This lesson is called how to be an excellent communicator, and it will show you how to provide amazing
customer service through best practice communication tactics.
The reason this lesson is important is because communication is what will make or break everything you
do in freelancing, and it all begins with that initial outreach.
But it doesn't stop there.
Being able to communicate well throughout the entire freelance sales process will have a direct impact
on your success.
Being able to use different communication tools, phone calls, texts, emails, video chats, et cetera
is vital for your success.
Understand how important it is for you to remain in constant contact with all of your clients and potential
clients.
That is how you can become a profitable freelancer because you need to keep that line of communication
open and show those clients and potential clients that you are going to be there with them for the long
run.
That is how you can build long term clients and profitable relationships.
In this lesson, we are going to go over the first call you have with a client.
This is after you send out that proposal.
The client gets back in touch with you and you schedule a time to get on the call.
I'm going to show you how to handle that first call.
And different ways you can approach it so you have the most success possible.
Then I will show you how you can approach the sales demonstration.
Followed by rules for profitable phone calls.
Here, I'm going to show you how you can focus on the right things when you're on these phone calls
so you can move the freelance sales process forward.
After that, we will get into qualifying leads, this is another important part of freelancing because
you need to make sure you're only working with the best clients that are a good match for you.
This will lead to good reviews and more work if you work with the wrong clients and you don't take the
time to qualify them first.
You're jeopardizing your reputation and you're not spending their time where you should be, which is
on high ticket clients that you've already qualified.
Lastly, I will cover how to effectively follow up the follow up is one of the most crucial parts of
any sales process because most sales don't happen on those first few interactions.
They happen after a few follow ups have been consistently maintained.
When you continue to follow up with clients and potential clients, you're showing them that you're
hungry for their business.
You're not going anywhere, and now you're confident you can solve the problem they have.
That is what is ultimately going to get you paid on a consistent basis.
Now, let's go over the first client meeting, the goal of your entire proposal is to get this secure
and in order to do that, you need to write an amazing proposal which you've already done by this point
because now you're on the call with them and on this call, you need to keep it very simple.
Make the focus on them.
Introduce yourself, put the buyer at ease, stay calm and then start to get on some common ground with
them.
Once the buyer turns their control over to you, that's when you can go into explaining more of your
proposal and going into more detail on how you are a good fit.
So the first thing is to be yourself and act calm throughout the process.
Just remember, these are hot leads that need your help and you're there to just solve their problem.
So don't be intimidated, just get on the call with them.
Stay calm, make sure you're breathing and you're not getting too emotional or excited, or you're not
cutting them off too much.
Make sure you show them that you're the best fit for them because you're there to hear how you can help
them and solve their problems.
And you also want to remain professional the whole time, so this isn't just about keeping it, just
about business, but you do want to act normal, act rational, don't be overly thankful that they took
the call with you or anything like that.
You don't want to do anything that throws them off.
So just really build a relationship with them.
Get to know them a little bit.
Ask them about their business.
Keep it very focused on the professional items at hand.
You will get better at this as you go through your freelance journey.
But as they start to ask some questions, there might be a little off topic.
Make sure you guide the call back on the journey so you can get to the next step of the process.
And that's exactly why you need to use a call script during the call, using a call script that has
relevant questions on it and different things that you want to get answered by the client is vital for
you to have success on the first client meeting call.
So have it open on your HubSpot CRM.
You can also have a pen and paper handy just to take quick notes, and the HubSpot CRM is located in
the profitable tools and apps bonus so you can access that and start taking notes on all clients during
the call.
This will also help you tremendously when you're on the call, and it lacks direction because then you
can just look at your call script that you wrote and you can ask the next question on it.
This helps you progress the call forward.
If you didn't have this, you'd end up on some tangent and you'd never stay on the right track.
In addition to staying on track, you also can use the call script to take notes and write down any
additional next steps that you need to do.
Whenever things happen, it's human nature to say, Oh, I'll remember that I'll do that.
But if you don't write it down in the moment, chances are something else will distract you.
And you'll never remember to do that, especially on that first client meeting, because you need to
make sure you're writing everything down.
That is what you're going to use for your follow up.
And that is the info you're going to use to close the deal.
Then talk about similar projects you've done when you're on this call.
Think about any accomplishments or similar clients or projects you've worked on and talk about while
you're passionate about this skill.
Don't get too involved in any previous details of clients or projects, but just talk about them overall
and talk about how you help businesses with the skill you provide.
Make sure that your passion shines through here, because this is what a lot of freelancers also lack
is their passion.
They're focused so much on getting the deal clothes, getting the client's money, and sometimes they
take a step away from just being personable and letting their passion for their skillset shine through.
Another way you can have success in the first client meeting is to continue asking questions about the
client's business once they turn the floor over to you, and it's your turn to give suggestions and
tell them what you think about everything.
Take that time to not only focus on your suggestions, but to also turn it back on them and ask them
more questions.
This shows them that you're extremely interested, and this is also used to help you qualify them and
learn more about their business.
The more questions you ask, the more you'll learn.
You'll be amazed at this.
They'll tell you what's important to them.
All you have to do is just ask questions and make sure you get an answer and listen to them.
Once you get those answers like we just covered, make sure you write those down in your call script
document so you don't forget them later on.
Next, after you've asked them questions, qualified the client and learn more about the project at
hand.
Then you can start to give a recommendation of how you want to tackle this.
Your recommended plan of action.
What that does is it shows them that you have some specifics put together about the project and that
you already map some of it out.
This goes above and beyond a lot of the times because freelancers on average don't do this.
They don't think that far ahead.
They'll focus on what the client wrote in the job description, but they won't map out an entire plan
of action.
Different timetables and things of that nature.
That is why you can still be a profitable freelancer, even though you might be starting out or there's
a lot of competition.
It's because you need to know how to approach these things in the right way.
And if you start to use all these different tactics, we're going over in that first client, meeting
your chances of closing the deal are going to go through the roof.
If you just try to wing this, however, your chances are going to go down dramatically.
So take the time before every client meeting and start to put all of these things on paper in your CRM
so you can make sure you're hitting every single point.
And this might sound simple, but you need to get their response when you're asking them questions,
when you're recommending your plans of action, if they don't give you a response and they just change
the topic or ask you another question.
Make sure you're not moving on until you get their thoughts on what you recommended or what you propose
to them, because this is another way that will show you where you're at in the sales process.
If you get their response and they say, That sounds awesome, I'm ready to get going.
You know it's time to move into the close.
But if they start to provide some objections, that's when you know where you need to provide more information
on.
Also, you can tell them that you can put together a demonstration which will show anything in your
proposal in more detail for them.
This is a great way to set up a second meeting and make sure that you're moving that freelance sales
process forward.
That leads us right into the final step, which is establishing those next steps.
Once you've gotten their response, once you start to throw some ideas for next steps out there, make
sure you repeat them, make sure you read them out loud and you say, This is what I'm going to do and
this is what you are going to do.
And that is another way to show the client you're very serious about this.
You're outlining what both of you need to do.
And it's another way to get any last minute objections from the client.
So after you've gotten their responses, you've asked them a bunch of questions to qualify them.
You've learned about the project and you've already started to get some ideas for what the next steps
are.
Then you have to establish those, and I like to do that by repeating it out loud what my next steps
are and what the client's next steps are.
So if the next step is to get a demonstration ready, I will say that and I'll secure the time for that
next call.
On the other hand, if it's in the client's hand and I've already sent them enough information and the
client said that they have five other meetings with other freelancers.
What I would say is OK, on my end, I'm waiting to hear back on you after you've spoken to those five
other freelancers to see if I'm the best fit by establishing that next step.
You're showing them that you're a true business person and you're making sure that both of you know
what to do next.
So many times in the sales process, things get messy, things get confusing, people get distracted.
So everything you can do to just repeat what the next steps are will help you get to that next level
of ultimately closing that deal.
That is when you can move on to that second client call, which is more of a demonstration.
For this second call, the sales demonstration call, you can go into more detail about the specifics
of the project.
For this, I like to do screen shares with the client and show them exactly how I will go about their
project.
Walk them through everything.
Show them how different things work.
I like using crank wheel for this or Google Hangouts.
Those are both in the profitable tools and apps hand out, and those are softwares that allow you to
share your screen easily with clients.
And all they need is to just click a link on a phone or a computer.
And this is where you can get away from using words and start to show them by showing them either the
reports, previous samples of work or some sort of graphic presentation.
You can even add the client's logo to it and go above and beyond.
This will separate you from the pack because very few freelancers are going into that much detail,
and this will help you win jobs at a very high percentage.
On the sales demonstration, you can walk the prospect through how you were going to approach the project.
Talk about why you suggested everything you did and why it makes sense for their specific situation.
And then from there, you can go ahead and ask them if they're ready for you to start.
If they're not, you can go into more detail.
But if they are, you've just took in the power back of the whole sales process and you put it in a
position where you're showing them everything you can offer and you're continuing to ask for their business.
If they don't ask, when can you get started, then what you can say is something to the effect of.
We've had a few conversations.
I feel we're on the same page.
What will it take for us to get started on this?
Don't be afraid to confront and ask for the clothes.
A lot of times it's as simple as just asking for it.
So don't leave that out.
Don't forget to actually ask for the sale, and that is why the sales demonstration is so important.
It helps you not only separate yourself from the pack, but it shows the client what you can provide
by making them sit down and watch a demonstration.
This way, there's no questions that can get left unanswered.
And when you start to work with them, both parties know exactly what to expect.
Now, let's discuss the rules for profitable phone calls.
The first is to never disagree with a client, even if they're saying something you don't necessarily
agree with or that isn't true.
Find a way to see it from their perspective.
And then to give your point of view when you flat out disagree with a client that is a red flag.
And it shows them that your ego is too big, you're just worried about being right.
So don't be worried about being right.
Make sure you're never disagreeing and you're showing them that you're understanding where they're coming
from.
This will help you learn way more clients.
Next, never handle a call unprepared.
Never try to do a call when you don't have your call script pulled up when you're preoccupied doing
something else.
100 percent of your attention needs to be on the call with the client.
And this goes for anything you're doing with clients, whether it's a video call, just a phone call,
even if it's a conference call with multiple people.
Make sure you're focused and you're ready to answer questions on the spot.
Next.
Never give one price for one product.
Always provide options in a written format and avoid giving the price on the phone.
When you give different options, you're showing them that you can provide different levels of value
depending on how much the client wants to pay.
The next rule for profitable phone calls is to always extract as much information as you can from the
client, even if it's simple things like asking them why they decided to hire a freelancer now and if
they've hired anyone for this type of work in the past, you'll be surprised how much they open up and
tell you.
And then we'll also show you what's most important to them and what you can focus on moving forward.
You can also get information such as their cell phone number, email address and different ways to contact
them.
Don't hesitate gathering this info because this is how you're going to follow up at a massive scale.
You're going to get creative and you're going to follow up on every different medium and platform you
can.
That's how you can separate yourself from the pack and be at the right place at the right time when
that client's ready to hire.
And next, never argue with the client.
So if a client gets upset at something you did and you know you're in the right once again, put your
ego aside, don't argue with the client.
Give them some space.
If it's through email, don't respond right away.
If it's on a phone call and they're getting really worked up over something.
You can always say, you know what?
Emotions are running a little high right now.
Let's schedule another call.
But ultimately, make sure you're never arguing with the client, because once emotions get involved,
people don't act rationally.
They just act out of emotion.
And that's not where you want to come from as a profitable freelancer.
Everything you do needs to be well thought out using the profitable freelance sales process.
That's how you're going to have success.
Next, never keep the client on one product or one service.
This is how you can qualify clients and see what skill set you can offer them.
There are statistics out there that show that over half of the time clients are actually looking for
a different service than they initially posted.
They might not know this, but that is where the freelancer with the skill set and the expertise comes
in.
So if a client says they want a specific skill, for example, let's say they just said they want Facebook
ads, offer them Instagram ads in Google ads and buying ads and see how they respond to them.
They might not even know exactly what they want.
They might have thought that Instagram ads was different than Facebook, but in reality, they're both
on the same platform.
So this opens up the door not only to more services you can provide, but it also opens the door to
a long term relationship.
Because you're showing that client, you're there to help them, and you're giving them different options
for them to choose from.
The next rule for profitable phone calls is to text the client while you're on the phone with them,
if possible.
Texting has an immense power to help you close deals.
It can help you increase your appointments by up to 500 percent.
And if you text a client while you're on the call with them, it can increase your conversion by 320
percent.
When you texted during an interaction, this is the most memorable, because when you text them while
they're on the phone, you can tell them to save your number in their phone and you can also make sure
that they got it.
This also helps build more relevance, and it helps you stand out from the pack.
Not a lot of freelancers are doing this.
And once you get that information, that cell phone number, that is going to be one of the most valuable
pieces of info you can use later on.
So if you're speaking to the client, you can ask them if they're on their cell phone.
Most of the time they are, and if they are, that's when you can send that text right over.
If they say that they're not and they're on an office phone, that's when you can ask them for their
cell number.
Remember the part we said about always get info?
Don't be afraid to ask them what their cell number is.
And then if they ask why you can be one step ahead and already include that in your question.
When you do this, you're reaching the client wherever they are because people always have their cell
phone on them.
So that gives you the ability to reach them no matter where they are at any time of the day, even if
they're not at their desk.
Moving on to the next rule.
Always remember to qualify their client, even if they seem like the best client and the budget for
the project seems high and the phone calls are going well.
Make sure you qualify them first, make sure they're on the right services and that you're the best
fit for them when everything is looking great.
Taken this extra step and taking this extra precaution also shows them that you're a serious business
person and you really want to make sure that you're the best fit for each other next.
Never brag about yourself.
Clients want to hear about their project and how you can help them focus your energy on how you can
solve their problems.
This doesn't mean you can't share previous successes you've had, but don't use blanket statements like
I'm really good at this or I'm amazing at that.
Show them, show them through case studies, reports or even sales demos.
But make sure you're never coming off as bragging because that is going to turn clients away.
And as you're on these calls and you start to have different conversations with different personality
types.
Try to keep all of the small talk to a minimum high ticket clients.
The ones that you should be going after and working with have very busy schedules.
Their time is extremely valuable, so that doesn't mean that you can't break the ice and get to know
them a little, but always make sure you're moving the call forward by asking questions and keeping
the focus on the business.
Then make sure to recap the call and state the next steps out loud.
This reminds both parties what to do next and make sure the client understands what is expected.
Log all of your notes in your CRM as you go through this whole process.
Even after the first call, you want to keep very good notes because that will help you follow up and
it will help you close more clients.
I like to do this to a very high extent, to the point where I write down the tone of the conversation
that was had, what the client mentioned, their general outlook, whether it sounded like they were
in a good mood or a bad mood.
All of this is information that you will likely forget, but is vital when you start to follow up and
when you land clients.
That is the information that will help you maintain them for years and years to come.
And the last wolf or profitable phone calls is to stay positive.
I like to put a smile on my face, even though on a phone call they can't see it.
It helps you stay more positive and it helps you just keep that light in your eyes and that passion
in your voice.
No one wants to work with a boring freelancer who isn't motivated.
So make sure your voice isn't monotone and you're staying as positive as possible throughout the entire
phone call.
Sometimes it's easy to forget this, but remember, positivity sells and people will pay more for a
positive attitude.
Now that you understand how to find high tech clients, how to create and send winning proposals, and
the rules for profitable phone calls.
Now let's dive deeper into how you can qualify clients.
The first step is moving into a fact finding phase, this is where you ask them questions and you start
to dig into why they're hiring a freelancer in the first place.
One of the biggest mistakes that freelancers and salespeople make is that they don't ask what's important
to the customer.
They don't ask good questions and they don't write that information down.
So avoid asking hard questions that don't give you any good info.
Quality questions have to be relevant about the project that they posted and about their business.
You can think of it as the what, why and how.
Those are questions like what do you want to do with your business?
Why do you want to do it and how do you want to do it?
This will help you navigate the different categories of questions you can ask, because our goal here
when we're talking to these potential clients is to find out what their real problem is.
And that's how we can solve it.
Sometimes the real problem isn't what they say it is.
This is also why it's important to make sure you're on the right product for them, because if you find
out what their real problem is and the service they're asking for won't solve that.
That is when you can introduce what skill will solve their problem because they're not the expert.
That's why they're hiring a freelancer.
So this is where you can provide even more value and even a level of consulting before you close the
deal.
You can also ask them straight up what's most important to you when you're hiring a freelancer?
Knowing the answer to this helps you close more deals, and it helps them makes more sense of the purchase
when they hire you.
All of that fact finding helps you have more info as you move forward on the calls.
Then you can start to use the information you just gathered to establish what they really need.
From there, you can verify by offering those other alternatives.
You can do this by offering alternatives above and below what they were looking for, so you can show
them ways you can help save the money.
And you can show them ways where they can get even more value for a more premium price.
You can ask them questions like Would you also consider option one an option two?
And this helps them have their brain thinking of the value you're providing.
So don't just offer choices after the problem comes up, you need to initiate this.
Don't wait on offering these alternatives.
So once you've determined what they really need, that's when you can start to offer different ways.
You can help deliver that.
And don't forget, over 50 percent of clients are asking for the wrong service or the wrong product.
So by offering alternatives, you can make sure they're on the right service to start.
Then you can get into asking and seeing if you're a good fit.
This is where you need to get real with yourself and with the client, ask yourself, are you going
to be able to deliver the work that the client is looking for?
Are you going to be able to help them solve the problem that they really need solved?
And on the other end, if you do that, are they the type of client that is going to give you a five
star review?
And do they sound like a client that is going to help build a profitable freelance business for you
by answering those questions?
That's how you can see if the client is a good fit and it needs to be a good fit on both ends.
During this process, you might not have the answer right away if a client's a good fit because in the
world of freelancing, there is no black and white.
A lot of things lie in that gray area.
So you might not know if a client's a great client from the start.
And for this, I like to listen to my gut.
Sometimes your gut and just your instinct will tell you things that your mind necessarily won't.
So if you just have a bad feeling, or if you just have a good feeling about a client and you don't
have any other info to make another decision, go with your gut.
A lot of times it's right.
The other way you can continue to qualify clients is understanding that the follow up process also is
there to help you qualify them.
So even after the initial call in the sales demo, you can still use follow up to see if they're a good
fit for you and to see if the services you're sending them.
All this info on is something they're interested in as you follow up.
It's showing that you want their business and this is imperative to any sales process you need to follow
up.
The truth is, 48 percent of all sales people don't follow up.
Sixty five percent of all companies don't nurture the leads that they paid for.
25 percent of salespeople never make a second contact.
And as you start to hear these stats, also remember this one only two percent of all sales are made
on the first contact.
So what you can learn is that number one, most freelancers and salespeople aren't taking the time to
follow up even once, let alone multiple times.
And number two, you learn that only two percent of sales are made on that first contact.
So everything that helps make you money as a freelancer is going to occur after those initial calls.
Think about it like this if you get on the phone with a hundred clients, only two of them on average
are going to become your client right away.
The other 98 are going to require follow up.
So understand that as you follow up, you're also using that as a way to qualify the client.
This is a stat that stood out to me that I know is going to be helpful for you because if you can follow
up within the first 60 seconds after you contact someone or after they contact you, your chances of
conversion go up by 320 percent.
Speed is certainty.
And people follow certainty and speed.
So therefore speed is power.
If you get an upward message, if you get an invitation to a job, if you get a call or a text from
a client, if you can get back to them within the first 60 seconds, you were going to skyrocket your
chances for actually obtaining that relationship with them.
It shows you were so serious about what you offer and the value you want to provide that you're there
to get back to them in under a minute.
So now you know how to be an excellent communicator so you can use this on your entire freelance journey.