This is something that I’m sure you’ve asked before, right?I’m going to share with you 4 strategies and biggest tip on this but I want to ask you to be open to hearing me out for the next few minutes here It all starts with your mindset. The reason you ask this is because you are stuck in hamster wheel that is the feast or famine cycle. Clients are the blood of your business, yes, but you are the brain of the business and need to control it so that the success of it is driven by the actions you do.You may be working on projects that are one-off and not recurring based and that’s ok. But often times when you ask this, you haven’t put in the effort, the time to properly set yourself up for consistent work.Prioritize the moneyThis includes dedicated sales and marketing time on your calendar every single week. When I first start, I blocked out time every single Tuesday between 7 PM and 8 PM to do lead generation. Now I dedicate mornings to sales activities. Things like writing emails, performing outreach, and even having sales calls.The consistent work you do for sales means that you will always have a pipeline of leads and clients coming into your business.Guard your timeAnother reason you ask this is that you aren’t protecting yourself and your business. Chances are good that are reacting to your clients instead of making your time a priority. What I mean by this are things like:
You answer your client emails off-hours or as soon as they come in.
You allow your clients to text you or call you anytime instead of scheduling a call.
You stop everything you are doing to address your client requests most of the time.
I get that you have a client services business, and these things happen from time to time, but they can’t be the norm.A client thinks about their business and you should think about yours. You hopefully have multiple clients and you have your own business to run as well. If you react, rather than plan ahead for client requests, you’ll be continually chasing down requests. Dedicate a day of the week or multiple days if needed, where your focus is on a specific client. Share that with them if you have to.You’ll be surprised how receptive they will be when you tell them that you’ll look at this on Wednesday when you are working on their project. Talking with your clients increases your valueThis leads me to the next thought and that it create boundaries and expectations. This may surprise you, but clients often will see the communication as a value. Simply by sharing with them your plan for the week when it comes to their work or sharing with them an inside look at the very beginning of working together how it will be goes a long way in creating a sense of a higher value for your services.It shows a level of professionalism that they don’t get from someone else. Communication is what business owners want more than anything else. If you have clients asking you a status on something, then start re-thinking about how you are communicating with them.Raise your ratesAnd finally my biggest tip when it comes to this that you are more likely undercharging what your worth.If you land a project and halfway through that project you are already looking to get that next sale because you need the money, then something is wrong somewhere.Either your expenses are too high, or that you aren’t charging enough for the time and experience you are putting into the project.If you are asking for 50% up front and then find yourself eating ramen three-quarters of the way through the project, then you haven’t charged enough. That 50% should last you through the entirety of the project, so that the final payment is profit in your business.Building profit in your business is a must. That profit should be re-invested in your business as a tool for growth and opportunity. Having a buffer, or profits, in your business allows you breathing room so there isn’t a need to constant need to always get that next project.If you have a pipeline of leads in your b