Do follow through
January 10th, 2007
Ah, the dreaded check-in call with a potential client you’re trying to woo. Unfortunately, like your annual pap, cold and follow-up calls are integral to a healthy self-employed life.
Entrepreneur magazine has this to say about checking in with old clients and new prospects:
The more you’re in front of prospects, the better chance you have of creating good timing. Many executives agree that most sales happen after the fifth call. Yet most salespeople give up after the first.
I admit to not always staying on top of freelance leads for the full five “at your service!” check-in calls or emails, usually because I’ve already found other work to keep me busy. But it’s food for thought for anyone who fires off an introductory email to a potential editor or client and never bothers to follow up. You might as well hit Delete before you even write the dang message.
As the article mentions, the time is ripe for jogging those potential editors and clients. A new year means a built-in excuse to contact them: wishing them well and saying you look forward to possibly working together in 2007. And for some publications, a new year means a fresh freelance budget — perfect timing for reminding them you’re still ready, willing, and able.
Real life example: Just last night I got an email from this kayak company, which I took a three-day paddle with two summers ago. I haven’t been in touch with the company since 2005, but the message got me thinking, hmmmm, maybe I do want to do that trip again this summer. Then I proceeded to devour the website, looking for new photos and trip dates and info about last summer’s whale sightings. On my to-do list for next week: Call the friend I took the trip with and see if she wants to go again this summer.
Entry Filed under: This freelance life
4 Comments Add your own
1. ddv | January 10th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I have to agree with you. I regularly have to search out, hire and oversee vendors and other companies as part of my job. It doesn’t really bother me when the “account executives” give me a call every few months to keep those connections–even if the call only lasts a minute and I tell them I don’t currently need anyone. The calls don’t reallly disrupt my day and it DOES bring them and their company to the top of my mind. Plus, it makes me feel special that they remember me and go out of their way to woo me (corporate drones have feelings too!)
So keep at it! Just don’t overdo it and call every other week. If you hear an initial “no” on your call, don’t put on the hard sell right then and there, if I don’t have work, you launched into the hard sell isn’t suddenly going to create work.
~ddv
2. Michelle Goodman | January 10th, 2007 at 8:57 am
ddv, thanks for this! so great to hear this advice from the other end of the call. plus, don’t you love vendor holiday gifts? the best! (not that i’ve ever been on the receiving end; i’ve just seen them at friend’s houses when they won the raffle to take them home…)
i agree with the “follow up, but in moderation” idea. so many editors/clients complain about freelancers who call every day or week and say, do you need me now? how about now? ok, NOW?
my advice to freelancers working with corporate clients is to follow up once within two weeks if you don’t hear back from your initial email/letter/VM. once you’ve made contact, wait till the next quarter before you check in to see if they have work for you.
with publication editors, the process is a little different. there’s no reason you can’t send a new pitch a few weeks down the line if you don’t get response to your first one. but this is a topic for a whole other book. in fact, see http//:www.therenegadewriter.com or http://www.mediabistro.com for tips on working with magazine/newspaper editors.
3. ddv | January 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
it is also really a good idea to glean when your corporate clients establish budgets and projects for the year. I get a set amount of money to spend, and if you call/write 3 weeks after i’ve opened up a different project, it will be no go for the whole year. Try to time your calls 2-3 MONTHS before budgets are locked to maximize your chances for success.
Granted not all companies have fixed budgets or are willing to share when they set them, but it is worth a shot!
~ddv
4. Michelle Goodman | January 11th, 2007 at 9:59 am
more great advice. thanks, ddv! as an example, one big client of mine starts their fiscal year in summer, so i have to keep that in mind. but another client of mine starts their FY in jan. knowing this helps me figure out when to target which clients for projects.
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