Guest Post: How a Connection Can Help Seal the Deal
Frequent contributor Mary McCauley-Stiff of 5 Star Writing weighs in with an interesting post on connecting with your clients.
I received a call the other day from someone looking for a writer to help revamp her website. An acquaintance we had in common had recommended me. After a brief discussion, she asked me if I’d been born in Minnesota. I quickly realized that this prospect had read the bio on my website. It turns out she’d been born and raised in Minnesota (I lived there for 17 – brrr! – years). The conversation became a bit more personal as we revealed our experiences living in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” (Much more lyrical than the actual number of 11,842.) When the phone call ended, she promised to email the information I needed to provide her with a quote.
Of course, I made sure to send off a quick email to the acquaintance who recommended me to this prospect. Her reply surprised me:
“I gave her a couple of names and she chose you (partially) because of Minnesota. Funny how important connections are.”
After getting over being miffed that I wasn’t THE only writer recommended (just kidding!), I realized I was glad that this year, I’d exchanged the Prices/Services page on my website with my bio. It’s much nicer to chat with a potential client over something we have in common instead of being cross-examined because I posted my prices online!
If you’re a one-person shop and you don’t have a bio on your website, I encourage you to write one – and loosen up while you’re writing it! I think some of us strain for an ultra-professional website that’s devoid of personal information, but the fact is, we’re all people and our decisions on buying and hiring are based more on emotion than on logic. So why not give your prospects something to help break the ice when they first call?
I could not agree more. Personal connections no matter how trivial they appear are very important.
I liked your idea of adding a bio to a blog or website. It does help clients see you as a whole person and assess where you are coming from.
Posted by: Dilawar | July 11, 2007 at 03:16 PM