The Elephant and the Chain Saw: Caution for Freelancers with Large Accounts
Guest post from Jeffrey Lemkin of Relevant Content.
Jeff can be reached at jeffle@comcast.net
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Having a single (often larger) client can be an exhilarating experience. You've got steady, ongoing work with a client that pays on time. You don’t have a care in the world. But, perhaps you should.
An article in Wired magazine discussed what happened when Stihl, a smaller, high-quality manufacturer of tools – from chain saws to leaf blowers, was invited to Benton, Arkansas by the ultimate 800 lb. gorilla - Wal-Mart. The pitch? Wal-Mart wanted Stihl's output. All of it.
These are problems we like to have – don’t we?
It sounds perfect. A large client offers to partner with your small company and help take you to the next level. At the very least, it’s a steady source of revenue. As the article continues, we learn that the CEO of Stihl ultimately made an interesting, and transformative decision to not do business with Wal-Mart.
While I don’t suggest you not do business with a large client, I invite you to consider the questions this CEO asked himself as they might apply to your own business:
What would happen if Wal-Mart stopped working with Stihl?
Freelancer translation: What if you were working for, say, Microsoft. After 2 years of steady work, there’s a re-org. In the re-org, there’s no room for you.
What customers would be left if Stihl had to go back into the open market?
Freelancer translation: How do you maintain a relationship with other clients while working for a primary client?
What would working exclusively with Wal-Mart do to Stihl's brand?
Freelancer translation: After working on Microsoft assignments for 2 years, what happens to “the brand that is you”?
3 Important Things to Consider When You Have a Large Client
To keep your freelance business as viable as possible, there are 3 things you should consider when you have a “primary client” relationship. It’s important to:
- Maintain relationships with your existing, other clients
- Continue to market to new clients
- Manage your brand through ongoing networking
Maintaining Relationships
Maintaining working relationships with clients can mean simply staying in touch with them. Keeping in touch with previous clients can make the difference between having active clients and having to begin marketing anew if your primary client bails out. Consider regular staying-in-touch activities (and see our 3rd point!).
Maintaining Your Business – Marketing to New Clients
Your marketing efforts may suffer when you’re spending a lot of time with a single client. While you want to maintain your pipeline, it doesn’t make sense to prospect when you don’t have time to offer service.
Instead of prospecting for new clients, spend some time managing your visibility. For example, you might write an article for a newsletter (like this one!), create or continue with blogging efforts, or develop your own newsletter. While not specifically offering service, these activities help maintain your presence. When necessary, you can switch to more aggressive marketing – to an existing audience.
Maintaining Your Brand – Networking
Earlier, we talked about client relationships. When you’re not able to take on additional business, providing qualified referrals is a move that will create the opportunity for reciprocity in the future while helping a client. Maintain your professional networking, create connections, and refer as appropriate. Use LinkedIn, Biznik, or other social media to connect with colleagues – and, as appropriate, refer business to them.
The Elephant in the Room
Having an “elephant” client certainly isn’t a hardship. But elephants can go away. Consider these common-sense ideas to help you manage your overall client base and maintain your valuable professional connections.
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What's all the Tweeting About? |
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Do you Tweet? That is, have you discovered the power of Twitter? Twitter is one of the newer social networking applications that is catching on like fire. You follow people you care about and people follow you. You get 140 characters to converse with your followers.
Maybe you’re already using it to follow your friends. You hear about where they went to dinner, or where they’ve decided to take their next vacation, or that they just got back from walking their dog. After all, with a 140 character limit, how much can you actually say? That’s what I thought and did, at first…
Twitter is now moving into the corporate world as a cheap but effective marketing tool that helps them stay in front of customers on a regular basis. I was actually surprised at the companies who have already joined the revolution. Companies like Gartner (individual analysts), Forrester, Accenture, BearingPoint, Oracle, EMC, SAP (SAPNetwork), and Fair Isaac are all out there tweeting. They are providing updates on articles posted, conferences they’ll be attending, new products they are working on, and other interesting tidbits.
The more advanced tweeters are tossing out thought-provoking questions as conversation starters, are replying to tweets from their followers (generally customers), and are providing links to interesting content they’ve found. It’s about real-time conversations and sharing ideas.
Perhaps it’s time for your company or the companies you work for to get on Twitter. It’s free, it’s easy, and it provides continuous visibility keeping your company top-of-mind. I recommend looking at any of the companies mentioned above who are already tweeting to get a better idea on how they play. You can check them out at www.twitter.com/companynamehere. To learn more about Twitter tips and tricks, go to www.twitip.com.
