Client acquisition exercise
What is a step by step process to get my first web design client?
Run the full loop once on real businesses: discover, qualify, message, reply, book, present a draft, propose a price and close or follow up.
What you will be able to do
Run the full client acquisition loop once, on real businesses, from discovery to a close or a scheduled follow up. You finish with a working pipeline, messages and documents you can reuse every week, and an honest picture of where your process needs work.
Before you start
- These templates: prospect qualification worksheet, real outreach email examples, discovery call agenda, website proposal template and meeting close checklist.
- About two hours for the first part. The later steps happen over one to three weeks as replies come in.
Why this matters
Each lesson taught one piece. The real skill is moving a lead through every stage without dropping it, and until you do the whole loop once, the pieces stay theory.
- 1DiscoverBusinesses in a niche and area
- 2QualifyReal site problems, real budget
- 3MessageOne specific, honest email
- 4ReplyAnswer fast, like a person
- 5MeetingA short scheduled video call
- 6DraftShown live on the call
- 7PriceClear scope and fee
- 8CloseOr a dated follow up
Most leads will stop somewhere along the eight stages. That is normal. The point is to see where yours stop, so you know what to improve next.
Step by step
Tick each step as you do it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
Discover twenty businesses
Choose your niche and one city. Find twenty real local businesses using a map search, local directories or your network. If you use Swokei, you can find businesses by city and industry there instead. Add every one to your pipeline sheet as Researched.
Qualify them down to about ten
Check each is active, the owner can decide, and the site was not just rebuilt. Fill in the prospect qualification worksheet with two or three dated problems and a "not problems" list. Keep the strong fits and good maybes.
Send a tailored message to each qualified prospect
Follow Write outreach emails that get replies: one real problem first, a careful benefit, one line about you, one small next step, signature with a physical address and an opt out. Move each to Contacted with a follow up date four to seven days out.
Follow up and handle replies
On each follow up date, send a short follow up that adds a screenshot or a new angle. Stop on any reply or opt out. Answer replies within a few hours with the scripts from Book the video meeting.
Book at least one video meeting
Offer two times and ask who else decides. If no real prospect books within your trial window, practice with a friend playing the owner of a real business.
Build a time boxed free draft
Write the scope note first, then build one page on the problem you raised in about 30 minutes, an hour at the very most. Label placeholders, keep it on a private preview and put "Preliminary draft for discussion" at the top.
Run the meeting and present the draft live
Follow the discovery call agenda.
Propose a price
Build it from scope, hours with a buffer, your target rate and a local market check, as in Price your websites. Write it into the website proposal template with a setup fee, payment terms and an optional yearly maintenance agreement. No result guarantees.
Close or schedule the follow up
Run the meeting close checklist, answer objections honestly and ask plainly for a decision. On a yes, send the agreement and invoice the same day. On a no or "later," log a next action date.
Review the loop and pick one thing to improve
Count how many leads reached each stage. Find where most stopped and write one specific change for next week, such as a better first sentence, faster replies or a clearer price explanation.
Example
Say you are a solo designer targeting family dental clinics in Austin. An illustrative log of one run; the businesses and numbers are made up to show the shape, not a result to expect.
Week 1, Monday
Discover 20 clinics found by map search, added to pipeline
Qualify 11 kept. Skipped 4 franchises, 3 recent rebuilds, 2 closed
Message 11 emails sent, each naming one dated problem
Week 1, Saturday
Follow up Follow up 1 sent to 9 with no reply
Replies 2 so far: one "not right now", one "sure, show me"
"Not right now" moved to Later, check back in March
Week 2, Monday
Book Hillside Family Dental, Thursday 10 a.m. Central, 20 min
Asked who else decides: office manager Lisa will join
Draft Scope note written, 30 minute time box, homepage only
Week 2, Thursday
Meeting Agenda, 8 minutes of discovery, screen share, reactions
Key needs: phone booking, insurance info, online forms
Next step Proposal by Monday, 10 minute call Wednesday
Week 3, Monday
Price Setup $2,500 (half to start), maintenance $1,000 a year,
illustrative numbers from the pricing lesson
Week 3, Wednesday
Close Objection: "can we split the payment?" Offered three parts.
Verbal yes, agreement and first invoice sent same day.
Kickoff booked for Friday.
Review Most leads stopped between Message and Reply.
Change for next week: shorter first sentence with the
device and date, and a screenshot in follow up 1.
Your first run may end with no meeting at all. It is still a success if you can say exactly where leads stopped and what you will change.
Common mistakes
- Skipping qualification to save time. Messages to franchises and closed businesses waste the whole loop.
- No review at the end. Without counting where leads stopped, you repeat the same weak stage next week.
- Changing everything at once. Improve one stage per week so you can tell what helped.
Try it yourself
Run the full loop on twenty real businesses in your niche. To speed up discovery and research, you can try the optional Swokei walkthrough for the first three stages, then continue by hand from the replies.
Time: about 120 minutes for discovery, qualification and messages, then short daily sessions over one to three weeks.
Deliverable: a pipeline sheet showing all twenty, at least ten qualification worksheets, the messages you sent, one draft scope note and draft, notes from at least one meeting (real or practice), one completed proposal and a one paragraph review naming the stage where most leads stopped and your change for next week.
Resources
- Prospect qualification worksheet for stage two
- Discovery call agenda for the meeting
- Website proposal template for the price
- Meeting close checklist before you ask for a decision
- Follow up, keep a CRM and ask for referrals to keep the pipeline alive after this exercise
Finished this lesson?
Mark it complete to track your progress through the course.
You finished Get Clients
Swokei turns website flaws into personalized outreach emails for web designers.
It finds businesses, analyzes their websites when you run it, and drafts an email from the real issues it found. It does not book meetings or close deals: you answer the replies and do the work. There is a free plan.
Last reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices, laws and tool terms change, so check current terms before you rely on any figure.