012: CONVERSIONS, CONVERSATIONS, CELEBRATIONS

Hey Freelance Friend,

Welcome to episode 12 of FreelancerOS, let’s dive right in.

1. CONVERSIONS

Last week’s edition talked extensively about leads.

Now it’s time to convert them into clients.

I’m going to go through some methods I use, and others I know use, to good effect to convert leads into clients.

Usually ‘conversion tips’ are basically hacks designed to trick people into buying from you.

Ever seen someone say “Only 2 spots left!”

They are playing on the psychology of scarcity.

There is no such thing as ‘spots’.

How about “Gates close at midnight 8th August!”

Yep, same crap…there are no gates.

One of my all time favourites…

When you are on a web page and a timer starts ticking down from an arbitrary number like 5 minutes…

Horrendous.

Annoyingly, these tactics clearly do work, because they are employed by individuals and companies the world over.

But we aren’t about that life here at Freelancer OS HQ.

So, what are the best ways to convert?

Number 1, this is by far the most important of ANY tactic out there.

SPEED

Don’t sleep on your leads.

If someone reaches out to you, respond IMMEDIATELY

Feel like putting together a lovely well polished proposal?

STOP…put canva down…RESPOND TO THEM

Acknowledge them. Jump on a quick call to say hey, introduce yourself and build some rapport THEN set the expectation that you will provide that lovely proposal presentation.

Because if you don’t, somebody else will.

I see it so so so often that it hurts.

Someone enquires and 2 hours later I respond and they politely let me know they already found someone (if they don’t ghost that is)

Dagger to the heart.

It’s an absolute nightmare for clients to go out there and find a freelancer they can trust, so if they already spoke to one person and they were fine, they won’t want to have more conversations with other people.

Speaking of trust…this next one is a game changer:

BUILD TRUST

Humans build trust with strangers through a variety of ways, stemming from evolutionary psychology.

Things like:

• Posture (angling your body slightly off centre is best, standing straight on can feel confrontational)

• Eye contact (too much, psycho, too little, untrustworthy)

• Showing your teeth (smiling, great…while growling, not so much)

• and so on and so on.

But what does this have to do with closing leads?

Everything.

There is a hierarchy of initial interactions that you want to hit if and when possible:

1. Meet in person

2. Video call

3. Phone Call

4. Voice Note

5. Text on a screen

If you had to choose someone to hold your first born child or go to the ATM with your bank card…who out of those 5 would you trust most?

It would probably follow the ranking already laid out.

The easiest and most frictionless method for our introverted selves is to just send an email or a DM.

But you will lose most times to someone that gets them on the phone, or shows their personality and friendly tone in a voice note.

I’ve landed so many projects not because I was technically the best web designer, but because they trusted that I would make their vision a reality.

A major fall off point for many potential projects, however, is the critical conversation to contract signing stage.

You were fast, you built rapport, they trust you, they are indicating that they are ready to go! Amazing!

But you make the transition from excitement to project starting too difficult (which doesn’t take much these days)

Sending them a PDF that they have to somehow sign themselves?

• They have to go and print it off, sign it, then scan it back to you?

• They have to figure out how to e-sign it?

That client is going to go ahead and get on with their lives and forget all about this project they were excited about before.

TIP: invest in software which lets your client open an email, and e-sign right there and then.

PRO TIP: When they are super super excited to get started, get that contract signed right there! Have it prepped before going into the call, then fill in any last minute additions or adjustments right there (it should take like 20 seconds) then get that signature. Why make them come BACK to their laptop at another time to deal with this? Why make them schedule another call or email you if there are small issues with the contract that can be fixed right then and there?

Another area of friction is the initial invoice.

Your contract software should also come with some kind of invoice generating and payment provision.

You will lose 3% or so if you enable PayPal or Stripe integration, but it makes it so much easier for them to press a button, auto fill their card details and pay you.

The alternative is them going on their banking app (if they have one) and manually entering all your bank details, organising the transfer…. you’re already bored.

So are they.

So…

SPEED

TRUST

FRICTION

You should be supporting all of these pillars with robust systems.

Systems which are repeatable.

Systems which are noted somewhere and followed each time.

Your call scheduling should be setup and a breeze for clients to book with.

Your contracts should be templated and ready to go.

Your proposal presentations should be templated and ready to tweak.

A lot of people put 100% effort into lead generation then just go into cruise mode when converting… this is a mistake.

Potential clients are now in decision making mode, so make that decision an easy one.

(and ideally a quick one!)

2. CONVERSATIONS

In the pursuit of ‘conversions’, ‘projects’, money and so on…we often forget what we are really doing on a deeper level.

When you are helping an individual launch their business by building them a website, or shooting their photos for their personal brand, or designing the packaging for their product.

What you are actually doing is helping this person achieve something they have been dreaming about, planning, and wishing for.

Many of them will have been dreaming about this very thing for years before finally saving up enough money, studying the industry, and maybe even making huge life decisions like quitting their jobs to pursue their dreams.

That £2000 they may pay you could very well be something they have worked so hard to put together and it’s their ticket to the dream life they’ve been working towards.

We often lose sight of this as to us it’s just a small part of our yearly journey and earnings.

But to the client it can mean everything.

But you will never discover this if you don’t have real, human, conversations with your potential clients.

Next time you get on a call or have a chat with someone, ask them some human questions.

“How long have you been wanting to start this business?”

“How did you get into this in the first place?”

“You must be so passionate about this…”

Get to know their why for doing what they are doing.

3. CELEBRATIONS

Celebrate everything.

Don’t feel like a fool for it.

I just hit 2000 followers on LinkedIn yesterday.

Is it any different than 1999? or 1874?

No, not really.

But it’s an excuse to celebrate and be happy.

You will absolutely put a lot of emphasis on things that go wrong in your Freelance life.

Every. Little. Thing.

So balance it out and celebrate the small wins.

They are your fuel.

You don’t have a boss to give you employee of the month.

Or to walk by and say “great job on that presentation”

These things which make us smile and keep us going when things are stressful or tough.

So, as with all the crappy parts about being your own boss, you also have to be the boss you would love to have.

The one who celebrates you and notices when you do good stuff.

Pro Tip: Take every opportunity to notice things other Freelancers are doing and tell them they are doing great, or you love their work, or you noticed they did something cool.

Next Week

013: SHIPPING, SHOOTING, SELLING

With you next Thursday at 11:00am (UK TIME)