Joe OviedoThinking “this will come in handy” is different from remembering to open it when you need it. I’ve saved great-looking documents and never gone back to them. When it was time to do the work, I couldn’t tell where they would help.
When I’m making the download, that’s hard to see. I know why every page is there, which chapter someone could skip, and when to open the template. The person who just downloaded it doesn’t. They have a file and a problem they were probably already trying to solve.
So I picture when they’ll use it. Not when they download it. When they open it a second time.
Thursday, before the meeting
Imagine a guide for someone leading their first client meeting. We could cover introductions, questions, notes, pricing, and follow-up. That can all help someone learning to run meetings. But picture a person opening the guide at 9:30 on Thursday for a meeting at ten.
The client says they want to “improve the website.” Is it bringing in too few inquiries, or are they embarrassed to share it because it no longer reflects their work? You could arrive with design examples and talk about them for half an hour without finding out. What you need right then isn’t a lesson on running meetings. It’s a question to ask before proposing anything.
Instead of three pages about listening, I’d start with a worksheet: copy the client’s words, write down two things they could mean, and come up with a question that would distinguish them. Here it might be, “What happened the last time you sent someone your website?” That can take the meeting somewhere very different from “What colors do you like?”
If they arrive with that question in their own words, the worksheet did something. And if the client already explained the problem clearly, they can skip it. No need to fill a box just because they downloaded the file.
I’d test it when it’s supposed to help
Ask someone what they think of a document and they can easily say it’s clear. I can understand every instruction without knowing whether I could use it. I’d rather lend it to someone with an actual meeting coming up and see where they pause.
Maybe they copy the client’s words but write two versions of the same explanation: “They want to change the site” and “They need a new site.” If I have to explain that we’re looking for two different reasons someone might ask for the same change, I know what’s missing. A worked example beside the blank might be more useful than another page of instructions.
Maybe they write the question in the notes they already use and never open the PDF again. I’d take that as a good sign. It found a place in something they were already doing. They don’t have to adopt my template as their system for it to help.
I would want to know what happened in the meeting. Maybe the client said most inquiries come through referrals, but site visitors don’t know which service to ask for. Or maybe they don’t want more inquiries at all: they want fewer requests for a service they no longer offer. Both are reasons to revisit the page, but not to make the same changes. If the worksheet helped tell them apart before quoting, I know what to keep.
It doesn’t all have to fit in one file
I might still want to write about taking notes or presenting a proposal. I just wouldn’t pack it all into the same guide to make it feel complete. The person with half an hour before a meeting and the person looking back at why meetings keep ending without a next step want different things. I can help both without making them start on the same page.
I’m still glad when someone says, “I saved it.” I’d be happier to hear, “I was going to show up with ideas for changing the website. Instead I asked a question and understood what actually needed changing.” That’s what I want to make: something people can use in time to do differently what they were already about to do.
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