Clientophilic Freelancing by Shoaib Hussain is an ebook I was recently given a copy of and asked to review. I must admit from the title I thought, what the heck is this going to be about.
What is Clientophilic Freelancing?
Cleintophilic freelancing is an ebook aimed at freelancers including graphic and web designers who need a bit of help with their sales skills (ie they are clientophobic). It is not going to help you promote your design work, but once you do get a meeting set up aims to help you convert it into a live design job with better sales techniques.
Lets face it the majority of us designers are not great sales people. I think it is far easier for someone not actually doing the work to sell – they generally don’t think about the technical problems in the brief or the timing, they just listen and say, yes, we can do that (and leave us to curse when they get the job!).
This book looks at the psychology of different types of people and gives you ideas of the best ways to approach each of them. Along with this there are very general tips which should make any potential client feel at ease. A few of the techniques you may have heard of but I am sure there will be some you haven’t. For example one technique suggested is to repeat back what the client says. For example if they were saying they were looking for a very corporate typographic logo, which must be blue and include a given strapline when they had finished telling you about it you would say Ok When I get back to the office I will sort out a quote for your logo, I understand it needs to be very corporate and typographic based and include your strapline and retain your companies existing blue. This apparently makes the client feel like you are listening to them and have understood the given information. Its funny it’s something I know I actually do at meetings, though I do it more to make sure I have understood all the information correctly (so I am doing something right).
Personally I wouldn’t be comfortable to try out some of the tips straight away in case I made it too obvious and the book itself recommends you practice the techniques out on friends and family first – obviously without telling them to see if it works. (Who knows, maybe you can use the techniques to talk one of your friends into buying you dinner 
)
Should I get Clientophilic Freelancing?
If you are new or nervous about meeting with potential clients or are struggling to convert a meeting into a sale then Clientophilic Freelancing will probably help you.
If you need help with promoting yourself to find new clients in the first place see my review of 10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives
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4 Comments
Thanks for recommending the book. I am guilty of being a clientophobic. I have always feared client phone calls and I usually communicate with them through chat or emails. There were times when I would say that I don’t have a headset or don’t have good coverage. I know its not good at all but I’m not really a good “talker”. I am a person of few words and straight to the point. Well, I know I should be working on improving my communication skills and this book might help.
Good one…Much needed one indeed…Often i get requests from people to teach them how to handle client…Now i will be able to refer them this book
Many thanks
Smita
I might have to invest in this, this job would be great if it weren’t for the clients! Shame it’s an ebook, a nice hardback would come in handy to hit them over the head with!
Seriously though any ideas from others in the industry is always going to be welcome, I’ve got a lot of experience in both sales, design & print but combining them is a bit of a nightmare, what a client wants out of a printing & design project and what they think is good design & print are two very different things which can be almost impossible to work round. I work from York, UK, it’s a beautiful place but the residents don’t seem to look beyond the city walls when it comes to ideas!
Hi Simon
If you are looking for ways to get your company noticed then the book on self promotion might be better for you. This one is more about sales techniques once you have a client meeting. I am in Northamptonshire UK and its not really a big design place either.