Prospecting is a daunting topic for many freelancers, but it’s a necessary challenge that requires regular practice if you’d like to stay self-employed.
One way to become more comfortable with your prospecting skills is to practice them. Create mock pitches for your dream client, and then analyze them from the client’s point of view.
A few questions to ask as you review your pitch:
- Is your pitch about them and their needs, or does it focus on you and your abilities? (hint: it should always be about them)
- Does your pitch clearly list your relevant skills as well as how they apply to the prospect’s needs?
- Is your pitch personalized and specific for their business, or is it generic and could speak to any business?
- Does your pitch show how much you know about the business and/or industry? Is it showing that you’re the expert (without outright calling yourself the expert)
- Does your pitch solve their current and/or future challenges?
Bottom line – does your pitch make the prospect want to contact you? If it doesn’t, tweak it. Rewrite it. Rethink your strategy. Your ability to effectively pitch is critical to the short and long-term success of your business, and like every other skill you have, it’s imperative that you develop your abilities regularly.
Kent
good reminder. thx