The Freelance Manifesto: A Field Guide for the Modern Motion Designer by Joey Korenman

Author:Joey Korenman [Korenman, Joey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Published: 2017-06-05T22:00:00+00:00

The Face-to-Face Meeting

In phase one, I advised you to start local because it would give you an immediate connection to your client. Another reason to start local is that it will be easier to get a face-to-face meeting with the client. Don’t be freaked out by the thought of an in-person meeting. You’re not selling them anything, just building a relationship.

Say you’ve been going back and forth with that client in Sarasota. He’s shown a lot of interest but hasn’t booked you yet. So a week or two later, you want to try to meet him face-to-face to build that relationship. Here’s how you get a meeting with him. Find the e-mail chain you already have going with him and just reply to it. That way, your e-mail will get to him with the same subject line, and he’ll know he already has a conversation going with you. Remember, he gets a lot of e-mails and may not remember you after just a couple of weeks. Replying to that e-mail thread with the same subject line is going to get you a much higher open rate. Here’s what you write in the body:

Dan,

I’m going to be in downtown Sarasota today dropping off some drives for a client.

Are you guys slammed? I’d love to stop by to say hello and meet you in person.

No biggie if it’s not a good day.

Hope you’re well.

—Joe Motion

That first line about being in town for another client may or may not be true, but it’s a viable excuse for being near their studio. Yes, this is another one of these little white lies, but it’s a white lie in the service of taking the pressure off them. You’re available to meet them, but you’re not putting pressure on them to meet you. If they’re too busy, there’s no guilt and no weird, awkward feeling on their part.

Are you guys slammed? That question implies that you know they’re often busy and gives them an opportunity to say they’re slammed without feeling bad about it. YOU KNOW THE DEAL. I’d love to stop by to say hello and meet you in person. No biggie if it’s not a good day.

The way you ask your clients questions in e-mails affects the way they feel reading them and how they feel about you. At this point, you’ve shared a few e-mails, and they probably would like to meet you in person. You’re asking to meet them in a friendly, no-pressure way and giving them an easy out. If they really are slammed, they can write back and say, It’s too bad we have clients in all day long. It’s not a great day. Maybe a different day, and they don’t have to feel guilty because of the way you asked. If they have time, they will ask you to stop by.

Now you get to meet them. Remember, you set the expectation that you’re stopping by to say hello. That’s it. When you go to that meeting, that’s all you do.

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