Lately I’ve been on an intense Jim Camp (the late “world’s most feared” negotiator) kick — listening and re-listening (over a dozen times so far) to some audios he did, and reading his book “No”. Anyway, something he did when selling water softeners that got him so many sales he made more from doing that part time than he did from his full time commercial airline pilot job was:
Asking his customers who were on the fence to tell him no.
What he did was this:
He went to all the customers he had talked to who hadn’t made a decision, gave him a maybe, put him off, etc. And one by one he told them, “I just wanted to ask you to tell me ‘no thanks’ if that is your decision. That way I can close the file and move on.”
This didn’t close all of them, obviously.
But, he got a bunch of high ticket sales from people who had been in the fence, or just weren’t in the position to buy originally, yada yada yada
All by trying to get a no, instead of a yes.
Anyway, I suspect this would work well for freelancers too.
Y’all having to put up with flakey would-be clients, etc.
Go to each of them (you have nothing to lose) and make them ante up. Call them (don’t be a pussy and email them) and say:
“We talked about doing your ____ work, but you never made a decision. I just wanted to ask you to tell me ‘no thanks’ if that is your decision. That way I can move on to some other clients I’m talking to, and close the file.”
The caveat is, this has to be a principal by which you do business.
If you try this tactically, you’ll sound like an idiot and they’ll see right through you.
You have to really be willing and anxious to let them go.
Ah yes, Jim Camp:
Still schooling us from beyond the grave…
Speaking of clients:
The September “Email Players” issue talks a lot about a topic very few (especially the people always nattering on about it on Flakebook) understand — and that is personal branding. Personal branding simply being nothing more or less than everything you do to attract and maintain customer and client relationships.
Something that can drive your email response higher than you ever imagined.
And, not just emails.
But anything else you market with.
(YouTube, articles, webinars, podcasts, etc.)
If you do client work of any kind, this issue can make it so that, over time, clients wouldn’t even dream of hiring anyone else for whatever it is you do — even if you aren’t the “best” at it they can choose from.
Anyway, she goes to the printer in a couple weeks.
Click the filthy link below to subscribe in time:
Ben Settle
