I’ve talked before about not psyching yourself up before a call but there’s something else you need to do to prepare for a client call.

Anticipate the questions your client is going to ask on the call.

If you can’t create the questions, you’re not ready for the test. – The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking

What will they ask?

Let’s say you’re doing an initial project call with a prospective client and you’ve asked my initial questions. You now have some idea what the project is going to entail and who the decision makers are.

But what else are they going to ask you?

Are they going to ask about your hourly rate? (Hint: They’re really asking how much it’s going to cost and making some terribly inaccurate guess about how long it’s going to take, which they’ll multiply by your rate to have a terribly inaccurate guess at the total cost).

Will they ask about how you run a project?

Will they ask about the delivery timeline?

Will they ask which technologies you’re going to use to deliver the work?

If you don’t have any idea what the questions are that your prospect is going to ask, then you’re simply not ready for the call and it’s time to do some more prep.

Take some time and brainstorm the questions. If you’re just starting out, ask someone that’s been dealing with clients for a while what questions are likely to come up.

Once you have a good handle on possible questions, take that call.

photo credit: nuwandalice cc