In the web development and design world, is it possible to be everything for everyone?
The answer is no. Even if you have the time and resources to accomplish any task for your clients, there are bound to be certain ones you do better, faster, and more efficiently than others.
As a business owner, you have a clear incentive to focus on the web development projects that best use your unique skills and resources. This is how you build a web development niche, gradually building new competencies on top of old ones until you confidently say you are an expert in the field.
But if you try to take every project that comes your way, you won’t be able to get there. You’ll be familiar with a broad range of subjects, but you won’t really be an expert in any of them – not compared to someone who has dedicated their business exclusively to that subject.
In today’s expansive, highly-developed economy, there is no shortage of web developers and designers like yourself. If you want to thrive in these conditions, you have to find your niche and market to it successfully.
But in order to do that, you need to know who your clients are. Perhaps more importantly, you need to know who your clients aren’t, and be able to tell them so.
This is where qualifying your clients comes into play. It’s an essential step towards turning your web agency into a successful brand that clients trust.
Position Yourself to Qualify Web Agency Clients Successfully
If you’re new to the web development industry, there’s nothing wrong with taking all the work you can get. You may not have a competitive advantage over more established developers yet and may not be sure what your area of expertise really is.
But after a while, you should start to notice small, essential differences in your projects. Perhaps certain types of clients are consistently happier with your results than others. Maybe you work very quickly under certain conditions. Possibly, you simply enjoy specific projects more than others.
Whatever these differences are, you want to gradually move towards clients whose needs coincide with the services you prefer to provide. Here are some questions you should ask for client selection criteria.
- Does the Client Really Need What You Offer? It’s a bad idea to assume that your talents are so unique that everyone absolutely needs them. Ask yourself whether your skills and expertise really meet the client’s actual needs, and be prepared to suggest they look elsewhere if the answer is no.
- Do You Have Everything You Need to Deliver? If the client agrees to the project, can you start immediately? Or do you need to invest in training, purchase software, or buy other tools first? You should calculate these risks and be prepared to hire dedicated wordpress developer if they are not strictly in your web development niche.
- Can the Client Actually Pay? Nobody likes to admit they don’t have money. If your client doesn’t seem to have a realistic budget, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter obstacles when it comes time to pay.
- How Likely is This Client to Become a Repeat Customer? One-off projects are a valuable part of the web agency experience, but you should prioritize clients you expect to return to your agency. You earn more, spend less on marketing, and enjoy more stable cash flow from repeat customers.
- Is Your Point of Contact the Final Decision-Maker? Be especially wary of anyone who needs to “run your proposal by the boss/committee/board.” You won’t always be able to talk to the final decision-maker for a project, but you should wait until your project is greenlit before sinking severe time into it.
- What’s Your First Impression of the Client? Your intuition is a powerful tool backed by an entire lifetime of experience. If your instincts tell you that a client is untrustworthy, unpredictable, or otherwise difficult to deal with, don’t risk it. You may never know if you were right, but you’ll always know you made the right choice.
How to Qualify Web Agency Clients Before Writing a Proposal
The key to successfully qualifying web agency clients is knowing that they will accept your project proposal before you write it. Otherwise, you can spend countless hours writing proposals and not get a single client on board.
We’ve covered the questions you should ask yourself while talking to a potential client on the phone or via email. Now, let’s cover the questions you should ask the client:
- What is the Problem You’re Trying to Solve? Some clients will assume they need a website or web application “just like x” without considering whether it solves their problems. If you don’t know why your clients need things a certain way, you can become a victim of scope creep later on.
- Have You Tried to Solve this Problem in the Past? Here, you may learn some things that will help you predict how the project will go. Find out why previous solutions didn’t work, and what the cost to the client is if things go wrong this time – use this question to find out how urgent the client’s current need is.
- What’s Your Budget? Good clients know how much they’re willing to spend, and will provide a reasonable budget for their project. If the client deflects and asks you to quote a price, your best bet is to go high. Start with a high price and gauge the client’s reaction.
- How Does Your Budget Sign-Off Process Work? This is one way to determine whether your point of contact is empowered to make the final purchase decision. When it comes down to it, whoever controls the money controls the project.
- What Does Project Success Look Like for You? Consider a specific long-term goal, preferably involving some figures or statistics that you can agree on. This sets a level playing field for discussing deadlines and payment terms as functions of your work.
Always Talk About Pricing Before Sending a Proposal
Once you establish that your web agency is right for the job, price negotiations are the most common breaking point for client qualification. For some people, talking about price is like being in a standoff from an old Western movie – each party waiting for the other to quote a figure before responding with their own.
As it turns out, whoever names a price first has a strategic negotiating advantage. This phenomenon is called price anchoring, and it works.
If you don’t discuss pricing and budgets during initial contact with your clients, you risk giving them sticker shock – sending a custom WordPress development proposal asking for a price way out of proportion to their expectations.
Establish a frame of reference for the value of your work compared to the problem they wish to solve, and you will immediately see better results when qualifying web agency clients.
UnlimitedWP is a white label wordpress development agency that offers web development, design, and marketing services that help businesses grow. We provide our clients with the right tools to reach their goals, and we love taking on any challenge, no matter how big or small you are.