Skills We Need To Get Clients
There are plenty of jobs out there that require us to get and keep clients. This can be a huge membership company, a nail salon, or even as a freelance web designer. And getting more people in means more money and growth. There are some specific skills us introverts need to cultivate to be better at this. Some are quick and easy things to work on while others will take some time and experience.
Clear communication: This means being on time and detailed orientated about all the things going on. This can be the process they will go through with you, the costs, all the things that price gets them, and how to fix any problems. It also goes well to really spell things out early on, even if its not something important at the time.
Speaking skills: You are more likely to get a sale if you talk face-to-face. Its goes down from getting them on the phone to email or chats. So you need to be comfortable talking to them about everything and be able to answer any questions. This also gives you the chance to see what their body language shows where they are uncertain.
Adaptability: You need to be able to adapt to change, because its going to happen a lot. A client changes their mind in the direction of the design you’ve been working on for months. Things happen in people’s lives and they need to pause or go down in what they ask for.
Customer Service: This will take you a while yo build us. People will be stupid. Awful. Lie. Yell. And everything in-between. You are going to have to learn to stand up for yourself and in a diplomatic way (which is really fucking hard). You will need to be able to stay calm but not be a pushover.
Responsibility: This is an easy one. Everyone should be responsible for their own work and not lie or try to push the blame somewhere else. Make sure you keep on schedule and deliver what you say you will.
Ability to admit when you do not know the answer: We can’t know everything and there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Just let them know you will look into it and actually do in a timely manner. We are all learning and it doesn’t make you stupid or less professional to have to look something up.
Management: This is an overarching thing. How you manage your time, your projects, work load, and others you work with or for you. Do not add too much to you plate just for the sake of money. You still need to give quality work. Do not work 10-12 hour days just because you think you have to give more. Take care of yourself.
These are not the only skills you need to get more clients, but they are usually the ones introverts need to work on. Mostly because they either have to deal with other people or our own imposter syndrome. But we can work on these and still be great at these jobs.