What’s on the iPod: The Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit
Slower week this week. One project due to come in on Monday has been delayed a week. That gives me time to get an article finished and get a marketing blitz started. I have three months until a big trade show. The more companies I talk to now, the better.
Part of my preparations for the show includes updating my brochure and website content. Also, I go to the shows with an electronic presentation book — my samples in PowerPoint. It’s easier to put together a really sleek design and tweak it as I need to. Plus, I’m not lugging around sample books. I’m mailing those out after the fact.
As I was looking around for ways to improve my messaging and my client conversations, I noticed some techniques that aren’t winning any fans. We freelance writers have to get attention, but I question how some writers go about that.
Here are some ways to scare off those clients you’re desperate to land:
1. Your look screams amateur. Your website doesn’t have to cost a fortune, but please, attempt to make it look like a professional owns it. No pictures of your family, your collections, yourself in a bathing suit… And watch the content you put up — none of that me me me me me stuff. Your potential client wants to know how you’re going to help them, not how freaking wonderful you are.
2. Your attitude says “maybe.” I don’t know where it’s written that you can’t talk to a potential client like you’re excited to be doing so. I remember a writer working for me who’d shared her taped interviews when she’d bailed on the assignment I’d given her. She sounded bored as hell (could be why she bailed). If your client calls you, don’t sound out of breath, bored, or confused. If you can’t switch gears quickly enough, just thank them for calling, apologize for having something in front of you that needs your attention, and make an appointment to call them back as soon as possible. Act like you want the job.
3. You put them on your mailing list. If I contact a company asking for a price or if they have something I need, that’s not an invitation to send me volumes of emails and junk mail. That doesn’t mean pester me on the phone, either. Freelance writers who stalk people on social media aren’t winning any popularity contests. Instead, they’re looking like spammers.
4. You can’t spell. Even clients whose writing skills aren’t stellar can see those typos. One or two mistakes are forgivable, but an entire string of mistakes, including sentence structure issues, could sink your reputation. Use Spell Check and check every sentence to make sure everything is in order.
5. You can’t stop your online diatribes. I had a conversation with a writer not long ago in which the attitude vomited onto me from the note was a huge turn-off. We have opinions, oftentimes strong ones. Politics, religion, or any opinion sure to divide the masses should be left for something else (unless you’re specializing in politics, religion, or dividing the masses). Would you hire a painter, roofer, or lawyer who was always on Twitter spouting off about how Christians/non-Christians/atheists are ruining America? Keep it to yourself and your close circle of friends.
6. You look desperate. Lose the exclamation points, the litany of promises, or anything in your sales/marketing content that can read bogus to someone who doesn’t know you. Stick with facts and state them with confidence, but don’t overdo it. And don’t keep repeating yourself — that reads as desperate.
Writers, what methods or habits have you seen that scare off clients?
3 responses to “6 Ways You’re Scaring Off Clients”
I can't stand when people oversell themselves or their skills. It drags them into that vast chasm of narcissism. People who do that will never understand that it – whatever it may be – isn't about them. It's about their client or potential client.
As to point #5, a common sense lesson far to few people have learned — especially in this era of social media — is: Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean you have to share it. Yes, you're entitled to hold whatever opinions you like. But we don't need to hear them.
Thank you, Paula. That's exactly the sentiment I wanted to convey — narcissism. It wins over no one.
I know of just one person who has been able to voice her objections to a client's behavior in public and not lost business as a result. She's built somewhat of a brand around it. It's admirable, but it works for someone who doesn't harp or beat the drum too strongly. She's got that perfect mix of professionalism, irreverence, and detachment.
The rest of us? Not so much. 🙂
[…] 270+ free professional résumé templates to supercharge your job search How To Improve Your LinkedIn Productivity With Evernote & IFTTT +300 Awesome Free Things for Entrepreneurs and Startups 7 Reasons Why Your Client Communications is Failing 6 Rookie Mistakes You Might Be Making on LinkedIn How to Write a Truly Authentic Value Proposition Social Media Connecting without the Creepiness How to Make a QR Code in 4 Quick Steps 6 Ways You’re Scaring Off Clients […]