The First Ask Is Not Always the Real Need

When a client first comes to us, they usually have a specific request.

They may need a new website or a brand refresh, or maybe a sales deck. Sometimes they have a detailed scope and clear deadline. Other times, they come to us with a loose direction of what should be done, with the real need still taking shape.

That second scenario is more common than people may think, especially for startups and early-stage companies. After all, when a business is still evolving, the inputs around a project tend to be evolving too, with ongoing changes to its product, sales process, or even its audience. 

In this kind of environment, we’ve learned that a project can start with one stated goal, but once we get into the work, reveal something different underneath. Often, that redirect is where the most important part of the work happens because it shows us where the real urgency is.

When a project’s needs change, our role is to help connect the dots. We look at what the client originally asked for, what we’re learning through the work, and what would create the most value next. 

If a project requires going in a very different direction, we don’t hesitate to share that with our clients. We believe good creative work goes beyond producing the requested asset. It involves helping clients invest in the right thing to move their business forward.

The best creative partners don’t just take the order

Consider a client who comes to us asking for a website design. On the surface, the request may be straightforward: they need a better-looking site to represent their brand.

But during the scoping phase, we may detect a larger issue the current deliverable does not fully answer. The problem may not be the existing design, but rather, the messaging behind it. For instance, the existing site doesn’t quite explain what makes the company different.

In that situation, the easy thing to do (what an “order-taker” would do) is follow the request exactly: design the pages, build the site, and deliver something beautiful with minimal pushback.

But if the story isn’t working, the website will inherit that problem.

A beautiful website can make a company look legitimate, but it can’t compensate for unclear positioning or confusing value props. The site could look better without actually performing better.

That’s why we’re willing to be honest with clients when we see a gap between what they asked for and what we believe will actually help. We’re comfortable saying, “You asked for a website, but the messaging needs some work first.” 

Yes, that can sound like an upsell. But in many cases, we’re also talking ourselves out of a faster, easier, and often more profitable job. It would be simpler to execute the original request exactly as written. 

Our goal isn’t to complete the wrong thing beautifully, though. We pride ourselves on helping clients invest in the work that’ll actually move them forward.

The right questions show where to focus

To be clear, that doesn’t mean every project needs to become a long strategy engagement. Sometimes the first ask is the right ask, and our job is to execute it well. But design alone can never solve larger problems like poor competitive differentiation or weak messaging.

Many of our clients are growing companies with ambitious teams, and we understand the pressure to get something into market. When timelines are tight, it can feel more efficient to skip straight to action. But speed can make it easier to confuse the requested asset with the actual problem.

This is why we spend time upfront helping clients evaluate whether the deliverable they have in mind is the right one for the outcome they want. A few useful questions can help clarify that:

• Does this asset address the real barrier in front of the business?
• Will it help the right audience understand what the company does and why it matters?
• Does the team already have the messaging and proof points needed to create the asset?
• If this deliverable were completed exactly as requested, would it solve the business’s main challenge? Or only make things look better?

Uncertainty around these questions can reveal when a project deliverable is acting as a surface-level fix for a larger business challenge. If that turns out to be the case, the project may need to move in a different direction before the team invests time and budget into the wrong solution.

It may feel like one more step before you can launch, publish, or get your business in front of customers. But that alignment helps prevent the slower and more frustrating work of undoing decisions later, which happens when you build a pitch deck around the wrong value props or redesign a site with unclear messaging.

How we support evolving projects

At Klimt, we’ve always been most useful when we can bring both creative execution and strategic perspective to the table. And now, with Uplift Content and Primer under our umbrella, we can support more of the path around that work from messaging and content to paid media and campaign strategy.

That’s helpful because client needs don’t always stay neatly inside one category. When the work evolves, we can evolve with it and help clients uncover hidden needs that may be just as important. 

If you have a website, brand, or campaign need that isn’t fully defined, that’s okay. We can help you sort through the moving pieces and turn the right idea into something that moves your team forward. Reach out to see how we can work together.

A version of this post originally appeared in the Klimt & Design newsletter. Sign up to get similar insights delivered to your inbox.