“How much will it cost to have you make me a website?” At some point in your career, you’ve probably been asked this. You were probably amused or insulted, thinking that here’s another prospect who just doesn’t understand what it is you do. I want to show you why this isn’t a bad question - it’s flawed, but not bad. More importantly, we’ll see how to take this question, turn it around, and get your prospects to start writing their own project quotes. The above question is flawed because, to many clients, what we do is dark magic. They don’t really know what they want, nor do they know how to phrase it, so blanket questions are their only option. And we make a mistake by scoffing at questions like this, instead of trying to get to the root and figure out what they’re trying to figure out: will I get a satisfactory return on investment with this person? I’ve seen tons of creatives who miss the simple fact that clients hire us to make more money than they spent on us. You can one-up the majority of your competition overnight by acting on this, and presenting yourself not only as a talented designer but as a trustworthy business partner. After five years of thinking that people were buying my talent, I’ve put aside that thinking and adjusted how I confront client projects. The results? I’ve been closing more deals at higher prices than ever before. I’ve done this by having clients do the proposal writing for me.