Why a short online meeting is better than written briefs. What a pre-project call gives you. How to conduct a mit effectively. Stages of the meeting, recommendations, discussion of mistakes and subtleties.
When you take on a new order, you need to get introductions. To do this, designers often ask for a written brief. But in practice, customers can rarely do this fully, do not always understand the question or simply do not find time to disclose the topic. Discuss all the nuances orally - much more effective. And faster. Just one meeting lasting up to an hour will help to get deeply into the topic, find out the details and clearly understand the tasks. That's why we recommend working this way.
Let's discuss the nuances of such a meeting based on our own experience.
1. Preparation
Before meeting with a client, you need a preparatory stage. Ideally, conduct an audit of his business and study all the details, statistics, advertising. You also need to search for competitors in the region and abroad yourself, analyze what they have there. And looking at competitors' websites is the minimum task. You need to get into the essence of the sphere, operate with terminology, understand the base. How this will help:
- you will already formulate important questions that you will ask at the meeting;
- you will reduce the time of the meeting itself, as you will not have to explain the essence of the activity from scratch;
- you will look professional - it's obvious that you understand the topic, that you're aware of the problem and that you're already working on the issue.
The preparation stage is one of the most important. You'll be generating ideas as you go along, so write them down. Save links to successful sites of competitors or screenshots of important blocks. Prepare questions - why others do it this way and not otherwise. Note for yourself templates and color schemes to make something original.
2. Meeting
Preferably do this at an online meeting with cameras. Facial expressions when answering sometimes say more than text. And in general, live communication helps to establish contact, to understand each other.
Who to call? Everyone who is directly related to the product and promotion on the customer's side. But not a crowd, but just a couple of people who can clearly set the task and answer questions. On your part, you can take a programmer, if the functionality of the site should be complex. And also a manager, if the order is taken through him. If you attract a copywriter to create content - at the meeting he should definitely be there.
Create a general chat, it will come in handy. Agree a convenient time for the mit, taking into account time zones (we are freelancers and work remotely, don't forget).
Record the screen during the meeting with the consent of all participants. First, the video can be reviewed later so you don't miss details. Secondly, it will become a confirmation of the agreements, if there are suddenly controversial issues.
Optimal timing is 45-60 minutes. Longer meetings are tiring.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. It's better to appear stupid than to give out a bad product later.
3. Script
You should have a file of basic questions prepared. And before the meeting, you will add a few more questions that you have during the preparation stage. What you definitely need to find out:
- The purpose of the site.
- What exactly we offer, what we show on the site.
- Target audience.
- Geography of activity + delivery conditions, the possibility of visiting the office.
- What questions end users ask when ordering, what they doubt, why they can refuse (working off objections).
- The main call to action and how the form should look like.
- Links to all relevant materials - social media pages, websites, lendings, presentations, brandbook, advertisements.
Find out how this product differs from other similar ones, what are the advantages of the offer/service - you need to make a powerful unique selling proposition. Be sure to clarify the disadvantages as well, sometimes you need to know them so that you don't promise too much or emphasize weaknesses.
The issue of credibility. You need to place convincing arguments on the site why you need to trust the company. This can be testimonials, experience of experts, cooperation with large firms, certificates (if it is important for the industry and for the end consumer).
Be sure to find out what the frequently asked questions from clients are. It is not necessary to sew them into the FAQ block, you can simply describe important aspects in separate blocks. This will help the site visitor to immediately understand the essence, without asking for help and detailed explanations. In turn, this will bring better quality submissions and increased trust.
Request all the photos and videos you have. You'll choose the right ones for the site. It's always better to use the customer's materials than one-faced solutions from photo stock sites.
Also ask to drop references - the customer should show what kind of sites he likes. Let him give wishes on style and direction. This will help to make the project accepted without lengthy revisions.
If the customer already had a site, then discuss what can be taken from there, what is outdated, what was his problem and why now you need a new one.
4. Working Points
You can ask for help from ChatGPT to compose your questions, but be sure to proofread them. And don't substitute this for your own preparation for the mitu! ChatGPT can be useful to you in other tasks as well, we wrote more about it in one article.
Use the question file to take notes during the conversation. Write down everything you have time for. Save screenshots and references. Later, after the call, you'll put these notes in order and can already use them to build the structure of the site.
During the conversation, keep a list with "homework" for the client. This is what he will find later and throw you - all sorts of figures, reports, links, tables, data about the team and other details. Drop this list into the general chat so that the client doesn't forget what you need from him. And so you can navigate what other information is coming. It's also your opportunity to stall - to extend deadlines, if the customer did not send something critical for the project in time.
When you get everything - first make a prototype and coordinate it. After that, proceed to the design. Trust me, it will be easier that way. We wrote a separate material about the importance and subtleties of prototyping.
The main mistakes
Too general questions. If you haven't prepared for the mit and ask typical questions that can be framed for any niche - it discourages and shows your superficial attitude to the project. Prepare clear questions.
Unclear questions. In most cases, the client does not understand the intricacies of website development. So explain in clear words what you need and why. Do not load terminology - it does not show your expertise, but only humiliates the interlocutor. If it is appropriate - give examples when the question is not quite clear.
Too narrow specialization. You're making a website. But you need to find out what are the plans for promotion in general, whether there are plans to expand services, whether the application will be launched. This will help to take into account many nuances when creating the project. And it is also a chance to get an additional order - for advertising banners, for the design of social networks or for the design of merchandise.
Questions without specifics. You don't need to listen to an hour-long lecture about brand values and missions. It can be described in two sentences. Ask clearly - each of your questions will eventually become a block on the site. So focus on specific answers without water.
Budget inconsistency. If in the course of the conversation you realize that the client wants much more than was agreed, then do not hesitate to say it immediately. Perhaps he thinks that his idea is easy to realize, and in fact it is labor intensive. You can immediately discuss the scope of the budget, reject something, add something. We talked in detail about pricing in a separate article "Web design: how to set prices", review it just in case.
100% agreement. If you already realize at the stage of the meeting that the customer wants something absurd - gently let them know that the idea will not work well. Without categorical expressions, but clearly and clearly. Immediately offer other solutions, rely on your experience, cases, examples of competitors. You act as an expert, convey your idea beautifully and try not to make projects for which you will be ashamed later.
In conclusion
It happens that already in the process of agreement the project falls off. So that your preparation was not in vain read the material "How to minimize rejections in freelancing".
During the meeting with the client, it is important for you to understand what purpose the site will fulfill and what exactly the customer wants. In a conversation it is much easier to find out than through filling out all sorts of forms. You can directly discuss points that are inappropriate in business correspondence - in person you will already build a kind of relationship.
Often after the meeting you need time to gather additional materials, during which new questions appear. If there are a lot of questions, feel free to schedule another call. It's better to spend half an hour talking and clarifying everything than to work on a project that turns out to be "not quite right."
Show interest, expertise and knowledge of the topic. Offer your solutions right away - describe how it can be and how it will work. The client himself will not tell you what kind of parts he needs, he must choose from the proposed options.
And you should not forget about your own appearance. The first impression is important. And if you turn on the cameras, the customer should not see a pot of borscht on the background and a holey home T-shirt. Take care of a beautiful picture that helps pitch you as a professional.
You'll learn more about freelancing, communicating with customers and web design in the online course "UX/UI Legend". Recruitment for the new stream is already open, don't miss your chance!