Questions to ask at the first discussion with a client

Hi pros,

I just received an email from a firm saying they want me to call them with a quote. This is the first response I got from somebody! I am excited but at the same time, I am thinking, what would my first discussion with this client be? What are the questions I need to ask them. Do I directly give them a fixed price or how should I tackle it. Also, do the clients pay the amount before hand or how does it work? Sorry about all these basic queries..I would appreciate if anyone could help me out in understanding the basic steps in designing a website.

Thanks.

Suna

Many designers work in different ways. Some like to take "X" deposit before they begin the work whilst others will just do the job and then ask for payment afterwards.

You may like your client to sign some sort of contract or agreement which shows that they and you both know how much you are charging and when. Whilst supplying design ideas and the like, it is sometimes also a good idea to watermark your images with your logo just in case they run off with your designs!

There is a lot of information out there for newbie designers, in fact just a quick perusal of google brings up quite a lot of useful info on freelancing. Take a look at sitepoint.com - you can usually get a lot of good tips of there.

Hope this helps somewhat! Best Wishes,

Michael

Hey Suna,

The first thing you are going to need to know is what work is involved, What pages need designing, what coding needs to be done, how many pages they want creating do they want you to add content things like that. Once you know how much work is involved you can quote them a price that you are happy with, you may also wish to request a deposit. Once they are happy with the completed work they will pay you the remaining amount. Never send source files etc unitll money has been recieved

Good luck!

Yes, I would agree with some of the points raised from both mwpresentations and bazza. First you need to establish the requirements of the project, this includes everything from the number of pages that need to be built, the format (flash/html) images to be used (stock/your own camera) and other information surrounding the project in general.

You're then need to fill them in on (what I would suggest) a 50% downpayment procedure, whereby they pay an initial deposit (non-refundable) at the beginning of the project and then a further 50% at the end. A contract should also be drawn up outlining this.

where did Site5 come from?

anyways, as said above, you first need to get as much detail about the project as possible. not just what pages need to be designed, but also things such as target audience and overall theme to the site (content based or showcase). work on color schemes and outline potential ideas for the site. clients like to be informed as much as you do. keep them in the loop about what your thinking, and take in their suggestions (its their site, let them make as many decisions as possible, but if it comes down to it, show your expertise in design and tell them what will work and what wont, some clients need that hehe)

be honest and upfront is all i really have to say.

Thankyou pros for the advices! They were very helpful to me. I did discuss all these guidlines with them, I sent them my quote but haven't heard back from them

Anyways thanks again!

Cheers,
Suna

Originally Posted by suna13 I did discuss all these guidlines with them, I sent them my quote but haven't heard back from them

This is a fairly common occurence, don't get disheartened by it. Remember we fail 9 out of 10 times