Have you ever felt frustrated when presenting a design proposal and failing to convey its true value to your clients? If so, don’t worry. The ability to sell design proposals is a common challenge among many professionals in the field, and the inability to overcome it can be a constant source of stress and demotivation.
Therefore, we do not want to leave you alone. We give you five tips that will help you present and sell your design proposals to your clients.
Table of Contents
Join us as we explore different strategies and practices to help you overcome the barriers you face when selling your design proposals. Let’s go there.
The importance of presentation: connect with your clients
Presentation is the crucial moment when a design comes to life before the client’s eyes. Here it is not only about showing a design, but creating an experience that connects the customer with your brand. Leaving aside the material itself, this is a moment in which many important factors converge: the words you use, the silences, your tone of voice and even your body language.
Your goal is not simply to show a design, but to make the client imagine how their brand would come to life through it. A clear, well-prepared speech not only communicates your proposal effectively, but also helps build confidence in the client and visualize your proposal clearly.
Therefore, it is crucial to use elements that make your proposal as tangible as possible. The more palpable the design, the more real it will be for the client.
The way you present your design also influences how it is perceived. You must consider the environment, format, and media you will use for the presentation. Will it be in person or virtually? Do you prefer to use multimedia tools or a more traditional presentation? Adapting the form of presentation to the client’s preferences will facilitate understanding.
Contextualize your design
It is important to explain your work in a way that is easy to understand. Every part of the design has a meaning and a reason, and your task is to communicate this story clearly and persuasively. You should place your work in context and strive to make your client understand how you arrived at your design decisions, clearly explaining your approach and highlighting any important details.
Each client has different needs and concerns. Therefore, it is critical to tailor your presentation to address these specific concerns and show how your proposed design effectively addresses them.
Additionally, adjust your language and presentation so that they are relevant to the customer. Avoid using technical terms that are not necessary and use examples and comparisons that connect with the customer’s experience. An advice? Use keywords that the client mentions during the process to show that you are connected to the project. This will increase your chances of selling your design proposal.
Adaptation to the sector
When presenting a design to a client, it is important to explain how this design fits within the category and competitors. As a designer, you can achieve this by thoroughly researching the competition and aesthetically evaluating the designs used by other brands in the same market.
To better visualize it, you can capture it on a slide that shows how your design compares to other brands in the sector. This visual comparison helps the client better understand their position and make better design decisions.
In addition, it is another way to identify possible differentiation opportunities. This can help your client propose a positioning strategy that stands out in a very saturated market.
This example from Party Cannon, a heavy metal band, demonstrates this perfectly. Its logo does not follow the norms of its category, and is completely different from the rest with a design totally opposite to what the rest of the groups present.
Active listening
When you present a design, it is key to practice active listening. During the presentation, you need to pay full attention, without distractions, to show a real interest in understanding what the client needs and wants. Asking clear questions helps to obtain more information and clarify any doubts, and it is important to validate what the client says with empathy to build a good foundation for working together.
In this sense, showing flexibility based on client feedback also helps strengthen your working relationship. In this way, a relationship of trust and mutual collaboration is built, which not only increases the chances of acceptance of the proposal, but also helps you position yourself as a designer committed to the project.
Persuasive, but respectful: give your client space
This is another important factor. Don’t overwhelm your client with excessive insistence on billing or selling your design proposal. Instead, give him space to reflect and make decisions without pressure. Allow time to evaluate your proposal and consider it in detail.
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Does that “never do what you wouldn’t want done to you” sound familiar to you? Well that. Avoid being the typical heavy salesperson who pushes to close the sale immediately. Nobody likes that. What’s more, make yourself available to the customer to answer any questions or concerns that may arise.
