“The last designer didn’t do a good job and I dunna why I hadda pay for artwork that doesn’t work nuh!”
... I spoke about opportunity cost in an earlier article, how it can affect your income and how to calculate the opportunity cost of working with one designer over another. So I'm skipping right to the thoughts surrounding design: whether or not there should be an outcome attached to a designers work, and the other side of the coin, what clients don't consider when design don't live up to the hype.
When I first started blogging, the problem I had with it was not understanding why I was doing it. That all changed the day I got my first One-Page Project client from a blog I wrote. So in the case of someone cluelessly paying for design services, while simultaneously looking for some sort of ROI on the other end of their transaction, I totally understand it: you're the type of business owner who knows you want professional design services, you just don't know why. In a sense, you're asking for the words.
I'm sorry if no one told you that before, but I've seen it providing my own services how clients will often tell us what they need help with, just not in the way we (the service provider) need it to be expressed.
So looking for a designer who can connect their work to some sort of outcome, like connecting your own services to an outcome so things like upping your prices or even more clients can be a logical expectation to have, isn't an unrealistic goal.
...But, Unfortunately, Some Folks Do Purchase Ferraris To Only Park It In Their Garages.
If I built a website, and not many people are attracted to what's being sold because the client "doesn't like marketing", then "lack of sales" isn't soley based on the design. If I develop a process to help them onboard their clients easier, but they never use it because "they're fearful of directing a prospect to their website", then its fair to deduce that the "artwork working" is also dependant on another factor. So when design fails it isn't (if they do their job) the designers fault. Just pay attention to their line of questioning, and you (business owner), will find that your designer is creating under the assumption, that there is a purchasing public when you come to them; that you intend to conitnue marketing your services or at least learn to, especially if you don't know how and you're looking to generate new business, and that you're going to actually use the work created.
No professional designer whimsically churnout designs. There's always some sort of system in place to produce a road map to guide and influence what will be the final product.
That said, it's because so much of the local small business community seeking design services are either double-minded, slow or dishonest when it comes to the information that goes into the creation of that document, that local designers either cherry pick their clients or drawback on being paid for an outcome.
What am I saying? Visual design only plays a supporting role in your business goals.
The work of getting the brand seen, telling potential customers and clients about your website and educating them on how to use it begins after it’s built. Remember, you established and designed this thing for a specific reason. Brand awareness is something you work at. A brand stored in your Google drive isn't going to help you get infront your ideal clients to generate new business. In order for your website to "make monotonous processes in your business more efficient so you’re not caught wasting time on leads that don’t convert", you have to show up when someone schedules a call with you and know how to determine whether or not they're is a good fit, you need to have a plan in place to move them from a prospect to a customer and you need to implement your process. Someone's reluctance to fall in line with how you work should be a red flag that they're not the right type of customer or client for you, instead of a scarlet letter on your priorities.
It's time to shake the fairy tale concept of design being some 'magic pill' for business problems as if what you said or subsequently do after the work has been created had and has nothing to do with the outcome!
So, if for all your designer’s effort discussing, planning, designing, and edifying you on the proper use of your website, you simply ignore it and as a result, remain in the same situation you were in prior to the design, it’s no one’s fault but your own. It isn't your web designer's job to jump-start your memory on the purpose you got a website in the first place, or to motivate you to advertise your services. That's something you should naturally carry in your conscience because you care about the experiences the people you serve have with your services, and also love what you do.
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