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9 Web Design Sales Tricks to Turn Prospects into Clients
Published on March 18, 2021. Updated in April 19, 2022.
For a lot of web designers, the process of designing sites comes easy—especially if you’re using a website building platform like SiteSwan, with our stunning Themes and instant site creation. However, it’s the sales side of the job that tends to be difficult for many agencies to hit a stride with. After all, producing quality work and being able to sell that work are two entirely different talents, and in order to grow a successful web design business, you need to be able to feel confident about your abilities to thrive as both a designer and a salesperson.
For a lot of web designers, the process of designing sites comes easy—especially if you’re using a website building platform like SiteSwan, with our stunning Themes and instant site creation. However, it’s the sales side of the job that tends to be difficult for many agencies to hit a stride with. After all, producing quality work and being able to sell that work are two entirely different talents, and in order to grow a successful web design business, you need to be able to feel confident about your abilities to thrive as both a designer and a salesperson.
If you're not sure where to start, you're not alone. Fortunately, learning and internalizing the finer points of sales doesn't have to be as difficult as you might think, and the benefits begin to materialize soon after you start digging in.
Here are nine web design sales tricks, all of which can help you further your career as a professional web designer.
Here are nine web design sales tricks, all of which can help you further your career as a professional web designer.
1. Use Non-Rounded Numbers in Your Web Design Pricing
Common sense may tell you that a service valued at $500 should be priced accordingly at $500. In reality, however, prices that begin with lower digits are perceived as being significantly cheaper than the alternative, thanks to what is essentially a psychology trick. An item priced at $499, for example, feels less expensive than $500, even though the difference is just a dollar.
If your goal is to sell $1,000-dollar websites, try pricing them at $999 or even $997 instead of $1,000; the difference in how the brain perceives these two numbers can be huge. The same goes for your monthly service fee. Using numbers like $49/month can be more attractive than $50/month. Be sure to experiment with different pricing strategies to see what produces the best results.
2. Offer a Free, Personalized Website Design Demo
Showing off examples of past work can be a good way to move a potential sale forward, but it's not nearly as effective as being able to actually show off the work you're capable of doing for them. SiteSwan makes it easy to quickly create a personalized website demo that your client can preview before paying for. It's as simple as picking the appropriate theme, swapping out some colors, text and their logo, and then you have a beautiful preview-able website on your hands.
It’s best to offer a free demo to “warm” leads. If a business shows interest in a new site, offer to create a free, no-obligation design specifically for them, as the next step. A free demo site is an offer that is hard for any client to resist, and a tactic that can lead to more and faster sales.
3. Get Them Invested in the Web Design Process
Once your lead agrees to see their demo design, it's important to "lock things in" as soon as possible. This can mean different things for different people and may require a financial commitment of some sort, such as an initial deposit or the entire setup fee. However, if you can afford to wait for payment, you might choose to ask them to send you their logo or photos of their business, settle on a domain name, sign an agreement or otherwise get them to put some skin in the game.
The goal is to make it so that they'll be less likely to just "walk away" after initially agreeing to work with you. It also shows their commitment to following through on the project.
4. Walk the Client Through Your Initial Site Design
While it may be tempting to simply email a link to your client when their initial website design is ready for review, it's important to use this opportunity to close the sale by walking them through their site, element by element via a screen share or in-person meeting (but a phone call can work too). Walking your client through the design will allow you to address any questions or concerns they might have in real time, as well as highlight benefits they might otherwise overlook without your guidance. Plus, it will give you ample opportunity to do any necessary "damage control" should the client take issue with any aspect of your design.
Schedule a day and time to review your client’s site. Ask them to carve out 15-30 minutes so you can have their undivided attention. If you’re presenting the design in person (or over the phone), be sure that the client is looking at their site from a desktop or laptop computer so they can appreciate the full beauty of the design.
5. Focus on the Benefits of a Website Rather than Site Features
While you might be tempted to meet your clients with a laundry list of available features to entice them into purchasing a site, it's important to remember that the benefits they'll receive from working with you are what truly matter. Perhaps you might know how the sales saying goes, “features tell, but benefits sell.” Instead of highlighting specific features, talk about the ways in which a new website will make your clients' lives easier and help them grow their business.
For example, talk about how a new design can engage customers and make their business look more professional. Point out how adding contact forms will help them generate leads through their site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Talk about the importance of having their most important business information and even a “FAQ” section to reduce phone calls and free up their time answering common questions. By focusing on the end result or benefit, rather than the feature itself, you'll automatically be making your offer more enticing from the start.
6. Get Your Client to AGREE With You
It stands to reason that a client who feels they can agree with you on things will be more likely to move forward with a potential deal. Get your client to agree with you on simple matters, i.e.: "wouldn't you agree that a better website leads to a better customer experience?" or “don’t you think customers would like to see examples of your work on your website?" This can be helpful for getting them to feel as if you're both on the same page, and it's just one of those quick little sales tactics that you can throw in to help seal the deal early on in the sales cycle.
7. Get Your Client to DISAGREE With You
While this may sound contradictory to the point we just made, it actually works side by side with getting your client to agree with you. Offering up a statement that is obviously false, such as “you love answering the same question 20 times per day on the phone right?” or “your competitors have a leg up on you in almost every respect, right?” or “you’re expecting this site to have periods of down time, where it’s not accessible to customers, right?” can help get their attention and drive the sale by allowing you to make your point as the client disagrees. It's a subtle tactic, but it works wonders when utilized correctly.
8. Ask For The Sale
It would be nice if "Where do I sign up?" came out of the mouths of every client you worked with, but that's not a realistic expectation. Rather than expecting someone to initiate the close, you need to do so yourself by asking the client to commit. Something as simple as "Now that you've seen what this website can do for your business, all we need is a credit card to complete the site and prepare it for launch" (or a similar statement) can move a potential sale into new project status, and the more you practice asking, the easier it gets.
If a client says “no” to the sale, be sure to ask why? Getting to the root of their concerns and figuring out what exactly is holding them back will help you figure out your next move. If they are afraid to commit because they are currently busy, assure them that you will make the process easy and stress-free and they won’t need to lift a finger to get the site finished. If price is an issue, revisit the benefits of what you are offering to help build value, or you can even offer a small discount. Whatever their concerns or objections might be, there is a good chance that you will be able to overcome them and close the sale.
9. Always Follow Up
It's not uncommon for a potential client to want to take some time to think about whether or not to move forward with a new website—don't be concerned about this being the end of the sale. That said, you absolutely have to follow up with the person rather than assuming they'll remember to get back to you, and by setting up expectations (ie: "how about I call you in a week?"), you can avoid feeling like a nuisance or bothering them when it's time to check in.
According to MarketingDonut, only 2% of sales occur at a first meeting and 80% of prospects will say “NO” four times before they say “YES.” That means it can take FIVE continuous follow-up efforts to close a sale. However, the majority of salespeople, 92% to be exact, will give up and stop calling after the fourth call. The small percentage of salespeople who actually follow up 5 times or more are the ones who close the majority of sales.
If sales isn't your strong point yet, that doesn't mean you can't get better at it! Put the above tips and tricks into practice, and watch as the number of deals you close each month goes up.
Interested in starting your own web design business? With SiteSwan, once you sign up you can begin selling your services in no time!
Interested in starting your own web design business? With SiteSwan, once you sign up you can begin selling your services in no time!