In today’s episode our hosts are answering a question from our lovely listener Carolyn Sehgal. She isn’t quite sure how to go about deciding which clients to take on, especially clients that contact her over social media. So without further ado, let’s get into the show!
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Show Notes for This Episode:
[1:45] Dustin shares the listener question from @carolynsehgal.
[2:00] “Is it normal to be skeptical with internet pricing inquiries?”
[3:00] Getting inquires for work are great. How do you know which ones are real?
[4:10] Just like a client chooses you, you must also qualify them.
[5:00] Tom explains how he now qualifies new inquires.
[6:10] How long did it take Tom to build a system to weed out certain clients?
[7:30] Sharpen your business with your spidey sense.
[8:20] Understand the value of contracts. They give you a parachute clause.
[9:00] Two examples of questions Ian gets that he never responds too.
[10:00] Price inquiry etiquette.
[11:00] Tom shares how to become uber efficient with inquiry replies.
[12:00] Text Expansion Pro to the rescue.
[13:00] Filtering sales and inquiry funnels.
[14:00] Filters are important but having too many can be detrimental too.
[15:00] Handling inflexible ‘It’s My Way or the Highway’ clients.
[16:00] Talk through everything and agree on everything in the contract.
[17:00] The Honeymoon Phase of clients.
[18:20] Taking on jobs because you need the money and hating yourself for it.
[19:00] Beware. Bad clients will charge a king’s ransom.
[20:00] Diversify. 100% client work is not a good business model.
[21:00] Ditch witchy clients and just make!
[22:00] Understand what you want and funnel funnel funnel.
[23:00] Ian has never had luck with the question, “What’s your budget?”
[24:00] Tom used to feel anxious about the budget question too.
[25:00] When buying a home, budgets are easily discussed. So why not design?
[26:00] Using a range for pricing.
[27:00] Know exactly what your services are so you can knowledgeably talk offerings.
[28:00] Why tiered pricing is a great model.
[29:00] The client feels control with choosing what they want and can afford.
[30:00] Leave the client thinking about a solution and not your price.
[31:30] Write down your NO GOs before you ever talk to the client.
[32:00] A firm NO GO list takes the emotion out of the conversation.
[33:20] Remember your ‘Why’.
[34:00] You don’t have to do everything.
[35:00] That’s a wrap!
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