How to Sell Yourself to Do-It-Yourselfers
Image courtesy of johnnyberg @ SXC
Aw, darn. After writing what I thought was a bang-up proposal for a ready-to-buy client, I get word that he’d rather do a basic website himself.
This, despite the fact that he’d already said that he wanted to present a professional image of his organization to grant funders. I seriously doubt that, by going the DIY route, that he’ll create such an image.
So, what’s a freelancer to do, especially after you thought you qualified that prospect to the point that you didn’t think that he or she would have any second thoughts? For starters, learn how to sell yourself. Here are four ideas for selling your services to would be do-it-yourselfers:
1. Let those prospects go through the experience of designing their websites, writing their sales copy, or doing their own product photography. You may be called on to repair the mess. After all, any handyman or woman will tell you that frustrated do-it-yourselfers are their best customers.
2. Even your mind-changing prospects don’t throw up their hands in frustration and come back to you next week, stay in touch. In response to my prospect’s e-mail that said he was heading down DIY Road, I said, “When you’re ready to enhance that basic website with professional design, I’ll be available.” In addition to sending him that message, I’ll also be sending him my monthly e-mail newsletter. And, in the coming months, I’ll make a point to include “before and after” examples of website redesigns.
3. Educate prospective clients – and those who haven’t gotten this far in your sales pipeline – about the benefits of hiring a professional. Dedicate a page on your website to this topic. Create a buzz piece that you can e-mail to people and include on your social networking profile.
When you’re in education mode, it’s important to take a “more than meets the eye” approach. For example, if you’re a designer, explain that building a website requires a lot more than knowledge of site creation software.
In order to do the job effectively, a designer needs to understand layout, use of color, coding, programming languages, current design trends, copywriting, marketing, search engine optimization, and the list goes on. You might want to offer a checklist to help the prospect decide if she has skills in these areas. She probably doesn’t, and that’s why hiring you is a good idea.
4. Understand that, for some people, the allure of DIY Road is so powerful that they’re going to head that way, no matter how long the job takes. Yes, you could ask if the time spent on designing the website could be put to better use, but that’s not an important issue to these people. Control is. They’re micromanagers, and you might be better off if you don’t have them as clients.
This is such a great topic for a post — there’s really nothing else out there like it! I find that too many clients are like this, and just like point number 1, many of them come back only after hours of their wasted time. These are great tips for getting more of them convinced to hire a professional right away. I tend to just drop the ‘diy-ers’ right away, but now I can see the power of staying in touch.
The picture that comes along with this post freaks me out. nice pick
I second that! I thought it was some really mutilated fingers with paper clips sticking out , and only on closer inspection then I realize that it is some good photoshopping.
An interesting approach to topic, interesting read and nice collection also.
yeah.. creepy picture for sure.
But yes, I have a DIY mentality myself. That’s part of how I ended up a freelancer. So, I understand the need to go it on your own. I just always make sure I stay in touch and keep building the relationship. They will eventually call on you for something.
I’m very much a DIY kinda guy, I often find that if people think they’re able to do it themselves then why not let them? Good article, I going to make more efforts to keep in touch with these potential clients (as I should’ve done).
One question I do have which I would like some advise on though, if this potential client is hell bent on taking the DIY path due to finances, what suggestions do you have?
Cheers
I always like to tell them you can’t beat a man at their own craft.
Josh,
I think that as it mentions in the article, you should allow the prospect to try to the project themselves first. Give them the satisfaction that they are in control.
Of course, you must always ensure you are the first person they think of when they need a helping hand repairing any damage.
I get “I found a free website builder online” a lot. i usually tell them that I am not too familiar with those tools then go on to remind them that their website is in most cases their customers first impression and a custom design could really make an impact. After i give them my non-pushy speech i wish them luck and tell them if it turns out to be more than they can handle to give me a call… usually i hear back within the week haha
You’re right about some customers who stubbornly adhere to the DIY route. I have one customer who has spent tens of thousands of dollars implementing his own website, using sub contractors – including the thousands he paid me to work on the layout and is still going it alone.
I actually wrote something like this just recently because I would consider myself a DIYer – basically, I’m the type that likes to figure it out myself and work it out.
It’s hard to sell to these people (such as myself) because you’re trying to overcome a NEED to do things yourself.
But, of course as the post said, you have to stick with them because there will come a time where people just want to find a quick and easy route.
Perfect example: I needed a new theme for an older site I wanted to revamp, I can create them myself but I just wanted to have it done, out of the way and up and running – so I bought a premium theme.
I have to say that there are scenarios where this post may be bad advice.
Speaking from my own experience, what can happen in the real world is that the diy ‘client’ can interpret your ‘stay in touch’ approach as license to pick your brains for free.
I made this mistake in one instance, and I eventually had to be hardassed and tell the prospect that my advice is based on years of blood, sweat and tears and as such does not come for free. If they wanted me to help design the site, that’s called work and here are my rates.
As you can imagine, the ‘prospect ‘ did not react well. A bridge burned I’ll grant you, but some prospects are not prospects at all. Your energies are better spent with those who are serious about your services.
A prospect that cannot see the value of professional design is essentially questioning the very validity of your occupation. You shouldn’t have to justify your existence.
The kind of people I’ve run into who think like that, are unpleasant to deal with, treat you as a flunky and more often than not quibble when invoice time arrives.
If you’re hard up for business, then stay in touch by all means. We all fall on hard times, don’t I know it, so I’m not being judgemental.
But to paraphrase a saying, for those who question the need for professional design, no answer will suffice.
This is a great, timely and comforting post. I think I must make press/pr look a lot easier than it is…it does come easily to me but only easily after 25 years in the biz:-) I told a colleague on Friday that if I was only half as smart as my current DIY prospect thinks she is, I would be freakin’ brilliant!!!
I really enjoyed this post. And just like many of the previous commenters,I too am a DIY-er. I think a lot of people in the freelance business would naturally fit into this category, as they opted for a more solo road than a corporate or other job would offer.
I like your first two points about letting clients go the DIY route and then reminding them that you are there to help if they need it. This is a non-pushy way to stay on their radar and show them that you understand their inclination to do their own web development – but that you are always available to touch up anything they might not be able to tackle.
Yeah, I’m one of those people that designed my own web site even though I’m not a professional web designer. And messed a bunch of things up.
But, it doesn’t have to be an either/or relationship: either the DIY person does it and messes it up, or they come to you?
You might have better luck if you look at the potential for a collaboration and partnership.
After all, design is something everyone has knowledge of, and opinions about, even if they aren’t professional designers. A lot of DIYers know professionals can do it better, but they want the satisfaction of doing it themselves, exploring their creative ideas, and to flex/expand their skills. They might also prefer to spend the time, and save the cash.
You could offer partial services for people who have a DIY mentality–and offer a proportional discount — for example, you could offer to consult when they have questions, critique their ideas, code their design, or copy edit the writing. You wouldn’t have to do all the work and you could let them handle the tasks they’re confident about themselves. Assess the client’s strengths, and offer to build on them, rather than take creative control away fully, and then you’re feeding the DIY soul and getting a client too.
Interesting to see this post, I just posted a similar one on my blog about DIY Custom Software Development: http://redbitbluebit.com/diy-custom-software/
I tried to frame the idea as building a prototype rather than the actual thing. My advice to business owners is to find a mentor who can help guide the design and who would eventually be the developer to create the software.
As freelancers, all we can do is look at this as pre-sales work while taking care to not be taken advantage of. DMan states very valid concerns – we need to make sure this turns into a sale before spending a great deal of effort. Perhaps if we frame it as “If you do X now, it will make Y easier when we redesign” that will help. The customer needs to understand their solution is often a stop-gap rather than a final version.
In this area I run into this A LOT.
This market doesn’t understand the need for professional design services. I will share a quick story with you:
I was approached by someone over a year ago about rebuilding their website. I discussed it with them and submitted my estimate only to be told that I was too expensive. I won’t share my rate here because it was a special circumstance, suffice to say I was WAY low on the estimate as a favor.
about 4 months ago I got a call asking me to “fix” the site. The client had someone do it for free…ahem, free. The site’s code was butchered beyond recognition and I decided that if I was to fix it I would prefer to start over. Even with starting the site itself from a clean slate there were other messes to clean up with the host and email set ups.
The client has now paid me almost twice what I originally quoted because she wanted something for nothing.