Building Business by Asking Questions

Quite often, we’re handed a project, ask the nec­es­sary ques­tions, pro­duce great work and move on to the next prospect. It’s a model that has made a lot of free­lancers great income through­out the ages.

But why stop with one project?

One of the more dif­fi­cult things we encounter as busi­ness own­ers is the art of cold call­ing to expand our busi­ness. But why go through all of the effort when you have clients from your past who are per­fectly capa­ble of being your clients of the future?

I encour­age you to dive deep into your Rolodex and remain in con­tact with ALL of your clients. Build con­ver­sa­tion with them, cre­ate a data­base you can ref­er­ence for years to come.

For exam­ple, I make note in my address book regard­ing impor­tant answers to my ques­tions: does my client con­tact have kids, what is their favorite food, do they have pets, etc.  Those notes allow me to pick up dia­log right away with­out miss­ing a beat.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t value each of the peo­ple in my Rolodex … it just means that my Rolodex is too large to remem­ber all of the details. My data­base allows me to keep up.

As you build your Rolodex, you can watch for pat­terns and have the oppor­tu­nity to con­nect those in your net­work. Build Karma points by con­nect­ing a favorite pack­age designer with an inven­tor look­ing to gain shelf space in local gro­cery stores. More than likely, those who have been helped by you are happy to return the favor down the road.

It’s all about who you know, but also what you know about them.