The Client Letter
October 11, 2012
Sedona, Arizona
Sunny 49 Degrees
It’s fish or cut bait day!
Don’t you hate it when prospects up and disappear on you?
Especially after you spend time with them, speak about project work, and maybe even quote a fee for the project.
Sure this type of thing comes with the territory, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use some wicked smaht strategies of your own.
First of all, stop getting emotional about it. A far more productive use of your energy is to do this: Take your focus OFF the “prospect” and refocus your energy on what you’re actually trying to achieve.
Second, it can get awkward if you’ve quoted a fee and then they come back months later and expect you to just start the project under the same terms at the fee you quoted last year.
Sorry Charlie.
You may or may not want the business at that time, but you are under zero obligation to work under an agreement older than stale bread.
This is where you use money to your advantage.
Money does wonderful things. And one of the most valuable things it does is that it forces people to tell the truth. It’s almost magic. Used in the right way, money separates the REAL prospects from the talkers.
Stop caring about which prospects become clients and start caring about prompting a real decision so you can move on.
If you quote fees or submit proposals, simply add a clause that mentions the terms of the agreement expire by X date. If the terms are agreeable but the timing is wrong for the prospect, give them the option to “freeze” the agreement for a certain period. All it takes is a non-refundable deposit of $XX, provided it is received prior to the expiration date.
The talkers will run away faster than turkeys on the day before Thanksgiving.
Never again will you wonder whether there is the chance of business with a prospect. If the deposit shows up, you’ve got proof that there might be future business.
If there’s no deposit by the expiration date, then the truth will be obvious. You’ll be able to stop wasting your energy on hope and move in the direction of your goals.
At that point, you’re done with the prospect. You forget, you move on, you refocus on real prospects.
If they ever resurface, you start over. New terms, new fee. You’ve made it clear that’s how things will work and so that’s how things will work. You don’t have to use attitude. And you don’t have to be a jerk.
You simply have to be more interested in where you’re going than on who’s going to accompany you on the journey.
Easy peasy.
If you want to “sit down” with me and walk through parts of your business like this, here’s a new service you might be interested in. Availability is extremely limited considering the number of professionals that get this letter.