A behind-the-scenes look at a web design project

I recently had a fun chat with Amanda Genther about the creative process and working with clients for her upcoming CrushWorthy ebook. It’s something I felt like I could chat about for another 45 minutes, so I thought I’d share a behind-the-scenes look at a web design project, from start to finish!

The most important thing to remember when it comes to working with clients is that processes don’t just happen overnight. My own process developed over the course of many web design projects, and I’m constantly tweaking things to make the process even more efficient. You would go crazy if you tried to overhaul your entire process at once — trust me, I’ve tried!

Processes for working with clients don't just happen overnight.
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Sometimes I’ll discover a helpful new app I think will work great in my workflow and give it a try with my next project. Other times, I’ll simply tweak an existing template to make something more clear to the client or more efficient for me to handle. It’s all about experimenting. Here’s where my process is at right now:

Step 1: The inquiry

Inquiries typically come from my website, and I’m guiding the process even then through the information on my contact page. My form asks for enough information up front that I’m able to get a good idea if the project is the right fit for me. The page also has information on my current schedule and a general range of project rates since these are typically the most important considerations for people looking to hire me. Providing my rates clearly up front has saved me a lot of time responding to inquiries that don’t have the budget to work with me to begin with.

(Side note: publishing my rates only worked when I really settled into my pricing. In the beginning, when I wasn’t sure what to charge, I needed the flexibility to adjust my rates often as I gained more experience and figured out how to package my services.) For inquiries that come directly to my email, I have a signature created in MacMail (like canned responses in Gmail) asking the same questions on my contact form.

I currently have an autoresponder set up (inspired by Alexandra Franzen) to address the different groups of people I hear from the most, and it gives potential clients a heads up that I typically respond to inquiries on Fridays. From there, I have a few templates created for inquiry responses, including:

1. I don’t think I’m a good fit, but here are a few referrals.
2. I’m not currently booking, but here are a few referrals.
3. I don’t work on tweaks to sites I haven’t developed myself, but here are a few referrals.
4. This sounds like a fun project! As a reminder, I’m currently booking projects for (insert month here) and projects like yours are typically in this price range (here’s where I’ll narrow the price range based on what they’re looking for). If that sounds good, here’s a link to schedule a call to discuss your project in detail so I can provide an accurate estimate.

I may tweak the responses based on our email chain, but having a template to start with saves a lot of time.

Step 2: Booking the project

If a project looks like it could be a good fit, I ask the client to schedule a call with me through Calendly. Calendly is a free app that syncs with Google Calendar, and you can set up time blocks for people to book a meeting with you. I let the client know that they’re welcome to email me to book a different time if the available times don’t work in their schedule, but usually people book from Calendly, saving a lot of back and forth in finding a time to talk.

I like to talk with my clients on the phone first because you get a much better sense of the client’s personality and what their project is like, and you also save a lot of back and forth ironing out the details. In a lot of cases, clients don’t necessarily know exactly what they need, so once I hear more details and can ask them questions, I can recommend what I think will work best both for their needs and their budget.

From there, I’ll send over an itemized estimate through Freshbooks. In Freshbooks, I’ve created items for the type of work people typically ask for, with descriptions and pricing added. For example, I have base pricing for blogs, informational sites, and info sites with blogs, as well as pricing for basic page templates and more complex ones. Then all I have to do when I create the estimate is choose the correct items based on our discussion, and the rest of the details are filled in. I also have default terms for estimates that have a place for me to fill in the estimated start date, timeline, and payment schedule, with next steps for booking the project and the most important contract terms below that. If the client wants to move forward, they simply accept the estimate with the click of a button — easy peasy!

Step 3: Setting up the project

Project setup is all about templates. First, I have an email template for next steps, telling the client what I’m about to send over and what I need from them. The Freshbooks estimate is converted to an invoice for the deposit, and I just change the quantities to decimals to calculate the proper percentages from there.

Project setup is all about templates.
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Then I send over the contract through EchoSign, where I have a template saved to my document library, with fields added for prefilling and signing. The prefill fields allow me to enter the project scope and payment schedule before sending it over to the client so I don’t have to create, upload, and add signing fields to a new document for every project. My contract is a combination of Contract Killer and the Client Service Agreement template from Small Business Bodyguard.

Lastly, I create a project board in Trello and share with the client, which is simply just copying an existing — you guessed it! — template board and adding their name. Trello is actually a new addition to my process. I’ve been wanting to use a project management app for a long time to keep everything for a project in one place and cut down on emails, but it took a lot of experimenting to find the right one for me. Trello just fits the way I think and work really well. The way I use Trello really deserves a post by itself, but more on that later when the project starts.

Come back on Thursday for Part 2!

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