We hope you enjoyed Part 1 and Part 2 of Miles’ top tips on how to generate leads and opportunities for Freelancers and Contractors.
The final part of our mini-series on how to generate leads for Freelancers and Contractors. For Freelancers, looking to win new clients is all about how you spend your time and who you spend it with.
To recap: Our very own Sales Director has kindly offered to do a series of 3 blog posts on this topic. Miles has worked in a variety of sales roles from Drambuie to large car companies, and before coming to QAccounting was a self-employed Consultant himself. We hope you find his pointers easy to implement and worthwhile.
Self Management
People say it’s all about time management; however it’s more about Self Management. Block off time in your calendar to carry out your plan. If you do this it is more likely to happen and you will work around the blocks of time.
5 Levels of Relationships
One last piece of advice; don’t have cups of coffee that lead nowhere….believe me you will waste a lot of time. Work your relationships through the following 5 levels; it works and you will spend time with the people that can potentially help you. You will have created your very own value network.
- Level 1 Identify: Who do I need to contact?
- Level 2 Engage: Start to engage with them… an introductory email, a phone call, a referral… make contact, get on their radar.
- Level 3 Strengthen: does the relationship have the ability to strengthen into something beyond engaging.
- Level 4 Collaboration: the relationship is getting to a point where you can see tangible benefits on both sides.
- Level 5 Inner Circle: This is the holy grail of value networks where you are now getting a return for your hard work…
It’s also important to keep in regular contact with people you ‘touch’ as you need to keep you front of mind. I work a couple of cycles, people you need to keep close, and people you just need to keep in the loop.
At the end of a meeting always ask permission to keep in touch; most people will appreciate the polite request and of course say yes.
Some Reading for you…
Ok that’s all we have for you in this mini series …one last word of advice…. Go to Amazon just now and buy this book. It will guarantee you success. I keep it close and refer to it all the time. The FT Business Networking, by Heather Townsend. Best £12 I ever spent…. Good luck, forward momentum is key.
QAccounting. You Count. We Count. Get in touch with one of our experts today if you want to learn more about any of the topics discussed or if you’re interested in our accounting services.
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