Nobody wants to meet anymore – is that a problem?
We just wrapped dinners with design founders and senior creatives in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. One thing came up in every city: the clients of even the most senior, experienced people among us are being asked not to meet … they just want designers to send a PDF.
If you’re newer to this or working solo, take some comfort: you are not alone. One of the most naturally extroverted, personable people in the room told us his client still refused — repeatedly. He resorted to sending PDFs too. Sometimes there’s no trick. A client just says no.
But a few things still help.
Research from Up to the Light What Clients think research found clients want insight, proof you understand their market, not a generic pitch. So if you do get a shot, frame it around a specific problem you’ve noticed, not an open-ended “let’s catch up.”
And if the direct ask keeps failing, stop making the direct ask. We’ve written before about the value of simply turning up: industry events, community activities, anywhere your ideal clients already are. No formal meeting request to decline. Just proximity, repeated, until trust builds on its own terms.
Here’s the twist worth sitting with: is this actually a loss for everyone?
The mature designers at our dinners lamented the relationships of the past — but notably, not the processes.
What they missed was getting together, not how projects used to run. Meanwhile, the graduate designers in the room told a different story entirely. They’re not necessarily using AI more than anyone else, but they’re fearless with technology, comfortable sending files and solving problems entirely behind a screen. There was no lament in their voice about missing face-to-face contact because for many of them, it was never the default in the first place.
So maybe meeting-avoidance isn’t purely a client problem. It might be generational, and it might be here to stay. If that’s true, the designers who thrive won’t be the ones fighting for the old model, they’ll be the ones who get exceptional at building trust without ever needing the room.
Relationship still wins — the designers who do get face time report bigger, more loyal, more complex problems to solve. But “just try harder” isn’t the whole answer anymore. The real skill now might be building relationship at a distance, on a generation’s terms, not yours.
And one solution to sending a PDF? Record a loom of yourself scrolling through the PDF. Don’t assume clients understand your thinking
As always, happy to discuss further.
Carol
Carol Mackay
Want more insights like this? Subscribe below. (And tell your friends 🙂)
The Design Business Review is Australia’s only online design management magazine. It’s professional development information written specifically for Australian designers by Australian designers. Best of all, it’s free.
Related articles about clients
The social cost of working as a micro business
About Carol
If you’re a female founder looking for a female business mentor to help bridge that gap between design and business, you’ve found what you’re looking for.
I love that intersection. I co-founded and built a 30+ year career building a successful, sustainable design studio. My clients included Ombudsman schemes, the Emergency Services sector and the Courts. My special power has always been an ability to use design to translate the difficult to understand or the unpalatable message.
I now use exactly the same skills with creative business owners. I translate the indigestible into bite-sized chunks of information. I share insights, introduce tools and embed processes to help others build confidence business decision-making skills. More confidence makes it easier to grasp opportunities. More confidence makes it easier to recognise a good client from the bad.
Outside DBC I have mentored with Womentor, AGDA The Aunties, and most recently Regional Arts NSW.
And I’m a proud volunteer and board member of Never Not Creative.
Always happy to chat, I can be contacted here.
