The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

When Clients Already “Know What They Want”: Why Expert Guidance Matters in Marketing

In the world of marketing, web design, and digital consulting, there’s an all-too-common scenario: a potential client walks in, armed with a list of exactly what they want. Maybe they've already designed their new website in their mind. Maybe they’ve read an article promising that one magic social media tactic will send sales soaring. Sometimes they're convinced they know what their customers need—even confident in the colors, phrases, and features that will guarantee success.

On the surface, this might seem like an ideal way to begin a business relationship. After all, isn’t a clear directive precisely what a service provider wants? A set of instructions, a well-defined end goal, and minimal debate—what could go wrong?

As it turns out: everything. In my decades-long career as a Santa Barbara-based marketing and web consultant, I’ve witnessed this pattern repeat itself with concerning regularity. And more often than not, it results in underperforming campaigns, wasted resources, and—in the worst cases—businesses fading into obscurity.

Let’s unpack why this happens, what’s at stake, and how smart business owners can balance their vision with the expertise they’re hiring for.

The Perils of the “Pre-Decided” Approach

First, a disclaimer: every business owner brings passion and valuable knowledge to the table. The entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in vision and conviction. However, there’s an important distinction between having a north-star vision for your business and believing you already know, in detail, how every piece should fall into place—even in domains far outside your own expertise.

I encounter this most often with new clients—regardless of whether they’ve been referred by a friend, found me online, or just called out of the blue. They have already determined:

- The design of their website

- The content layout and verbiage

- The keywords they’re targeting

- The marketing channels they’ll utilize

- Even which features their customers “want”

On one level, this enthusiasm is to be applauded. On another, more practical level, it’s deeply flawed—because it’s almost always disconnected from actual market research, customer data, or proven expertise. It springs from assumptions, not analysis.

Here’s a common thread I’ve noticed: many of these businesses are in trouble not because they lack drive, but because they’re trying to solve problems with the very “solutions” that got them stuck in the first place.

Expertise: More than Button-Pushing

When you hire an expert—whether it’s a marketing consultant, a web designer, or a seasoned business coach—what you’re truly buying is their experience. You are inviting an outside perspective, shaped by the successes and failures of multiple companies and campaigns over time. This knowledge is invaluable.

Yet, if you arrive with an unshakeable belief in your own plan, the expert is quickly reduced to a mere “button-pusher.” They’re not given the opportunity to diagnose what’s actually wrong, research your market, or challenge your assumptions. Instead, they’re relegated to implementing whatever’s on your list—which, unfortunately, may be the wrong list entirely.

Over the years, I’ve worked with businesses that started with this exact approach. I dutifully created the site they wanted. I built exactly what they asked for, from ecommerce functionality to flashy features. I faithfully executed their strategy. But a couple of years down the line, their business was no longer there. They had closed down and disappeared—not only did I lose a client, but I lost a project for my own portfolio that might have demonstrated the effectiveness of my work.

Worse, I realized I hadn’t helped them in the way I set out to. Instead of being a consultant solving problems, I’d been a technician assembling the machinery of their own undoing.

The Portfolio Paradox

This is more than a hypothetical problem; it’s a real, recurring business challenge, especially for freelancers and agencies. A consultant’s best advertising is often their track record: websites and campaigns still live, still flourishing, still bringing in leads or delighting customers years later.

When businesses disappear, your visible proof of past work evaporates too. And if the site or campaign wasn’t tied to a successful outcome, you lose not only a testimonial but also a case study showing how effective your strategies can be.

It became clear: simply giving clients what they ask for, unchecked, is bad for both their long-term success and mine.

What The Marketplace Actually Wants

The core issue here is a lack of genuine market intelligence. Many business owners are experts in either their craft or their product—a restaurateur knows Italian cuisine inside out or a landscaper knows native California flora. But they aren’t always equally expert in how their customers discover, buy, or experience what they offer.

Let’s say you’re an expert at making handmade jewelry. You know every tool, gem, polish, and finish. But do you truly know:

- Why customers buy your jewelry over someone else’s?

- What words or visuals compel a click or a purchase?

- Which social media platforms are your customers actually using?

- What competitors are doing that you aren’t?

- How pricing, packaging, or shipping influence perceived value?

Most often, the answer is: only partially. Without research—without listening to the marketplace—you’re flying blind. You may love a certain color palette, but your audience might associate it with something negative. You may insist on certain verbiage, but your prospects search for different keywords altogether. You may build features nobody uses, while neglecting pain points that actually cost you conversions.

It can be a hard pill to swallow, especially after months or years of operating a certain way. However, the difference between companies that thrive and those that fizzle often hinges on their willingness to prioritize evidence over ego.

Listening vs. Telling

What’s the antidote? In my experience, two principles stand out above all the rest: humility and curiosity.

- Humility, to admit you might not have all the answers.

- Curiosity, to seek out the answers in your data, in your customers, in the broader market.

As a consultant, I try to gently—but firmly—guide new clients toward these principles. I encourage them to consider:

- Surveying their customers, even informally. What do people like about you? What frustrates them? What competing solutions do they use?

- Analyzing data: website analytics, call logs, social media engagements, email marketing reports. Where are people dropping off? Which messages resonate?

- Reviewing competitor strategies, not to copy, but to understand what the broader market rewards—or ignores.

- Experimenting: A/B testing different headlines, offers, or designs to let the market decide.

More Listening, Less Telling

In practice, this means spending more time with the questions “What are we missing?” and “How do we know?” instead of immediately asserting “Here’s what we need to do.”

It means approaching marketing projects as collaborative explorations, not solo crusades. And it means acknowledging that your consultant’s value isn’t just in building what you request, but in challenging you, asking hard questions, and, sometimes, gently steering you away from disaster.

It’s not always easy—especially if you’ve been doing things a certain way for years. But I’ve seen first-hand how freeing it can be. Business owners who embrace listening, who value their expert’s experience over their own assumptions, are far more likely to see results—and far less likely to join the long list of failed ventures that never quite connected with their customers.

You Can Hire Button-Pushers, But…

There are plenty of people out there willing to do whatever task you assign, exactly as requested. Need a landing page? A logo? A Facebook campaign launched by next week? No problem.

But as competition heats up and tools get more sophisticated, there’s growing value in people who don’t just build things, but know which tools, tactics, and strategies actually work. That expertise—knowing which buttons to push, and in what order—is where your greatest ROI lies.

The businesses that last are those that blend their own knowledge with outside expertise; that treat consultants as partners, not just vendors; that test their assumptions rather than defend them to the last breath.

My New Approach: Balancing Wants and Needs

After seeing too many businesses disappear after rigidly sticking to their own untested prescriptions, I had to make a choice in my consulting business: shift from pure implementation to a collaborative, diagnostic model.

Now, when clients come to me, I take time to listen to both what they want—because every vision matters—and what they truly need. I ask about analytics, about sales data, about their best and worst customers. I probe for pain points they may not have seen. I look for blind spots and opportunities.

Sometimes, this means gently telling a client that their favored scheme won’t work in the real world, because their customers don’t want it. Or that the reason their phone “isn’t ringing” is less about their website, and more about their unanswered reviews, outdated Google profile, or misaligned messaging.

These aren’t always comfortable conversations. But they’re the difference between meaningful results and more of the same old struggle.

How You Can Benefit

If you’re a business owner, marketer, or entrepreneur reading this, how can you take this advice to heart? Here are a few actionable steps:

1. Before meeting with any marketing or web expert, gather some data first. Review your analytics, look at sales trends, and jot down the questions you want answered. Let the numbers guide, not just your gut.

2. Be open to being wrong—at least about the details. Your vision is more valuable than ever, but invite your expert to challenge your plan where it’s unsupported by evidence or market reality.

3. Listen deeply to the marketplace. Survey customers and staff, pay attention to online reviews, and see where common issues or delights emerge.

4. Set aside “ego projects.” Those features or designs you personally love, but have no evidence your customers want, should be tested ruthlessly—or postponed until they’re validated.

5. See your marketing expert as a collaborator, not a contractor. The best results happen through dialogue, mutual respect, and the courage to let go of sacred cows when new data demands it.

Conclusion: Succeed by Asking Better Questions

The temptation to dictate precisely what you want is human. But the businesses—and individuals—who go the distance are those who can pause, admit what they don’t know, and surround themselves with people who do.

Next time you reach out to a consultant, resist the urge to demand a checklist implementation. Instead, ask, “What do you see as our biggest opportunity?” or “Where do you think we might be missing something vital?”

The answer might surprise you. And it may be the open door that allows your business to survive, thrive, and make it to the next level—long after the competition has faded from view.

As always, I hope these insights help you build a marketing strategy and business model rooted in evidence, collaboration, and “smart listening.” If you have questions, or want to share your experience, feel free to leave a comment below. Here’s to your success—see you next time.