Sales pitches and other ways to keep busy when your pipeline is low
When your freelance sales pipeline is low, it’s time to think about sending out a few sales pitches and finding other ways to make productive use of your time.
The flow of work for freelancers is often unpredictable so don’t get too worked up if you don’t have a lot of projects coming up. Instead, use the tips below to attract more projects and keep calm (and busy) during your slow times.
Nine things to do when your freelance sales pipeline is low
Follow these suggestions to make the most of your freelance downtime:
- Create new sales materials
- Spend productive time on social media
- Improve your skills and/or learn something new
- Create new offerings and/or packages
- Create an asset you can sell
- Send sales pitches to past clients
- Promote new offerings and discounts to your e-mail list
- Repeat what worked well in the past
- Spruce up your website
Ready to start drumming up new business? Let’s go!
1. Create new sales materials
It’s easier to craft sales pitches for new clients when you have materials that help you market and show off your skills. Use downtime when your freelance sales pipeline is low to create collateral that will strengthen your sales pitches for new business.
Create new blog posts for your website. Write blog posts that show off your knowledge about your industry or subject matter.
Write a guest post for another website. Get additional exposure by writing a blog post for a third-party site that targets your ideal customers.
Create a freebie giveaway. Develop an offering you can give away as a lead magnet on your website.
Create case studies. Review past projects and create a story that demonstrates the client’s problem, how you helped solve it, and the results that came from working with you.
2. Spend productive time on social media
When your freelance sales pipeline is empty, you might find yourself on social media more often than usual. And, that’s okay if you’re spending productive time on social media. This is when you use platforms to build awareness for you and your brand while connecting with prospective clients and partners.
Update your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a great place for freelancers to find leads, so update your profile, link with connections, join groups, and ask for references.
Answer questions on social media. Don’t wait for clients to come to you. Go out and find them on social media by searching for hashtags or questions related to your industry. Engage with users and provide value to users who could be ideal clients.
Connect with other freelancers. Instead of looking at other freelancers as competition, look at them as a support system. Their busy time could be your downtime, so build relationships where you can pass work back and forth.
Tip: Check out Seven ways for South African freelancers to get the most from LinkedIn
3. Improve your skills and/or learn something new
When your sales pipeline is active, you don’t have as much time to read a new business book, take an online course or go to a local in-person class. So, when your freelance sales pipeline is low, take time for one of the educational opportunities you haven’t been able to pursue.
Take a lesson to improve the skills you already have and take your abilities to the next level. Or, step away from your core offerings and learn a new complementary skill that you can add to your repertoire and use to provide additional services to your ideal clients.
4. Create new offerings and/or packages
Having new or upgraded offerings is a great way to take a new sales pitch to existing clients and sell more to new clients. While you have time off, consider what else you can add to your offering. If you learn a new skill, add that to your service list, or find a way to pair it with your other services to create valuable packages.
5. Create an asset you can sell
Another way to create opportunities for making more money is by creating a product you can sell. Rather than relying on selling your time, you can create a tangible asset you can sell to customers.
Even better, you can create an info-based or online offer, such as an e-book or course, that you can create once and then sell over and over in your e-commerce store.
Use your downtime to create the project or at least get it started. Then any time you find yourself with extra time, return to the product until it’s complete and you can get it on your site or shelves for purchase year-round.
6. Send sales pitches to past clients
Happy former clients are one of the best resources for finding new work. Not only are prior clients likely to work with you again, but they are also likely to refer others to you.
When your freelance sales pipeline is low, revisit your past client list and reach out to them with a sales pitch for one of your upcoming offers.
To improve your chances of getting work through the outreach, personalise your sales pitch and promote the offer most likely to resonate with the specific client.
Let past clients know you have upcoming limited availability. Encourage clients to move forward with projects they may be putting off by letting them know you have time now, but you won’t in the future.
Ask for referrals. Let past clients know you’re seeking new work and ask them for referrals. You can even offer something to them in return for sending a new client your way.
Promote your new service, package or asset. If you spent time adding to your freelance arsenal by learning a new skill or creating something new to sell, let past clients be the first to know.
7. Promote new offerings and discounts to your e-mail list
If you send a sales pitch to your old client list, but still find yourself with an empty freelance sales pipeline, tap into your e-mail list. Reach out to prospects who have connected with you in the past, and create offers to turn them from passive readers into paying customers.
8. Repeat what worked well in the past
We all know the saying, “There is no reason to reinvent the wheel”. This advice rings true when your freelance sales pipeline is low. If you aren’t busy, but have been busy in the past, look back to see what helped you land clients the first time.
Go through your client list one by one and take note of how you acquired each customer. Look for trends and set your upcoming marketing initiatives to follow the tactics that worked best for you in the past.
9. Spruce up your website
Is your website working well to sell your services as it should be? A quiet period is the ideal time to update your website and even renovate it completely if you have not changed it in a while. Some things you could consider, especially if your website is a bit old:
- Does it work well and look good on smartphones and tablets? Copy and paste your site’s URL into Google’s Mobile Friendly Test tool to check.
- Is your SEO up to scratch? Learning how to make search engines pay special attention to your website is well worth the time and effort.
- Is your website attractive and easy to update? If you’re using an old platform, consider moving to a modern solution like GoDaddy’s Website Builder or WordPress.
- Have you got some exciting new reviews or testimonials from your clients? Ask for permission to put them up on your website.
- Make sure your online portfolio reflects your newest work.
- Add your latest achievements to your personal profile.
- Double-check that the imagery and colours on the site still reflect who you are and what you do.
Tip: Revamping your website is a great reason to get in touch with old clients again – ask them to take a look at what you’ve been up to.
Keep your freelance sales pipeline full
The tips in this post will help you fill your pipeline if it runs low. But these tactics will also help you keep your pipeline full so you never have to worry about rushing to find new work and clients. Regularly implement these processes so your freelance business always has clients waiting at your door.
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