I once spent forty-five minutes on a call with a potential client who wanted a logo for fifty dollars. Not fifty dollars per hour – fifty dollars total. As I sat there, watching my afternoon coffee grow cold beside my keyboard, I couldn’t help but notice the way he kept glancing off-screen, probably checking other designers’ rates on Fiverr. My cat judged me from her perch on the windowsill, her expression clearly saying what I already knew: I should have screened this client better.
The signs had been there, of course. The vague initial email typed entirely in lowercase with no punctuation. The way he’d responded to my question about budget with “depends on what you can do” – which, I’ve learned, is client-speak for “I’m hoping you’ll say something ridiculously low.” The romantic in me had chosen to interpret these red flags as charming quirks. The romantic in me, as usual, was wrong.
In this article, we’ll look at two different approaches to pre-screening potential clients. Because here’s the thing: whether you’re dealing with Sandra who runs the local bakery and types everything with multiple exclamation points, or James the startup CEO who sends emails at 3 AM marked “urgent,” you need a system to protect your time.
Part 1: The Informal Approach – Keeping It Simple
Last week, I got a message from Maria about her flower shop’s social media. She sent it through Instagram, with approximately twelve flower emojis and a “Hope you don’t mind me reaching out this way!” I didn’t mind at all. In fact, for small business owners like Maria, this informal approach often works better than any structured process.
The Initial Chat
Maria’s first message included a voice note where I could hear the shop’s bell chiming in the background and her cheerful “Sorry, just had to help a customer!” These moments tell you so much more about a potential client than any formal questionnaire ever could. For small business clients, I’ve learned to embrace the chaos and keep things conversational.
Here’s what you want to learn, buried naturally in friendly chat:
- What exactly do they need help with? (Maria wanted to “do better on Instagram” which became “post regularly and maybe do some of those Story things?”)
- When do they need it done? (Small business owners often say “yesterday!” with a nervous laugh)
- Have they worked with freelancers before? (Listen carefully to these stories – they’re gold)
- What’s their rough budget? (More on this delicate dance in a moment)
Basic Research That Works
Remember that potential client who claimed to have “the most popular café in town”? The café that, as it turned out, had exactly three reviews on Google, all from family members? Yeah. Even for small businesses, do your homework:
- Check their social media (Is it actually their business? You’d be surprised how often it’s not)
- Look at their website, if they have one (Maria’s was a Facebook page with three posts from 2019)
- Search for local business reviews (Real ones, not just Aunt Linda’s five-star rave)
- Browse their recent social media activity (Watch for red flags like arguing with customers in comments)
The Money Talk
Talking about money with small business owners feels a bit like discussing politics at Thanksgiving dinner – everybody’s uncomfortable and someone might cry. I once had a potential client literally gasp when I mentioned my rate. She then tried to pay me in homemade jam. (I declined, though it did look delicious.)
Instead of formal budget discussions, try these gentler approaches:
- “Just so we’re in the same ballpark, these projects usually run between [X] and [Y]”
- “My starter package for this kind of work is [amount] – how does that fit with what you had in mind?”
- “What sort of budget were you thinking of investing in this?”
Part 2: The Corporate Approach – Getting Professional
Then there’s the other type of client. Last month, I received an email from Alexandra, a marketing director. The subject line included a project reference number. Her email signature was longer than most novels I’ve read. This, I knew immediately, would require a different approach.
The Professional Questionnaire
Corporate clients expect structure like cats expect dinner at exactly 6 PM – anything less is simply unacceptable. My questionnaire for Alexandra was comprehensive enough to make a tax form look brief, but she answered every single question with bullet points and precise details.
Key questions to include:
- Project scope and deliverables (Be specific – “content creation” means something very different to every client I’ve ever met)
- Timeline and milestones (Watch out for anyone who types “ASAP” in all caps)
- Budget range (With professional pricing tiers that don’t include the option of payment in baked goods)
- Decision-making process (Is Alexandra really the decision-maker, or am I going to meet her boss’s boss’s boss in three weeks?)
- Previous experience with similar projects (Code for: “How high-maintenance are you going to be?”)
Thorough Research
For corporate clients, your research should be as thorough as a true crime podcast fan investigating their neighbor’s mysterious compost bin. I once spent two hours down a LinkedIn rabbit hole and discovered my potential client had changed companies three weeks ago – information that proved rather relevant to our project discussion.
Check:
- LinkedIn profiles (Both company and individual – yes, you’re stalking, but professionally)
- Corporate website and press releases (Are they actually as “innovative” and “disruptive” as they claim?)
- Industry news (That awkward moment when you discover they’re in the middle of a merger)
- Previous projects (The ones they brag about and the ones they don’t mention)
Red Flags to Watch For (Both Types of Clients)
Red flags in client communication are like bad dating profiles – once you know what to look for, they’re impossible to ignore. Here are some universal warnings:
- They treat the budget discussion like a game of poker – everyone’s bluffing and no one’s having fun
- They need everything “ASAP!!” but can’t define what that actually means
- The project requirements change more often than my neighbor’s hair color
- They take longer to respond to simple questions than my teenage nephew takes to clean his room
- They refuse to provide basic details but expect you to be a mind reader
Matching Your Approach to Your Client
The beauty of having two approaches is like having both casual and formal wear in your closet – you need to know when to wear what. Maria from the flower shop would have run screaming from a formal questionnaire, while Alexandra would have questioned my professionalism if I’d sent her a winky emoji.
The Most Important Question
Regardless of whether your potential client is Maria with her flower emojis or Alexandra with her project reference numbers, there’s one crucial thing to determine: Are they serious about getting the work done? You can usually tell by their enthusiasm, responsiveness, and willingness to discuss concrete details. It’s like dating – when someone’s genuinely interested, you know.
