Credit: D Sharon Pruitt
They say that persistence is important, and if you ask me, it’s an essential characteristic of successful freelancers. After all, sometimes you put out an inquiry to work for a prospective client, maybe you hear back, but you don’t land the job.
What do you do–move on or potentially “waste” your time staying on top of the client? Let me introduce a third possibility: Stay on top of your efforts to secure the client without wasting time.
How do you do that, you ask? Here are a few ways you can persist. While I don’t guarantee you’ll wind up landing the gig, you stand a better chance by simply hanging in there with minimal effort.
Leverage your email marketing campaign.
If the client you desire is on your mailing list (or you can remind them about signing up and get them to subscribe), you have a simple tool to stay in front of your prospective clients. Some people subscribe a prospect to their list and immediately give them the option to personally opt out. I have mixed feelings about it. The point is, if you can get that contact in on your email list, you will stay visible. When they do need the services you provide, a prospective client is more likely to call on you. This is a simple route because you will still put out a regular email newsletter and don’t have to think about making additional efforts for that specific client–they are already part of your efforts. Remember, the newsletter is more than a tool to let people know what’s happening with your business–it should be a tool to warm up sales leads and secure clients.
Use direct mail.
I know many people want to rely on the Internet, but not all people do. Some people like something in hand. So if you’ve reached out to a client you really want and haven’t heard back (or have gotten a “thanks, we’ll see” type of response), try direct mail. Nowadays it’s super-affordable to print out postcards. I recently got postcards through Nextdayflyers, sent them out and have already secured some work. Why? Staying visible in someone’s inbox is great, but if you can do it in print form as well, that’s even better.
Know when to throw in the towel.
By this, I mean that you can stop wasting time and money keeping in touch with prospects. You may also find less-expensive methods of staying visible and choose not to end the contact. (This is why that email newsletter is so very valuable!) I don’t like to sever ties, but if I feel that I’ve made the effort for at least a year and nothing is happening, I have stopped using more expensive methods to get in touch with potential clients. I never remove leads from my email marketing list, but I do stop sending postcards (which require money for stamps) to clients that have not responded in a year. I like to give leads at least a year of regular contact before I decide anything. You may not want to remove the lead from your mailing list–that’s okay. But if you have to cut back on costs, give things at least a year to see if anything comes of it.
Utilize LinkedIn.
Even if I think I’m not going to get the gig from a prospective client, I try to have them on LinkedIn. Why? It can take years for a prospective client to decide they want to use your services. They may already have a freelancer they like, for example, so should that relationship dissolve, you want to be visible. So even if you stop mailing that person regularly, keep them as a contact on LinkedIn (or other social media, for that matter.) Again, simply by staying visible, credible and professional, you stay in the game. That means you stand a better chance of eventually turning a lead into a client–just by staying persistent.
Above All, Stay in Touch.
When I have a client I really want, I continue with marketing efforts but don’t “waste” time personally hounding a prospect. For example, if I’ve reached out to a prospect for the first time with a general email letter, or by sending my brochure, I typically follow up with any of the aforementioned techniques to stay visible. If you persist too much, you risk annoying the client. But a regular email newsletter or postcard is a perfectly good way to keep your prospects informed. The majority of prospects (not just in my opinion, but in many materials I’ve read about sales cycles) can take months if not years to secure.
So stay unannoyingly persistent. There can be big payoffs, and I am living proof that there is a huge power to staying persistent.
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Pink Sherbet Photography
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