Speaking to a client can have many different outcomes including positive and negative effects. The purpose of this page is to articulate items we need from the client and optimizing their time with us in a minimum time frame.
It’s important to always have control of the conversation. YOU ask the questions, YOU clarify, YOU make suggestions. Refrain from asking open-ended questions. Review the account and the order, know what your objectives are and stick to it. If a client talks about unrelated items, bring them back to your keypoints and what you’re trying to accomplish. Remain calm and if there’s a question that you’re not sure of, write it down and simply let them know you’ll get back to them with an appropriate answer. It’s very easy for a client to see a conversation going south, they will lose interest. So keep your momentum going, energy level up, at all times!
During your initial conversation with client, please ensure you have the following items clearly understood:
- Client/doctor personality or office dynamic
- Patient demographic
- Location
- Colors
- Layout
- Website References
- Content: Doctor Biographies or bullet points
Start the conversation with an overall preview of the steps and tell them what is the goal for today’s conversation.
1. Personality/Office Dynamic
It’s important that the design either reflects the client’s personality or the office dynamic. There will be clients that would like a deep, dark design when the actual doctor is an energetic, colorful person.
- Is doctor energetic or have a calming manner?
- Would you like to focus on doctor’s accomplishments or more of the office?
- Do you have other staff members or doctors you’d like to mention at this point?
Personable, Humble Doctor – probably should have lighter, more colorful, happy photography, brigher colors
Traditional, Serious, Stern Doctor – probably would like contrast, big photo of doctor in front, serif fonts, experience, logos, deeper color tones (black, earthy, burgundies, navys)
2. Patient Demographic
The website is made for the prospective clients/patients. It should speak to the patient primarily but with doctor’s personality mixed with it. If a doctor is targeting elderly but wants surfboards and kittens, this will not engage that generation.
- What age group do you often see? Children, young adults, middle-aged or seniors?
- What age group are you targeting?
- Is there a particular ethnicity that primarily visits your office? Would you like to target others?
- Is there an income level that your patients fall under? Cash patients, Medicare, working class, business people, or insurance only?
It’s important to know who/what they’re targeting so that we may select proper photos, font sizes, legibility, navigation, etc.
Soccor Moms (or children) – They have a full schedule, therefore the website has to offer things that would make it easier for them to reach the office: forms, highlighting buttons, clear directions, family oriented photos.
Business Professionals – pictures should be of appropriate ages. They have income, they probably care about how the website is visually: clean? appropriate? enough graphics? This is an easy category.
Elderly – They simply cannot see very well. Items should have enough padding, big enough font sizes, simplified graphics, CLEAR organization, not too many things coming at them. Traditional layouts.
Ecomonical vs. Luxury – Medical patients are much different than patients that don’t care about pricing. Lower incomes might look for insurance, promos, and location. Higher incomes might look for reputation, testimonials, pictures of office/doctor.
3. Location
Location is almost related to patient demographic as beach bums of California are different from busy New Yorkers. One is laid back whereas others might not have time. Miami might have a sleek look whereas Portland will have humble ideas.
- I see that you’re located in –, are there any landmarks that you’d like to mention on the website?
- Is your area primarily a suburb, a city or situated around nature?
4. Colors
Light colors are more friendly. Dark colors are mores slick and esthetic.
Most clients will have a color or two in mind or would like to match their logo. If la ogo is bright, you do not have to use the same exact shades, but rather tone the website’s colors down.
BRIGHT
DEEP
MONOCHROMATIC/WHITES/GREYS
NEUTRAL/EARTHY/ECO-FRIENDLY TONES
PASTELS
5. Layout
This is where you need to find out if the client wants things neat and clean or likes a lot of buttons and items going on. You can start out by asking if they’d like symmetry on the website such as straight lines and rectangular shapes. If not, then do they like curves and waves.
- As far as layout, do you prefer a symmetrical website with rectangles/square or asymmetrical such as circular shapes and waves?
- Do you like for the website to have a lot of information on the home page?
- Usually, websites have the main slider that displays different images, would you like to have a large photo on the home page or rather small?
- Photography, do you prefer families, high end models, nature, or technical objects?
6. Website References
Before getting off the phone, client must identify a website that they like. Get at least 3 websites they like and the reason why. If the designs are opposing, then let the client know. Opposing ideas is where we may run into problems as the client cannot decide.
7. Content
- Do they offer any branded procedures?
- Are there any services or aspects of the practice that doctor would like to highlight?
- What is the domain client would like to use or is interested in?
- Doctor’s biographies!
8. Process
Explain what is to come. What’s the next step and when they should expect to see an initial concept. Where does this process lead to?
Design portion where you and doctor will go back and forth in creating design until perfect. Then development that takes about a week where we will gather all the content and place it together with the design.
Few other pointers:
- Always confirm your guesses.
- People are visual. They may not understand what symmetrical mean or may not be able to imagine it, show them an example.
- Use join.me when possible.
- Offer binary decision as opposed to open ended.
- Ask about the type of images they like (nature, closeups, abstract backgrounds, people, landmarks, city)
- Do they like visual designs or more content driven?
- Confirm questions in DQ. Especially when the answers are contradictory.