Article by Wendy McCance
Today I lost a client. I had worked with this client for over a year and had a fabulous rapport with the company. The loss of the client unfortunately wasn’t a surprise. There had been budget issues right from the beginning. I was called each time there was a meeting with a heads-up that there was a debate over spending money on outside help. Ultimately, I had a good run with the company, made some wonderful connections and still have a great relationship with the people I worked with. It’s sad to loss the client, but I had a wonderful experience.
The reason I am mentioning what happened was because I got lucky. I never stopped prospecting for business. I have had enough steady work that it would be easy to slack off and feel quite comfortable with the clients I deal with on a monthly basis. Instead of getting too comfortable with what I have, I am always looking to double my business.
I lost a good chunk of money from the client I lost. Because this was an ongoing assignment, I had money coming in each month from them. The same day I got the unfortunate news, I had a meeting with a new client that gave me enough work right out of the gate that I more than made up for the loss of my long-term client. I have 3 additional potential clients that I have been in discussions with and a big meeting next week that could potentially be my biggest client yet.
The point is that if I wasn’t staying on top of finding new customers, losing this client could have had a devastating effect. When you have your own freelance business, it’s easy to think about doing the writing, but many people don’t consider that getting the business is actually a big portion of the work you will need to do. If you don’t like to prospect for business, you will have a difficult time staying busy and surviving as a writer. Unfortunately, it’s up to you to create the business opportunities.
The upside to prospecting for business is that the longer you are in business, the more business will be knocking on your door. You will have clients who give you repeat business every few months. There will be customers you reached out to that weren’t ready to use a freelance writer back when you connected, but remembered you when they did have a need to have some work done. You will also get new clients because someone referred you. The harder you push yourself when you are first starting out, the quicker the return on all that hard work. Just remember that even when you are at full capacity, you will still need to reach out so that there is always something new around the corner.
What have you experienced? Are you a pro at prospecting or do you dread reaching out? Have you found an ideal way to comfortably connect with new people? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Let’s get a good conversation going.
Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing or social media assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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Wendy, thanks for sharing this. I am a professional salesman in my main job and prospecting is absolutely required to build a following. However, I hate phone prospecting and prefer to make initial contact with most potential customers by actually walking in the door and asking questions. I know most writers would cringe at this method but I am accustomed to it and find that a good deal of information can be gathered by observing body language, etc.
I have been extremely busy recently in my sales job and have let prospecting for writing clients slack off. As a result, I have no writing projects in the pipeline thus proving your point. You gotta keep after it!
Hi Jeff, Thanks so much for your comment. I used to sell wine and spirits and I was just like you. I had to get in front of someone to get the sale. Phone calls were useless for me. What I’ve come to understand is that no two people are alike and it’s incredibly important to focus on what method of reaching out works best for you individually. As a writer, I hated networking events. Sounds strange because I was so good at prospecting in person when I sold wine. The best method for me is emails. For whatever reason, it has been a wonderful way to build my business. I found with networking events that everyone was looking and those same people weren’t buying (I was like that as well) so it never seemed to do anyone any good. Wishing you the very best!!
nice article, wendy. perhaps it is human nature when times are good to lull oneself into thinking one can be static in a dynamic world? i am still looking for answers as the work/social/self worlds all tend to blur more and more. the irony is man seems to want life to be compartmentalized, as if a box of chocolates. thoughts? http://www.ubeme.com/brainstormcafe/2014/8/14/how-do-you-see-the-world
Hi Mark, thanks so much for your comment. I think you are right about the human nature statement. It’s why it’s important to be aware of becoming too comfortable. I believe that staying a little off kilter by putting extra effort into each working day can only enhance how well you ultimately do.