Good Evening,
Its tempting to say yes to everyone and take on every prospect you come in contact to. After all that’s where you make your money if you are running an “agency” (I put agency in quotes because most people that call themselves and agency are actually freelancers). But often what will slow down your business the most is not failing to convert a prospect into a client. Its taking on a “bad” client. So how do you spot a bad prospect?
This will differ form person to person but some universal things to look out for are:
- Indecisiveness – Prospects that need several meetings, calls, and reassurances for s small investment are likely to end up being to finicky and will have unreal expectations and end work too quickly.
- If they want an extreme amount of detail and reporting on what it is you are going to do. This is a sign that they do not respect you as an expert and feel the need to micromanage you like they would an employee.
- If they want to “help” you and say they have some knowledge of SEO (or whatever it is you offer)
- Overly interested in cost. This is likely a sign that they have very little budget which brings us to…
- …very little budget or are banking their entire marketing budget and growth on you. This means they likely have unreal expectations and will expect to much form you.
- Try to make you a partner rather than pay you. Don’t get me wrong, equity can be great… but if that is the only thing they will consider that means they want what you do but can’t afford to pay you, and it also means you will end up running the business with them rather than just doing what it is you do.
- If they want a guarantee (this one is particularly true for SEO) that shows a level of doubt and lack of trust
Those are some of the main ones. Its not exhaustive and won’t apply to everyone but those should definitely make your ears perk up. If you are a freelancer/agency owner you likely got into this line of work because you don’t want to work for someone else and run your life and finances on your own terms. The fastest way to derail that is to take on bad clients. Even if the money is good, you and your lifestyle deserve better. Choose who you want to work with, choose wisely, and you will have a much happier life, and more Profiitable business.
Best,
CMW