How to negotiate with a client. The most important rules.

Be communicative, being able to communicate is almost half the success for placing an order. Most often it is necessary to develop by improvisation..

Often, even if the customer is from your city, it is still easier to communicate by mail, it’s so unnecessary to prepare for negotiations and it’s easier to answer slowly. Sometimes it is useful to collect information about the customer, who, what he does and with whom he collaborates. You can simply search in the search engines for the full name or postal address. Try to understand what problem the customer wants to solve, what is its end goal. For example, when ordering a newsletter, the client wants to receive a non-mailing, and increase site traffic and also when developing a site, the client wants to increase revenue at the lowest cost. Prepare a questionnaire for the client in which make a list of questions.

List of Questionnaire Questions:

Full company name
Year of foundation
Slogan
Company's mission
Specialization (as detailed as possible)
Strengths advantages of the company
Competitors (it is desirable to specify websites)
Text Direction (news information, acquaintance with companies, goods, services)
Technical information (product characteristics, peculiarities, distinctive features of the goods, services)
Advertising of goods and services (which are needed which are and if so show what you have).
The volume of text FOR ARTICLES is a standard page 1800 characters with spaces.
Company `s logo.

If the client is not willing to fill out the questionnaire, fill it out yourself in non-verbal communication about the task..

After compiling the questionnaire, speak with the client once again a clear statement of the task.. Last but not least, think about finances.. “I almost forgot about money“. Then you name your cost, or if you agree, then it can be determined, but the final cost can be determined after a clear statement of the problem.

Do's and Don'ts in Negotiations. How to behave in negotiations?

The very first way to negotiate, if you can't see the face, and it depends, will it be permanent or not?. There is such a type of communication as emoticons. But don't put them, until the client himself starts to install them, because you never know what mood your client is in. If he's in a bad mood, emoticons can only annoy. It is better to start a conversation with neutral greetings HELLO or good afternoon. Appeal to the customer on you and better with a capital letter, though not essential. It’s better when the client himself offers to switch to you, it’s more convenient for many and it means a lot, he wants to get closer and start talking on an equal footing. But don't be too hard on the client., as it may affect payment, as they say it is inconvenient to take money from friends.

If you are not prepared to work with a client, you can safely give him a link to the portfolio and unsubscribe such words as “look at my general level of work, and I will look for specific works for you in the archive".

Let's summarize how to negotiate:

Don't start negotiations with money
Don't think about the answers for a long time, but give the right ones.. Better get ready.
Can't give vague answers. Prices must be clearly stated.
If we own the topic, you can get a discount.
If the project is for a large company, prices rise slightly. Due to the fact that it is not the end customer who has to present the project. Many different leaders claim.
Some customers are used to paying a lot and the low price is suspicious. Therefore, increase the price to such a customer in 1,5-2 times. But not for small or medium businesses.
Don't interrupt the customer. Like a date. Talk less, listen more. Let it talk until it runs out. Then start talking about, what you don't understand.
Do not give advice to the customer until he trusts you, even if you are right (for example, a customer wants to create an online store, although it might be better for him to do promotion). If the customer is new, you are not an authority for him and he simply considers it disrespectful. Nobody listens to the advice of strangers, and you are just that for him. Start a conversation with how important your work is (for example site optimization). When the client listens, he will most likely ask himself a question about the cost and discounts about other ways of promotion. After that, smoothly move on to the fact that this may be more important for him than the work that he himself planned, that online store.
If you find a regular client, he will most likely be with you for a long time.. Our people are used to trusting one brand, products, people, therefore, the freelancer will most likely be alone.
Any negotiations must end with a clear result. (working on or not). If the client finishes the phrase, I will contact you later or think. Most often this means that the project will go to another. If the client says, I’ll think about it, you can pull him out for a conversation with the phrase, What exactly do you need to think about?, let's discuss this issue hopefully we will come to a favorable solution. If he declines, ask when it would be convenient to contact him..
If everything is agreed, check whether the customer understood correctly how much he will have to pay. If it can be misunderstood, the buyer will misunderstand (price for 1000 signs with spaces).
Save the text of negotiations with the client. When meeting in person, record the conversation on paper.

I already have an article about questionnaires “Brief and questionnaire“. The article describes the types of questionnaires and the rules for compiling. Read it at your leisure, I think it will be useful to you.

In addition, I have sample questionnaires that can be downloaded from the article or from the links below..

An example of a client questionnaire for website development

An example of a client questionnaire for corporate identity development

If there is an interesting task for compiling a brief, send, agree on a price. Also order websites in our design studio, website development brief you already have.