We all have a tendency to look for our next client by casting a wide net, when in reality we may already know them. Take a look through your current contacts list and evaluate if someone you already know could be your next customer.
Seriously, it can happen.
In my own experience, I can cite my three largest clients over the past two years are people I’ve known for 6 to 20 years but didn’t ask me to support them with paid services until these recent times. These contracts just didn’t happen, they were the result of methodical work on both of our parts. In each case, I can cite that I:
- Stayed in touch almost continuously.
- Shared a common industry or event.
- Maintained an outside connection or interest.
- Projected an image that was broader than my initial role.
This is not diabolical or manipulative, rather we each treated the other as a friendly contact that, like a friendship, grew and matured over time. What invariably happened was that at some time in the relationship, they posed a question to me that may or may not have been viewed as my core expertise, but yet I attempted to answer it (with an initial response of something like “I’ll get back to you.”). Or the client said to me, “You know I have this challenge and I thought of you because I know you would: (1) give me a straight answer or (2) find a way to get it done.”
People we know (in addition to those we don’t) need help with things that others either haven’t helped them with or they (the client) doesn’t know how or who to ask. In either situation, be the one to at least talk about how they might solve their dilemma. After all, they are important to you.
Remember who your friends are, stay in touch, cultivate new as well as established relationships and move carefully. This is not a transaction and, as always, it’s not about you.
Relentless
