Hot take: I almost lost a client because I didn't ask the right follow-up question

Last month, a client asked me for help with their website's 'slow performance.' I spent a week checking server speed, image sizes, the usual stuff. I sent a report saying everything was technically fine. They got quiet, and I thought I'd fixed it. Then, three days ago, they called me, really upset. The real problem wasn't the site speed itself, it was that their contact form was taking 8 seconds to submit, and they were losing leads. I never asked 'what happens when it feels slow?' or 'can you show me the exact moment it fails?' I just assumed. Now I'm rebuilding their form handler from scratch. Has anyone else had a project go sideways because the initial ask was too vague?

3 comments

3 Comments

riverdavis1mo ago

Spot this all the time with tech support for my own parents. They'll say the printer is broken, and I'll spend an hour on drivers, but the real issue is the paper tray is jammed. Or they say the internet is down, but only one website won't load. The problem as described is almost never the actual problem. You have to dig for the specific action that caused the feeling. Your story about the form is a perfect example of that. We all jump to fix the technical label they give us instead of asking for the simple story of what they were trying to do.

jamie_webb671mo ago

Nah, sometimes the label is exactly right.

emeryj661mo ago

But how do you get them to tell you the simple story without making them feel dumb?