It is competitive out there, the freelancing market is growing every day and now more than ever it is important that we make the most out of every opportunity. So how can we improve the quality of our client interaction?

There is that well known phrase in the sales industry ABC – Always be Closing and whilst I’m not into the ’selling double glazing’ approach we can learn something from their proactive way of getting results. Let’s look at a simple sales formula for calls/meetings to get us started:

1. Introduction & Hook

Should be short, punchy and delivered with confidence: Who you are and why you are calling – this is the hook, the why they should listen to you e.g work you have done for their competitor, stating someone’s name they know, demonstrating knowledge of their business

2. Probe

This is your fact finding step of the process and it has 2 levels:

1. Level One – asking questions that will help you establish what they are looking for e.g type of project, skills required, time scales (facts)
2. Level Two – is the need analysis step, in otherwords why they need a freelancer, so use open questions e.g what impact does this project have? what are the consequences of not starting on time? what value will a freelancer add? (Once you know this information you can use it to sell it back to them in the next stage…

3. Match

This is matching the benefits of you/your product to their needs e.g I have 10 years experience of working on those type of projects and my knowledge of the creative market means I can hit the ground running. I can also start straight away which means your project will start on time…

4. Confirm

This is the ‘check in’ step before you close for commitment e.g do I sound like the sort of person you would employ as a freelancer? This step also gives the client an opportunity to voice any objections they have so you can overcome them (see my next post for how)

5. Close

Close for commitment e.g a meeting, sending a proposal or sample of your work, agreeing start date, sending an invoice, agreeing a time to call back e.g I will send you an invoice which details what we have discussed and start on the xyz date.

This is an easy sales process to learn – Intro, probe, match, confirm, close and if you start using it today I guarantee you will see improved results.

Happy Selling!

Please share how you get on using this by posting your stories and if you would like to learn how to use this practically join us for our workshop on Thursday 12th November at the The Werks, Hove:

Freelance Training: Improving your Sales Hit Rate

EVENT DETAILS: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4615873/?ps=7

• Add to calendar
• Invite Friends
• Print

Image by jake vance