When a potential client gets in touch, they usually have some idea of what they want.
They might need a new website, a set of photographs, help with their marketing, or someone to sort out a problem they’ve been struggling with. They come to you with a request, and your job is to work out how to deliver it.
But how often do you stop to ask why they want it in the first place?
Understanding what someone is asking for is one thing. Understanding what they actually need is another. And the difference can have a significant impact on the work you do, the experience your clients have, and the value they get from working with you.
Here’s how I approach this in my own photography business, and what you can take from it for yours.
1. Understand the problem before you propose a solution
Imagine you’re a photographer and someone gets in touch because they need new headshots.
You could send them your pricing, explain how your sessions work, and get them booked in. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. They’ve asked for headshots, after all.
But what prompted them to get in touch now?
Perhaps they’ve launched a new service and their existing photographs no longer reflect what they do. Maybe they’re updating their website, preparing to speak at an event, or finally making time to work on their own business after spending months putting everyone else first. Or maybe they just need a new LinkedIn profile photo and nothing else.
Those different situations might call for different photographs, different priorities, or even a different approach to the session.
I don’t need to interrogate every potential client or turn a simple enquiry into an elaborate consultation. But I do want to understand enough about their situation to make useful recommendations rather than simply sell them a package.
The same principle applies whatever your business.
If someone approaches you for a new website, find out what’s prompting the change. If they want help with their marketing, ask what they’re hoping to achieve. If they need a service you provide, take a moment to understand what success would look like for them.
You don’t need to second-guess every request. Sometimes people know exactly what they need, and that’s absolutely fine. The point is to give yourself enough context to recognise when there might be a better way to help.
Before you decide what to offer, make sure you understand what the client is trying to achieve.
2. Ask questions that help your clients understand their own needs
Not every client arrives with a clear brief. Sometimes they know something needs to change, but they haven’t quite worked out what. They might have a vague idea of what they want the finished result to look like without knowing which decisions will help them get there.
This is where asking questions becomes more than a way of collecting information. It can help your clients think through their own needs and priorities.
For my personal branding photography sessions, I ask clients questions about their business, their audience, what makes them different, and how they intend to use their photographs. I also want to understand what they want people to feel or understand when they come across those images.
I do this during a consultation call and then again via an onboarding questionnaire.
All these questions serve multiple purposes. They give me the information I need to plan a useful session, but they also encourage clients to think about their photographs as part of their wider business, rather than simply a collection of nice portraits.
For example, a client might initially think they need a few new photographs for LinkedIn. As we talk, they might realise they’re also planning to update their website, start a newsletter, or talk about a new service on social media. Knowing that before the session means we can plan for those needs instead of discovering them afterwards.
You can do something similar in almost any service business.
A designer might ask how a client wants their new branding to be perceived, rather than simply asking which colours they like. A copywriter might explore what customers need to understand before they’re ready to buy. A business consultant might ask what the client has already tried and what hasn’t worked.
The right questions help both of you make better decisions. And you don’t necessarily need a long discovery call to do this. A thoughtful questionnaire, a few well-chosen questions during an initial conversation, or a follow-up email can all help.
The important thing is to ask questions that reveal something useful, rather than gathering information simply because it’s what you always ask.
3. Listen to what your clients tell you – and look at what they might have missed
Asking questions is only half the job. You also need to pay attention to the answers.
That means listening properly, asking follow-up questions when something isn’t clear, and being willing to adjust your initial ideas based on what you learn.
It also means looking beyond the information your client gives you directly.
In my photography business, I often look at a client’s website and social media before their session. This helps me understand how they currently present themselves and where new photographs might be useful.
I might notice that they have plenty of close-up portraits but very few images that show them working. Perhaps their website has a large banner at the top that would benefit from a photograph with space for text. Or maybe they’re introducing a new service but don’t have any imagery that supports it.
These are things a client might not think to mention because they haven’t necessarily looked at their online presence from that perspective. I can bring those observations into our planning conversation and ask whether they’re relevant to what the client wants to achieve.
That last part is important. I don’t automatically assume that every gap I’ve spotted needs filling, or that I know their business better than they do. I use what I’ve noticed to start a conversation.
You can apply the same approach to your own work.
If you’re a web designer, look at how a client’s current website works before recommending a new one. If you’re a copywriter, read their existing content and consider whether it reflects the business they’re running today. If you’re helping someone organise their business, take time to understand the systems they already have before suggesting replacements.
Your clients bring knowledge of their business, their customers and their priorities. You bring your professional experience and a different perspective. The most useful work often comes from bringing those two things together.
4. Think beyond the thing you’re being asked to deliver
There’s another question I try to keep in mind: what happens after I’ve finished the work?
It’s possible to deliver exactly what a client asked for and still leave them struggling to get the full value from it.
In my case, I could photograph someone, deliver a beautiful gallery, and consider the job done. But what if they don’t know which images to use where? What if they download a photograph that’s too small for their website, or don’t realise that they have images suitable for several different purposes?
The photographs themselves might be great, but the client could still find it difficult to put them to use.
That’s why I provide my branding photography clients with guidance on using their images. I want them to understand how to choose suitable photographs for different platforms and practical applications, rather than leaving them with a gallery and expecting them to figure everything out alone.
This doesn’t mean I take responsibility for every aspect of their marketing. My clients are responsible for running their businesses, and my service has clear boundaries. But I can make the next step easier by giving them information that helps them use what I’ve delivered.
Think about how this might work in your own business.
If you’re a web designer, does your client know how to make basic updates to their new website? If you’re a copywriter, have you explained where the finished copy fits into their wider communication? If you create a strategy, have you helped the client understand how to put it into practice?
You don’t need to provide unlimited support or add an entire new service to your offer. Sometimes a short guide, a useful handover document, or a few minutes spent explaining the next steps can make a real difference.
Ask yourself:
- Does my client know what to do with what I’ve delivered?
- Is there anything about using it that might be confusing?
- What could prevent them from getting the value they hoped for?
- Is there something simple I could provide to make the next step easier?
You won’t always have an answer to every question, and you don’t have to anticipate every possible problem. But thinking beyond the point of delivery can help you identify opportunities to improve the client experience.
5. Guide your clients without taking over
Understanding what your clients need doesn’t mean doing everything for them.
There’s a balance between providing expertise and expecting clients to make every decision themselves, and taking over so much that they no longer have any ownership of the process.
I want my photography clients to feel supported and prepared, but I also want their photographs to represent who they genuinely are. I offer guidance on preparing for a session, help clients think through what they need, and make recommendations based on their business and the way they want to present themselves. I don’t expect them to arrive knowing how to pose or what will work best in front of the camera.
At the same time, I don’t offer an extensive styling service or take responsibility for every aspect of their preparation. My clients need to make their own decisions about things such as their outfits, and I give them the information they need to do that with confidence. That balance is part of how I work, and it’s important to be clear about it.
The same applies to other businesses. You can make recommendations, explain the options and help clients understand the consequences of different decisions without making every decision for them. You can also be honest about what falls within your service and what doesn’t.
Clear expectations make it easier for clients to understand what they’re getting, what they need to contribute, and where your expertise comes in. They also help you avoid promising a level of support you don’t actually want to provide.
Good client service doesn’t have to mean saying yes to everything. It means being thoughtful about the support you offer and making sure clients understand how to work with you.
Understanding your clients is an ongoing process
You don’t need a complicated client onboarding system to put these ideas into practice.
Start by looking at the way you currently work with people. What do you ask before you begin? What do you do with the answers? How much do you understand about the problem they’re trying to solve? And what happens once you’ve delivered the work?
You might discover that a small change would make a difference. Perhaps you need to ask one more question during your initial conversation, review a client’s existing materials before making recommendations, or explain the next steps more clearly.
You could also ask previous clients what they found helpful, what they struggled with, or whether there was anything they wished they’d known earlier.
The aim isn’t to create an elaborate process for its own sake. It’s to make sure your process helps you understand your clients, make better decisions, and deliver work that fits their actual needs.
And if you want to explore this further, it’s worth looking at how you collect feedback from clients after the work is complete, too. Their answers can tell you a lot about what worked well and where there’s room to improve.
A few questions to take back to your own business:
- Do I understand why clients come to me, or do I focus mainly on what they’ve asked me to do?
- Do my questions help clients clarify what they need?
- Am I paying attention to their wider situation, or only to the information they’ve given me?
- Have I thought about how they’ll use what I deliver?
- Do I give them enough guidance to move forward without taking responsibility for things outside my service?
You don’t have to change everything at once. Choose one part of your process and see what happens when you approach it with a little more curiosity.
Understanding your clients better isn’t about finding a way to sell them more. It’s about doing work that makes sense for them – and giving them a better chance of getting the value they came to you for.
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