How to Win a Client Every Time

Have you ever noticed that some freelancers will get higher paying projects while you feel lucky to get one? Despite your marketing efforts being equivalent and your ability being alike they will somehow attract the clients more? That is because they are what we like to call “clientophilic”. This post is about how to be a clientophilic freelancer.

What is a “Clientophilic Freelancer”?

In Chemistry, we use the term “hydrophilic” to describe any substance which mixes well with water. Break down the word into “hydro-” meaning water and “-philic” attract. Similarly “Clientophilic” means a person who mixes well with clients. Clientophobic, therefore, means a freelancer who repels clients and does not mix well with them. A phobia doesn’t have to be a fear; rather, it is the inability to mix with that thing.

How can I attract more clients?

There are many branches of freelancing which we concentrate our efforts on. From marketing our services to being productive when working, we usually neglect some skills which are vital for business survival. Thus we usually subject our attention away from learning how to pitch our services when meeting a client.

The basic concept is this. If a client agrees to meet you or allows you to meet them, they require your services. If you fail to impress them, they will take their business elsewhere. So once you are in a meeting with a client, the only thing left to do is to convince the client that you are the solution to their problems.

Rapport

Rapport is what helps your client find understanding and association with what you are saying. One of the most effective ways of convincing the client that you are the solution is to establish trust between yourself and the client. Here is the core point of being clientophilic: we only trust those people who we believe are like us.

So in order to be clientophilic you need to make the client believe that you are like them and think like them. This is usually very difficult because there are so many factors which play a part in the client believing you to be similar to them.

This doesn’t mean fooling or tricking the potential clients in anyway shape or form, it means you really need to find a real interest in something that is common to you both.

Genuine

The greatest difference between freelancers and shady salespeople is that we do not have the reputation of being deceitful whereas salespeople do. We should have no intention of ever changing the trustworthy reputation we have as freelancers and that means being genuine. There is no quick and deceitful way of gaining the client’s trust and the only way is the hard way.

You will need to assess the client and then based upon that figure out what is actually similar between you and your client. This is why you need to “read” the client, then “listen” to the client. Based upon this you need to “talk” to the client and subsequently “win” the client – these are the four steps we run through in the book.

Read, Listen, Talk, Win.

The book “Clientophilic Freelancing” focuses on specific proven techniques of how to gain the trust of the client. It first focuses on how you can look out for specific behavioral suggestions from the client and how to read them. After reading your client you need to listen effectively and then talk revolving around what you have learnt about your client from listening.Doing this effectively can help lead you to a successful pitch and hence win the client.

The book contains worksheets at the end of every chapter to ensure you fully understood what was mentioned in the book. There are also action points which provide an active way of learning and practicing what you have learned.