What I learned talking to clients without being a salesperson

University doesn't teach you how to talk to clients. They teach you design patterns, algorithmic complexity, and database normalization. But the day you sit in front of someone paying you to solve their problem, all of that takes a back seat.

The first time I talked to a client I didn't even know what to ask. He talked about his business, I thought about technologies. He wanted to sell more, I thought about which stack to use. We had to learn the hard way.

§Listen before proposing

The most important thing I learned is that my job doesn't start when I write code. It starts when I listen. Sometimes what the client says they need isn't what they actually need. My job is to dig a little deeper, ask questions that seem obvious, and get to the real problem.

The client doesn't always know what they need. But they know things about their business that you have no clue about.

§The ElectroPower case

ElectroPower is an industrial electrical services company. When they came to me they asked for "a website." I could have built them a generic site with a contact form and called it a day. But listening closely I understood that their entire business ran through WhatsApp. They didn't use email. They didn't use forms. They used nothing but their phones.

So the website shouldn't replace WhatsApp. It should feed it. I designed it so every section naturally led to the chat, with the client already informed. The result: they adopted the site immediately because it didn't change how they worked. It only improved it.

§Saying "you don't need this"

One of the hardest things to learn was telling a client that something they're asking for isn't necessary. It's scary. You think they'll assume you can't do it, or that someone else will. But when you explain it honestly, you gain credibility.

It happened with more than one client. They'd come asking for a full e-commerce, and after talking we'd realize a landing page + WhatsApp already solved 90% of what they needed. I charged less in the moment, but gained a client who came back and recommended me.

§What I take away

The client doesn't speak your language. Don't expect them to understand stacks or frameworks. Your job is to translate.

The obvious questions are the most important. "How do you do this today?" tells you more than any 20-page brief.

Being honest pays off more than overselling. It worked for me. Clients come back and recommend you.

Don't sell code. Sell solutions. If the client asks for an e-commerce but a landing page and WhatsApp solves 90%, tell them. You charge less today, you earn more tomorrow.