We all know the following scenario …
A potential customer calls you and arranged a meeting. Spend at least 2 hours preparing, traveling and meeting. Then you will spend even more time carefully preparing a commercial offer.
And then the most interesting thing happens. Nobody answers you.
You can remember it again. But the answer is still silence.
You finally hear:
- “We decided to work with another company” or
- “The head of department did not approve the budget” or
- “The project is on hold” or
- “We decided to do it ourselves”
Grudge. A WASTE OF TIME. Inadequacy.
Is there a way out? Can you spend less time with potential customers who are not suitable for your business?
YES.
Ask these 5 questions to eliminate potential customers who will not work with you anyway.
Preamble
The next call you receive from a potential customer starts as follows:
“Hi, this is Vasya Pupkin from ABC. We would like to know the prices for the brand work. ”
Before you say:
“Okay, when would you like to meet?”
We will now process the same call in different ways.
- Your goal is to make a connection, have a meaningful discussion, help them achieve their goal and see if you are willing to work together on a project.
- You must give up any attachment to the project. It relieves you of a huge stress and changes the whole energy of the conversation.
Well, back to the discussion.
Vasia called you and said he would like an offer for a branded job. This leaves a lot of holes to be filled. We do not know who he is, we do not know his position in the company and we do not know if he is just gathering information or is he really ready to start a project.
Now you will talk to Vasya and ask 5 important questions that will help you get the information you need. So you say:
“Basically, I’m glad you called and I would like to know something about the project before we meet.”
Question # 1: What prompted you to start this project?
You ask them about the story behind the project … how they got to where they are now.
You need an indoor kitchen.
- You may be told that the company has broken down its website and is calling you to save the day.
- Or how they want to take advantage of digital media and create a social media marketing campaign.
- Or a whole series of stories about how the project came about and how it got to you.
You need to know what to do before deciding on further collaboration.
Question # 2: Who makes the decisions?
Do you need to know what Vasya’s role is in this project – Assistant Manager or Vice President of Marketing?
Find out who makes the decisions and offer to meet with the team. You want to know who they are and what they are involved in … and how many there are.
Because the last thing you want is for the whole project to stop when it’s almost done.
Do not be afraid to ask lots of questions until you are sure it is right for you. And trust your intuition. She often says: “Do not get involved!”, But who listens to her.
Question # 3: Can you give an approximate budget?
Exhalation. This is a very difficult question.
Often customers do not respond to this or say they are unsure. The opposite question is most often asked:
“How much would you charge for that?”
That’s wonderful. You can give them a fairly large range.
“It costs between 20,000 and 80,000 rubles for a basic ID for a small company.”
Just stay calm and wait for an answer… you will feel like torture, but it will save you hundreds of lost hours.
They can say:
“ok, it suits us“.
the:
“It was not exactly what we had in mind – we did not think of more than 5,000.”
If you listen to the latter, you will immediately understand that working with them will not work! It’s great to know this information before you go to a meeting or take the time to develop a proposal.
Whatever you do, do not panic at work and do not say:
“Okay, I think we can do something for 5,000.”
Instead, you can say something like:
“Basically, I do not think we can work together on this project. I will be happy to refer you to another designer who can do this for the price “.
Remember that this is a good move. Of course you should know how much you shouldtake on your jobto work in your favor.
Now if you answered this question satisfactorily, let’s continue …
Question # 4: When will you be ready to get started?
Another key question. The answer may be:
“We intend to present a new identity next quarter, so we are very serious about moving forward as soon as possible. We would like to make a decision within the next 4 weeks “.
Or you may hear something like:
“I do not know for sure, my boss asked me to collect quotes …”.
Which would you rather spend time with?
If you get a second answer, ask more questions. It may seem awkward at first, but in reality you are helping them gain the clarity they need to get a better end product that meets their goals. Keep asking questions until you understand exactly what is going on. You can even ask them for more information and contact you before making a decision.
“Listen, Vasia, I would love to help you with this project. As far as I know, we do not know your goals or deadlines. Can we call again in a day or two when you have more information? ‘
Again, do not get stuck. Make another call. Do the accounting in front of you (you are already helping him).
Question # 5: Who else are you negotiating with?
(Often they do not answer this question either.)
Most of the time, clients consider 3 designers at a time. If they say they’re talking to 8 designers and then limit it, this could be a wake-up call from different angles:
- They may need to look at 10 concepts before making a decision.
- They may have a decision-making committee that disagrees.
- The left hand may not know what the right hand is doing.
There may be a lot between the lines here and you need it trust intuition,to make a decision.
Additional Tips
Growing a business can be a daunting task for freelancers, but it does not have to be. If you use these questions and the following bonus tips, sales will become easier and even more fun as you meet new people and make connections.
Some more tips for success:
Listen more than you talk. Do not present diplomas and do not talk about how many awards you have won this year. Have a REAL and meaningful discussion.
Focus on how you solved a similar problem for someone else and what the results were for him. For example: “When my client Massa introduced her new identity, she doubled her sales in the first six months because people understood what she was doing and how she was different from the others.”
Taking on a new project is good. But if you have to refuse, it does not matter. If you’re busy with bad customers, there is no room for good ones.
You can do it! You can learn how to grow your business in a completely different way and worry less about it. And with a little practice, you can safely get away from the wrong job.
source: Freelance Today
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