November 6, 2026

Ugly might not be the problem

PRE-S: Last chance: Tomorrow (Tue, Nov 10th) at noon ET, I’m running a live Zoom workshop called The Proposal Is Not The Sale as part of the Soloist Growth Series. If you’re still using proposals to try to convince and persuade, this one’s for you. Register now »

When a prospective client reaches out to talk to you about a possible engagement, it’s because they know something is wrong.

They might email something like:

“We heard from Alice that you did a great job redesigning her app. We need something similar. Could we set up a call to discuss?”

Before the call, you research their app.

You conclude that it’s the hottest mess you’ve ever seen.

Therefore, you are sure that you can improve the design.

HOWEVER!

On the call, it’s critical that you find out exactly what they think is wrong with the app.

Why?

Because it might not be the same thing you think is wrong.

And if you fix the wrong thing, they’re not going to be happy.

Yours,

—J

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