3 Key Elements of the Perfect Client Pitch

by Margaret Penney | March 24, 2016

You found the perfect job or project opportunity from a client and you want to do everything you can for the client to choose you. It’s time to take on a role of guiding and leading the client to ensure that you find the perfect solution for their project. It is just a matter of getting your client to see how your design satisfies their requirements and contains everything they need and want. Take a look at these three key elements of the perfect client pitch.

Show You’ve Listened and Ask Questions

Clients are interested to hear what you have to say to them, after all they’ve hired you or you’ve made it far enough along in the process to pitch your big new idea or design to them. But, it is also important to ask them questions and engage in a conversation.

First step is to let them know that you have paid attention to what they’ve said about their company and what they need.

Whatever you have to offer them should come from a place of knowledge about them and not be some completely new and arbitrary design approach that seems to be coming from out of nowhere.

If there are differences of opinion, find out more about where they are coming from, ask your client more about how they think–this opens the door for a more detailed, constructive and nuanced conversation with them about potential design solutions.

If the client finds that you understand their story and what their goals are they will be more likely to trust your recommendations.

Be Interesting and Be Yourself

A good client pitch is usually an interesting one. What’s the point of having a new design unless the new approach, including the pitch, is totally engaging and interesting?

Beyond just having killer designs, there are other ways to amp up the presentation. First, be yourself! The client will probably be able to tell if a designer is acting more experienced than they are. If the client pitch is taking place over the phone, speak in an engaging and articulate way. You can also include some interesting factoids about your design approach as well, like including life experiences of the typographer who created the font you are suggesting.

Consider having cleverly designed handouts for the meeting, or including high impact graphical mood boards along with the final design you showcase too.

Show Value

Showing the value and potential results of your work is a very important aspect of a client pitch because it usually speaks to what the client ultimately wants. If you are a designer, the client has hired you to help them have a better design so that they can go out and reposition themselves in the marketplace, or have a stellar product launch, gain more sales, and succeed.

If you are a designer who can also speak to how your design will be perceived positively by the customer or how your website design will facilitate sales, then you should do so.

In your design research, if you can point to inspiring companies that have taken similar approaches, this can also help to bolster your views. Here is one of the talking points you could use: “I only want what’s best for your project. And from all of the satisfied clients I have worked with in the past, I have a very good feel for the market. So trust me when I say that this is your best way forward.”

Ultimately, whatever you can do to speak to the value of your work both from a design and business perspective, you should do.

Margaret Penney is the Managing Editor of Notes on Design. Margaret is a teacher, designer, writer and new media artist and founder of Hello Creative Co.

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