How To Book Design Clients Who Value Your Expertise

April 19, 2022

Hey, fellow graphic, brand and web designers! Are you ready to book clients that absolutely value your expertise and are excited to work with you? If so, this is the right place to be! You and your work are so worthy of clients that value your expertise. If you have been getting ghosted by your leads lately or if you feel like the leads that you have been getting aren’t quite where you want it to be, then keep reading! I have some great tips on how to really change that! You will be able to consistently connect with the kinds of clients who are going to value your expertise and your work. So if you are excited to have leads who are looking forward to investing and working with you then let’s get to it!

How To Book Design Clients Who Value Your Expertise

Friend, it’s probably happened to us all. You know, when you send over your proposal or you start talking about pricing, and the lead just vanishes into thin air, right? Or maybe you feel like you’re constantly receiving reply emails from potential clients who are saying, “This looks great. I appreciate this proposal, but can you actually come down on the pricing a little bit?”. What they’re doing is they’re trying to haggle your pricing with you or get your services for a little bit cheaper. In some cases they’re saying, “Thanks, but actually we are going to go in a different direction.”

If any of those scenarios sound familiar, or if you are not hearing anything back at all, don’t panic! Don’t get down on yourself. This is normal, but the good news is there is an easy fix. The goal is to be connecting with clients who are excited to work with us, just as we’re excited to work with them. We want it to feel like it’s a good fit all around. 

You are the expert

In the 10 years that I’ve worked with fellow graphic, brand and web designers, I’ve seen hundreds of designers wrestling with this exact situation. So, the first reason you might be hearing the crickets, or your leads are questioning your pricing could be that these leads are not viewing you as the expert. What’s happening here is they are not understand the value that goes into your packages. They don’t quite understand just how transformative the design work you do is and why it matters to them as the customer. Or it’s possible that they are completely missing how your work adds value to their life or their business. 

They might not understand that when they hire you, and when you create the assets that they have hired you to create, they’re going to be able to invite their clients or customers into an elevated experience. They’re going to be able to welcome people into this gorgeous, cohesive, consistent visual presence. The  solutions that we create as designers are truly transformative for our clients, their businesses and their lives. Some leads, especially when they’re first inquiring with you just might not be aware of that. They might not be converting into a excited clients who are throwing their credit cards at you, because they’re not viewing you as the expert. 

But friend, you are the expert! They’re  just not seeing the value. When someone reaches out and they ask for more info, and then they just vanish, that has so much more to do with them than it has anything to do with you! And in my experience, the majority of people who end up ghosting designers, they’re not doing it because they’re bad people. They’re not doing it because they’re rude. They are usually doing it because they’re afraid. They’re afraid of the perceived confrontation of saying no. Or they might be embarrassed. They might see your pricing and actually think, oh, I can’t afford that. And they might feel embarrassed by that. It’s hard to admit sometimes, especially if you have any sort of difficult relationship with money. It can be difficult to admit that that’s actually out of my price range. 

At the end of the day, as a business owner who’s providing these services, you are sharing a solution that meets the problem that this lead has. And if the timing isn’t right, or the investment doesn’t align, that is not anything to do with you. Those things are completely out of your control, just like with any relationship.

If someone ghosts you, there is something so powerful about the two of you getting closure. A simple way you can do that is by sending the easiest email you will ever send to a potential! It can be something as simple as, “Hi. So, and so do you still need help with your branding project? Or do you still need help with your web design project?” You’ll just want to say something like, “do you still need help with xyz and then you sign off.

That’s it, that’s the whole email! I know you might be thinking, wow, Bonnie that is deceptively simple. Yes it is. But you’d be amazed that when you simply reach out and follow up with people and you ask them, Hey, are you still interested? Do you still need my help? Do you still wanna talk about this? Most of the time people reply. They see that and they think, oh, actually, yeah, I do still need help with that. 

Elevate your services

If you’re wanting to see a big shift between the kinds of leads you’re currently getting, and the kinds of leads you want to be getting, we need to start with getting your messaging right. Now, this might not be an instantaneous process, but once you start to see that things are aligning, it’s going to feel like a night and day difference.  How you’re structuring your packages and how you talk about the work you do is a big piece of this puzzle! It’s not just about the way that you are actually reaching out to leads, it’s also about the way that you are putting together services.

In order to elevate your services we want to focus on the powerful transformation that your design work offers your client. When we’re able to do that, we can then show any potential client how life and business will change when they choose to work with us. If you want dive into how to actually start building out packages that are not only profitable for you, but also purposeful and exciting to your ideal clients, then I have a totally free guide where I talk through the simple steps to make this happen.

At the end of the day, when you are positioning yourself as the expert that your client needs you are inviting your potential clients into a level of service that really provides the transformation that they’re looking for. This allows you to do your best work at a price point that excites you as well! We want your clients to value your expertise, your work and your worth! Take this as a reminder friend that you are so worthy!

Clearly communicate your value

Lastly, it’s worth considering that if a potential client is just not understanding how your work is connecting with them, then we have a little work to still do. The transformation that you provide as a designer centers around clear communication. Without clear communication we aren’t able to actively convey the kind of change and value that your ideal clients will experience when they choose to work with you. So here is where we want to get really solid with the messaging on all your social content!

Any where you are talking about your services like your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, sales calls, emails any of that. All of those points of contact that you have with potential client, or audience, is an opportunity for you to paint a clear picture of the transformation that your work provides. This is gong to invite your audience into content that primes them to value your expertise. When your ideal clients sees that you offer a transformation they want, they are going to be so excited to connect with you! They are going to want to reach out to learn from you and work with you and hire you.


I know that might sound almost deceptively simple, but trust me, friend! In the years that I have implemented this process not only in my design business, but I’ve taught hundreds of designers to do the same through my signature program the Brand Strategy School. Connecting with your ideal clients consistently with clear messaging will makes all the difference! This is going to help throw any of those objections out of the way. Having clear, purposeful messaging will also make your ideal client’s life a lot easier because they’re going to know how to find you, how to connect with you and how much growth they’re going to experience when they hire you. Those are the the kinds of leads we want to connect with!

Book design clients that value your expertise

If you’re ready to book design clients that value your expertise, and trade busyness in your design business for purposeful profit, then I would love to invite you to join me for a totally free live training on this very topic! On Wednesday, April 27th at 11am CDT I’m sharing how to hit six-figures in your design business without 40+ hour workweeks. I’m pulling back the curtain on the biggest lessons I’ve learned on building a multiple six-figure business while working 20 hours/week (or less!) over the last 10 years in business. So won’t you join me so we can focus on kicking directionless hustle, busywork, and burnout to the curb for good? 

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THIS FREE MASTERCLASS

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My name is Bonnie – I’m a brand designer, strategist, and writer which all adds up to one eclectic conglomeration of qualities that enables me to serve you well! Past clients have dubbed me "the Joanna Gaines of brand design," and I've had more than a few call me a dream maker, a game changer, and a design wizard (my Harry Potter-loving heart didn't hate that one, let me tell you!). At the end of the day, I'm a big-hearted creative who will get teary-eyed as you share the heart behind your business; who will lose sleep over the perfect font pairings and color selections to bring your brand to life visually; and who will work tirelessly to empower, encourage, and equip you to share your work with the world intentionally. 

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