consider me a total idiot, it really isn't that way. Maybe, it's the expectations I place on myself.

D: A business coach is definitely something to look into.

Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)

#4

>"usually the impression I had about how the felt, is completely wrong."

Too true. I am generally a very poor evaluator of my own performance, be it speaking, coding, art, whatever. I have a very strong self-critical streak.

Also, I absolutely loathe speaking on the phone, especially with people I only know casually or not at all. In my opinion, it is the one of the worst ways to communicate, given that you are deprived of both the body language cues (although vocal tone and inflection helps) that you get when speaking in person, and the chance to properly organize thoughts and make a considered response that you get with written correspondance. Ugh.

My dislike for phones undoubtedly springs from several years of tech support work. However, the experience was helpful, as it appreciably improved my phone communication skills.

Paul G (http://www.relativelyabsolute.com)

#5

It is rare that I have interaction with clients. On the occasions I do, it is usually to despense the knowledge I have about what we are doing for them: design decisions, techniques, etc.

I recently spoke in public on the matter of Web Standards. I was scared to death. I thought it went ok, although I had the impression that I rambled too much. People attending told me they thought I did an excellent job, so maybe I was being to self critical about it.

Jeff Veen posted some "Speaking Pointers" on his site that could also be applied to one-on-one client interaction: http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html

Jeremy Flint (http://www.jeremyflint.com)

#6

http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html

a clickable link

Jeremy Flint (http://www.jeremyflint.com)

#7

I recently spoke in public on the matter of Web Standards. I was scared to death. I thought it went ok, although I had the impression that I rambled too much.

Yeah, I felt the same way when I spoke at a Flash Forward conference. First off, I was late to my speaking (damn eastern time) and second it was my first time to speak. The reviews that came back were some of the highest, but I still didnt like the way I spoke. So I guess it is probably me being way too self critical...

Josh Dura (http://www.joshdura.com)

#8

Rule 1 - Never allow yourself to be sucked into the "what do you think of our site?
trap. Answer it with a "hire me, and I'll be happy to work to improve what you think is wrong with it..." type answer.

Rule 2 - Set up a video camera and record yourself talking. Thet'll make you aware of hou you actually come off personally to people. You might be surprised that what you think is totally different than that of most others.

Mark Fusco (http://www.lightpierce.com/ltshdw)

#9

Some things I've learned:

When speaking on the phone, especially in an interview-type situation, be sure to dress as if you were in the room with the person. You should dress better than your boss or audience.

Stand while speaking on the phone. It makes you sound fuller and stronger. It's okay to pace around a little bit and it's also okay to take notes while on the phone. A high counter for your notepad will keep you upright, too.

Check out these phone interview tips:
http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/interviewing/19990310-anderson.html

Actually, a Google search on "phone interview tips" comes up with some good stuff:
http://www.google.com/search?q=phone+interview+tips

Jacob (http://www.onemaven.com)

#10

I actually find I communicate better with clients over the phone, because I'm not distracted by their facial expressions, or little nuances (tilting to the side while standing, crossing arms, etc.) I just try to get my point across, I'm very confident about my skills, and how it'll benefit the client and visitors to his/her site, so I try to convey it the best way I can. Usually I start by gauging how smart the person, then going from there - ask simple questions.

It may be a good idea to bring up one of your articles, and use keywords you wrote in the article while talking to the client. Or write a seperate private article, and use it similar to a flashcard ... read the keyword or statement, and go from there.

Matt Burris (http://www.goodblimey.com/)

#11

I would recommend discussing the site from a business perspective. It can be the most beautiful site in the world, but this doesn't mean a thing if no one comes to visit it.

What's the content like - what's the density of keyword phrases? How well written are the page titles? Are they targeting the right search terms? Who is the audience - does it cater for them? What are the goals of the site? What kind of traffic do they get? What are their metrics like? What;s their conversion rate like - sales, inquiries, etc? How many reciprocal links do they have? What's their page rank in Google or their traffic rank in Alexa? Is their site accessible? Are the pages too large and hence slow to download? Blah, blah, blah...

I wouldn't even venture to comment about aesthetics in an initial conversation; it's just not that important. At the end of the day, commercial web sites are run to make money, and all the thinking about them should start from this point.

There are plenty of amateurish Frontpage sites out there that are making a mint for their owners. Likewise, there are many wonderfully designed sites that are dying (or have died) through lack of traffic.

In the intial conversation(s), I would suggest that you focus on asking questions not voicing opinions. That will help to establish credibility with the client that they will get a good ROI from working with you.

Christian (http://www.smileycat.com)

#12

Same problem here. Much of it really does depend on the client of course.

I find that as soon a current or potential client swears a chunk of that initial apprehension is released. What does that say about me? I'm not sure.

Davin Risk (http://www.fluffco.com)

#13

I just got off the phone with a client, and I don't know why, but I find that I get nervous when speaking with clients on via telefono.

What I do to offset that:
1. Find a minor distraction. I dunno, it can be a book, object or muted American Idol. Just enough to absorb my free attention.

2. Walk around. Circulation is good for body, good for mind.

3. Have a short list of points I'd like to cover, and focus on going over those things(or not). I use this as my tool for judging the effectiveness of my verbal communication, rather than on intangibles, as I am wont to do.

my 2.(3)

Submunition (http://www.submunition.com)

#14

when a prospective client asks what you think of their site turn it around to them.

they obviously called you for a reason so ask them the question back.

are you pleased with the site? what areas are you interested in changing or adding? this gets them to point out the issues for you and if you agree you can verbalize that agreement, "yes in my PROFESSIONAL opinion i would agree with blah blah" this is an area we can work on with you because... insert experience....

Now you have not insulted the prospect but agreed with them. This is all true, you haven't lied, you're been honest and forthright but not insulting.

Delaing with people is never easy as you have to deal with personalities and emotions and all the bagged they bring to the table (we all bring somee baggage). Stay focused on the goals and you will prevail. Your goal was to get the project and do a great job and correct the problems. The prospect asked a simple question but that may have side-tracked both of you from the task at hand because of personalities.

Basically you put your foot in your mouth by answering too quickly. You can argue that you were honest and gave her what she asked for but you are the professional not her and you need to keep focused on the job at hand. I would go so far as to say that even if you didn't like the design it doesn't sound like you established what the goal of the project was with her. I hear people all the time saying "the design was horrible! It was all red." Before we make quick and subjective judgements we need to establish what the goals were for the project. Perhaps a designer doesn't like the color red but the branding for the proejct was all about speed and excitement. It's a known fact that red connotes speed in most cultures.

The crucial point in design is to focus on the what design is...a solution. Focus, therefore, on the design problem and solution. Speak about it in those terms and stay away from the subjective and emotional aspects and you will do much better.

Also, it sounds like you are using IM and other non f2f (face to face) encounters as a crutch. You won't get better with f2f if you avoid it. You're a good writer and that didn't happen overnight. Practice more and more f2f encounters and you will improve with time. Volunteer to teach or tutor a small group. Do talks and presentations on what you know and you will build the confidence you need to grow and be a better with clients and othes f2f.

mike

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