A few years ago, I was on a flight and in a bad mood. The flight had been delayed, I was tired, I had a lot of work ahead of me and, to top it all off, the woman next to me was actually reading my computer screen over my shoulder.
Who does that??
I’m not proud to say that my knee-jerk reaction would have been to give her an annoyed, nasty look. Instead, though, I martialed my last bit of patience and gave her a nice smile.
She asked me what I did, I told her, and it turned out that her company needed copywriting help. Long story short, her client became a long-term and very profitable client for me.
So the answer to the implied question in my headline, “When should you be in client-finding mode?” is a pretty simple one: Always.
You need to always be open to meeting new clients.
You simply never know who you’ll sit down next to at Starbucks, who you’ll meet at a party, who’ll be behind you in the supermarket line, and so on and so on.
You come across so many more people in your day than you even realize. And, to top it off, you can help so many more people that you come across than you ever realize.
There are already hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) of people running full-time businesses. Plus, there are tons more setting up part-time, “side hustle” businesses. Those people need your help.
There are also millions and millions—if we’re going to get real technical, probably billions—who work for companies and can refer your services along.
My point is that there’s a good chance that several of the strangers you come across every day may need your services directly—and, if they don’t, they may pass information about you along.
The key for you to take advantage of these opportunities is to be prepared. Be prepared to talk about what you do, what services you provide, and how your work directly benefits your clients.
Carry your business cards with you at all time. Ask people what they do for a living and where they do it. If someone owns a business, ask them how it’s going and if they’re trying to land more customers.
There are literally opportunities to pick new clients around you all the time. The key to making the most of these opportunities is to be prepared to do so.
“Client-finding mode” isn’t something you ever really turn off if you’re a successful business owner. You never need to be pushy or annoying; just be friendly, informative and open. It’ll reap huge rewards.
Your turn! Where or when in the course of your day are you going to start to turn on your client-finding mode? Let us know in the comments below!
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