16 Questions That Will Give You An Edge

Before hiring a designer, or setting your name on legal paperwork, make sure you have a solid idea of who you are, what you offer and how you wish to be seen out there in the cold world of business.

Written Sep 04, 2008, read 605 times since then.

Before hiring a designer, or maybe even before setting your name on legal paperwork, make sure you have a solid idea of who you are, what you offer and how you wish to be seen out there in the cold, cruel world of business.

I have been told by numerous clients and other professionals that this questionnaire is so simple -- only sixteen questions! -- yet powerful in really getting them to think about who they are and what they do (hence the title of the form). I have had a long time to really reduce all of the input I need from my clients into these sixteen questions and have had a great deal of success from using it.

Some questions are reworded to get the maximum brain activity, focus, understanding and articulation possible. You will be amazed if you can answer the same way twice if you are really thinking about the questions.

I am the kind of person that feels it is a shame not to share a great idea or a useful tool -- and I'm not even charging! If you are in a related field, feel free to modify this to your needs, if you feel it will work for you and your clients. If you aren't sure, test it out on clients you already have to see if their answers make sense for the projects you are working on with them. The last thing a client wants is more useless paperwork.

The way this form works is you want to finish each thought. I recommend approaching these statements in two ways. When you first read the statement, your mind will have been creating an answer that you have pre-programmed yourself to say (elevator speech?); write that down! Then re-read the statement again and articulate your response, or even formulate a new one if what you wrote the first time made you cringe with it's overly vague nature -- that may be the same reactions your prospects have felt.

Before I let you tackle those statements, I would like to request that if you do take the time to really assess yourself utilizing this form, please leave a comment with your experience either on this page or on my profile page. I love feedback and knowing I am actually contributing to our community.

WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DO
Please finish each of these statements.

1. When your clients meet with you, the first thing they notice about you is:

2. You associate yourself closely with the following adjectives:

3. The main product/service you are promoting is:

4. Additional products/services you would like to promote are:

5. When someone looks at any of your marketing materials (printed and web), you want them to think:

6. You take pride in your ability to:

7. The things that make your business & you unique from others in your industry are:

8. When you have time to reflect on your business, the first concerns and/or accomplishments that come to mind are:

9. The “perfect” image you would like to project to your potential market is one of:

10. Your target market is:

11. Colors you associate yourself with mostly and give you a sense of comfort and calm are:

12. Your office / work environment feels and looks like:

13. Your clients most want:

14. The goal of your new web presence is to:

15. Your official company name is:

16. Your official tag line or marketing slogan is:

Learn more about the author, Brandi Pierce.

Comment on this article

Posted by Sandra Watson, Seattle, Washington | Sep 04, 2008

Brilliant questionnaire Brandi. Love the active energy needed to answer each question. Will definitely tweak it and use with clients; great clarity tool.

planning with you in mind
Posted by Brandi Pierce, Seattle, Washington | Sep 04, 2008

Hi Sandra,

Thank you so much for the positive feedback. Glad it helps! =)

Brandi

Come realize the power of COLOR.
Posted by Paul Kruglik, Seattle, Washington | Sep 05, 2008

Brandi, thanks so much for posting. Despite the fact that I strongly believe in and feel very passionate about the value my firm provides, it is sometimes difficult to articlulate. I spent some time on your exercise this evening and gained some clarity just by noodling on the questions for a bit.

Thanks again!
Posted by Adam R.T. Smith, Toronto, Ontario Canada | Sep 05, 2008

Brandi.

As a designer myself, this is a great questionnaire.

However, and I am in no way disagreeing with anything you have said here at all, I think that most businesses, clients, or individuals need an open and real-time conversation to pull the answers out. It's like it's our responsibility as designers to dig, explore and enlighten on their behalf as impartial third parties. That we can look at both the client and their target market at the same time equally and without prejudice, is our most valuable skill.

Designers are researchers, explorers and translators, we communicate in emotions, concepts and abstraction. Which positions us as the ultimate catalyst to self-investigation and self-understanding for our customers. This is our core value - and I wish more designers understood this... as obviously you certainly do.

Again - great article. I wish all my clients read this questionnaire and seriously, honestly, answered each question before our first meeting.

Solid concentration of the core drivers of b2c and B2b communication.
Posted by Brandi Pierce, Seattle, Washington | Sep 07, 2008

Paul: I'm happy to hear that those questions helped you gain some clarity. I love how that happens! Thank you for sharing.

Adam: I really enjoyed your response. You got a lot out in just a few paragraphs and I can see you share the belief of quality client care. Thank you so much for writing. I definitely enjoy hearing from fellow designers.

Thank you all again for taking the time to read and contribute. Feel free to share this with friends. Spread the love! =D

Come realize the power of COLOR.
Posted by Richard Whitaker, Federal Way, Washington | Sep 08, 2008

If people would take time to answer and then evaluate their answers, it would give them a terrific advantage in the business.

Rich

Success Connection
Posted by Cherie Killilea, Spokane, Washington | Sep 12, 2008

Great questions, Brandi. I especially like the order of the questions. By the time I got to 16, I realized I need a new tag line or marketing slogan to go with my new business model. I also gained clarification on where I need to focus my marketing efforts - on my target market. That may seem silly, but it is easy to get drawn into marketing opportunities that take my focus off of the target, especially since I am closing out one biz plan and starting up the new direction. Come to think of it, I probably need to update my profile here too! Thank you Brandi, I'm glad I stopped in this morning. Cherie
Posted by carol stanley, newport, Oregon | Sep 13, 2008

You certain know what works..carol stanley author of For Kids 59.99 & Over
Posted by Brandi Pierce, Seattle, Washington | Oct 23, 2008

I have been extremely busy, but have not forgotten (entirely, anyway) about this post.

Please check out BrandiPierce.com as I am writing my articles there now. =)

Come realize the power of COLOR.
Posted by Brent Haeseker, Ocala, Florida | Oct 23, 2008

Great article Brandi, asking questions is the key to a successful client relationship. It is also the way to stand out from the pack when negotiating a contract with a new client that has bids out to other firms. "I hadn't thought of that" or "No one has asked me that before" are good responses to hear and indicates to a client or potential client that you are probing deeper than your competition. The more you make a client or potential client think, the more they think about you!
Posted by Brandi Pierce, Seattle, Washington | 4 weeks ago

Thanks so much for checking out my article, Brent. I greatly appreciate the feedback!

Yes, I definitely like to make my clients think and see how much potential there is to really make them stand out. =)

Come realize the power of COLOR.