Winning a new client seldom happens right away. From lead to signing a contract is often several small steps rather than one giant leap taken at once. The old marketing line of “know, like and trust” which is necessary before anyone buys doesn’t happen right away, so often there is a wooing period while a potential client checks you out and understands the solutions you can offer.
But there is a limit.
Especially as a solo-entrepreneur your most limited resource is your time. So how much time are you willing to invest in securing a new client?
In a recent interview with Robert Vlach, author of The Freelance Way on Matt Dowling’s Freelancers: Next Gen podcast Vlach addressed this in a way that I thought made really great sense. He pointed to all the unpaid work that often happens at the start of a client engagement – the meetings, reading of documents, discussions etc. that go into making the client feel confident that you are the right fit. These can add up to a significant amount of time. So how do you decide if it’s worth it?
Vlach suggests you decide in advance for yourself how many hours are you willing to put into this up-front work with a client? Maybe your limit is 5 hours. So you go in knowing that you are willing to invest 5 hours of unpaid work into a new potential client. Once that is decided, you don’t need to stress about the time you are spending in meetings, or reviewing their website, or having conversations with various members of their team. As long as it’s within the 5 hours then you have already decided that is time you are willing to spend on winning a client. That 5 hours is what you are willing to invest in prospecting with this client.
As you get close to that 5 hour limit you can then decide whether this looks like it’s going to go anywhere or whether you cut your losses and move on. But you now have a clear line in the sand where you are going to evaluate the cost/benefit of this work. If it’s not likely to come to fruition or they are taking too long to make a decision then you can exercise your agency and choose to move on to the next prospect. This helps avoid the endless chasing of clients. You invest x amount of time in a new potential client, if it doesn’t come to anything during that time, then you move on.
You might be explicit with the potential client by saying ‘I am a freelancer and I am only willing to invest X hours in unpaid work with you. If you wish to continue to consult with me prior to signing a contract, I will have to charge you X per hour for my time.’ This honest statement is going to separate those who are serious about working with you from the tire kickers who are simply wasting your time.
Having boundaries helps towards maintaining your mental health as a freelancer. Knowing your limits for new client acquisition will allow you to track your investment in new clients and give you a metric for weeding out good potential clients from bad ones.
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