To all my brand designers, I completely understand how frustrating it can be to put so much effort into your client on-boarding process, only to receive back surface-level answers from your branding clients.

As a designer, receiving in-depth, intentional responses from your branding clients is crucial in order to create a brand visual and message that reflects the heart of their life’s work.

But let me ask you something. When you send out client homework are you receiving back surface-level responses? Can you relate to one or more of the following:

• Responses that completely miss the point of the question on your client on-boarding worksheet?
• Responses that need you to go back to your branding client to walk them through the worksheet question again?

• Responses that NEED follow-up questions in order to even make sense?

• Responses that make you work harder and lead to more frustration at the very beginning of a branding client project?

Instead of spinning your wheels and feeling like you are constantly trying your best to extract the best replies from your sweet branding clients. Let’s flip the script and use an approach that will allow you to get quality, intentional replies from your branding clients time and time again.

How To Bypass Surface-Level Answers From Your Branding Clients

Over the years I’ve been working one-on-one with designers just like you. But especially since walking designers through my signature course, the Brand Strategy School, I keep seeing one common pain point pop up time and time again:

My designer students are receiving surface-level responses from branding clients that make them work harder, lead to more frustration at the beginning of client projects, and they struggle to find their creativity in order to design a brand strategy that delivers results.

You can create the very best client process, but the success of that process really hinges on the fact that your branding clients invest their time and energy to give you the kinds of feedback and insight you need.

Let’s dive into the nitty gritty and let me show you my four signature steps to bypass surface-level answers and how to get to the very heart of your client’s brand in one fell swoop.

STEP 1: CLEARLY OUTLINE WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM YOUR BRANDING CLIENTS

I think one of the biggest pitfalls we can fall into when it comes to our client homework is when we don’t set our clients up with the tools they need to navigate our resources the best way possible.

For example, if you don’t make it known up front how you want your client to respond, then it’s entirely possible they are left scrambling through the client homework with no real expectations of the kinds of responses you need in order to create a brand strategy that will work.

In order to serve your branding clients well and bypass that nonsense altogether, it’s important to clearly set those expectations up front when you are sending out client homework.

Let’s say you have a client worksheet that is important to your design process. This worksheet helps you tailor your design decisions around the information that your clients provide. Then it’s important for you to outline up front how important this particular worksheet is. And, because of that, you need your client to walk through it in a certain way.

Maybe encourage your client to spend a certain amount of time diving into this. Or encourage them to think through this intentionally and dive deep into their replies.

Whatever content you are guiding them through, make it obvious what you expect from them before they start working on it. This is hands down one of the best ways to set you and your client up for success from the very beginning.

STEP 2: SHOW EXAMPLES OF QUALITY RESPONSES

The second step to creating an approach that bypasses answers that just don’t cut it from your branding clients is to actually show examples of quality responses.

These responses can be from past clients you’ve worked with who hit the nail on the head and provided you exactly what you needed that made that project such a joy to create. Or if you haven’t had that client yet, here is where you can create a scenario of sample intentional responses that will help your client see how deep they need to dive into their answers. You can pepper these sample responses into the instructions of your new client homework so it’s easy for them to follow. This is such helpful step for your client to clearly understand the kinds of information they should be sharing with you.

I especially do this with my client homework process because I find that it’s really easy for people to think that an ideal client worksheet is only as deep as where your ideal client shops or the kinds of brands they like.

But with my ideal client worksheet, I actually take it so much deeper than that. We dive into my client’s ideal client demographics and psychographics so I can build a strategic brand that woos their ideal client every single time.

STEP 3: ASK QUESTIONS THAT DEMAND INTENTIONAL RESPONSES

As I mentioned before, a lot of clients think that ideal client worksheets only go as deep as who your ideal client is and where they like to shop for home decor or clothing. But as an intentional brand designer, I know an ideal client profile goes so much deeper than that.

So here is the big secret behind how I’ve nixed surface-level responses: I don’t ask surface-level questions.

I know crazy, right? Instead, I ask questions through my client homework for my sweet branding clients that demands them to think deeper. I ask challenging questions in order for my clients to peel back the layers so they not only can understand who their ideal client is. But also, what kind of experience they want to create for their ideal client through their brand.

I incorporate very deep, intentional questions into all my client homework so we can really hone in on the values, vision, mission, ideal client, brand voice, and messaging of my client’s brand.

There is no way my clients can honestly walk through their homework and provide surface-level answers because the questions are designed in a way where surface-level answers just aren’t possible.

STEP 4: NIX THE TRIAL AND ERROR

The good news sweet friend is that you don’t have to spin your wheels and waste time to go through the trial and error process in order to figure out what kinds of questions to ask, how to ask them, or what works and what doesn’t.

Instead, I’ve created a way for you to bypass surface-level answers from your branding clients with the EXACT worksheets I use that yield quality, intentional responses from my clients every single time. You can snag my signature brand strategy process that will guide you through the proven process I walk my clients through that reveal the heart behind their life’s work time and time again.

I’ve used this signature brand development process to transform my business from blending in and barely making it to thriving and crafting heartfelt brands that authentically convert for my clients.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel!

Doors to my signature course, the Brand Strategy School are opening soon! Add your email below to join the waitlist and be the first to know when registration goes live and receive priority registration access to snag your seat before anyone else!