Well, this is the problem with cold calling. You are going to spend a lot of time with unqualified prospects. Even the best sales people in the world will have a problem if they’re spending too much time talking to the wrong people.

I think you need to make a change in your prospecting strategy. This is a good topic for a future post, but the short version is … you need prospects to come to you. You can do this lots of ways, such as writing articles for publications your clients read, offering a white paper related to prospect needs, networking at professional events, publishing a newsletter, etc.

I recommended Guerrilla Selling to Andrew. I recommend you read it too. It talks about how to use your time selling efficiently. As long as you continue to cold call, you’ll keep having the same problem.

So suppose I get someone on the phone and they say, “Yeah, I might have a project for you. I need someone to write copy for the company web page for our new product line. Can you do something like that?”

I had a potential lead where I talked to the marketing manager of a company that sold UPSes for industrial applications. She said they needed a new brochure, data sheet, and some small updates to the product manual. I arranged a phone meeting, talked to her for like 45 minutes about the project, submitted a quote and… her boss nixed the project when quarterly sales weren’t what they expected. Two hours of chasing this project down the drain.

There’s a book by Adam Sandler called You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar where he talks about a similar experience in commissioned sales. He got a lead, made a long drive out to the potential customer’s house, did his presentation… and the guy leaned over and said, “I don’t have any money.”

So how do I make sure they have money and the authority to hire me before I spend a lot of time on them? Do I just come out and ask on the phone? Send them an email with questions including ‘Do you have a budget for this project?’ or ‘If you like the quote, what happens next?’

You should never waste a LOT of time talking with people. But you do have to spend enough time to qualify them. I think what you’re really saying is, you’re worried that they won’t want to pay what you ask. Well, if they aren’t, that’s not the client for you. Though there are ways to deal with objections, if your fees are too far away from their expectations, you won’t make a deal anyway. And that won’t be the sort of client you’ll want long-term.

For example, a guy called me recently who wanted a sales letter. He said he expected to pay (I kid you not) $55. My fee, even for a simple informational 1-page letter, STARTS at $500. I gave him some other options for reviewing his letter, etc. but in the end he wasn’t right for me.

Anyway, my biggest problem is also prequalifying prospects.

How do I get them to tell me what they expect to pay before I waste a lot of time on talking with people who aren’t realistic? I always worry that if I outright ask their budget, they think I’m asking just so I can charge the maximum amount.

Or can I just say something like, “My fees start at $XXX.” or “I typically charge $XXXX for project Y.”

I don’t know if it’s addressed in your upcoming book, but one of my biggest freelance struggles involves companies that don’t even realize they have a need for better writing. Would they be great clients if they could only see the remarkable improvement? Are they a huge untapped market? Or are they a lost cause? In most cases it’s the latter, but what a difference a good writer could make! Are there some proven, effective techniques for opening those doors?

It’s sort of a double-sell: First they have to be sold on the notion of better writing, then they have to be sold on me as they guy to do it. Contrarily, the ones that already know they need to outsource their writing are much easier to land.

What do you think? Big potential? Or big waste of time?