How to land the contract

And my biggest pet peeve when helping clients hire.

Happy Friday, friends!

Over the last month or so, I’ve been helping one of my fractional clients build out their team with a mix of FTE, agency, and contract resources and along the way, I’ve found myself mentally composing a list of all my best tips and tricks for getting hired as a fractional leader, consultant, or freelancer. Today, that list is moving out of my head and into this newsletter - or at least it’s starting to. As I began drafting this post, I realized that I have a lot to say on this topic, so I’m breaking it into a series over the next few weeks.

Before we dive in, a couple of quick updates:

→ A few people have asked, so I dug up the recording of my December session on building a fractional or consulting business - I’m sharing it here as a free resource. It covers how I built my business, found clients, evolved my niche, set rates, and structure work. I generally don’t make these recordings available (idk, the internet is a weird place and apparently this is where I draw the line in terms of putting myself out there 🤷‍♀️), so it’ll be available only for the next two weeks.

→ I’ve got one spot opening up in June for 1:1 mentoring - ongoing, tailored support as you grow your fractional or consulting business. If you’re craving clarity, momentum, or just a trusted sounding board, I’d love to work with you. Learn more and apply here.

Okay - let’s talk about getting hired.

First, some background.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know that I’ve been building my business for a little over seven years - so I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to landing clients.

I’ve also spent quite a bit of time on the other side of the table. In my last corporate role (marketing for a Fortune 50 tech company), I hired multiple agency and contract resources, in addition to interviewing over 500 people for full-time roles across marketing, creative, product, and other functions. Since then, I’ve frequently worked with clients to get the right resources in place to support their businesses, and have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly along the way.

What I’m saying is, I’m speaking from a lot of experience.

Before the sales call.

I’ve talked a lot about how to find clients (including here, here, here, and in my digital workshop here), so today we’re going to focus on something a little different - steps you can take leading up to the “sales” call¹ to effectively position yourself to land the contract. Some of these will happen well before a call is even scheduled, while others will take place in the days (and even hours) leading up to a call.

Have a clear niche

You’ve probably heard from at least 32 different sources that you need to choose a niche, and if you’re like I was in the early stages of my business, actually doing so may not be at the top of your priority list.

Because I started my business “accidentally” after taking a few months off from climbing the corporate ladder, I was in a place where I just needed income - so why would I limit that by narrowing the scope of who I worked with and/or the type of work I was doing, right?

But rather than limiting my opportunities, defining my niche (even in the early days when it was kind of defined for me) had the opposite effect - it helped me attract clients that were a great fit for my business. It made it so much easier for my network to refer leads my way, and having a LinkedIn profile and posts that spoke directly to their pain points and needs drove them to reach out.

Having a clear niche also helped me build a set of case studies that are hyper-relevant to my ideal clients, create offers that speak to their needs, and walk into sales calls feeling super confident without needing to spend a ton of time preparing (I’ll talk more about how I prep for those calls towards the end of this newsletter).

This is probably the number-one miss I see when sourcing fractionals, consultants, and agencies for my clients. (It’s also become my number-one pet peeve.) When my clients are making these hires, they’re looking for a depth of relevant experience - here’s what that means:

→ I’m not going to play detective to figure out what exactly you offer or who you work with.

→ Clients are not going to hire you for something that’s not your core competency.

→ They’re also not going to be your training ground.

So if you specialize in B2B, raising your hand for a DTC opportunity probably isn’t going to get you anywhere. Similarly, if I’m helping a client hire an email agency and you specialize in web design “but can also do email,” I’m probably going to pass. In the rare occasions where I’ve seen clients review proposals in situations like this, they tend to push back on pricing, either because they think the other party is desperate for work and will be willing to go low (harsh, but true) or because they believe that resource is less qualified.

Define your business model

On a related (but less verbose) note, be clear up front on what your business model is. Some clients have very strong preferences for agencies vs. individuals (and vice versa) and it will often be a waste of your time and energy to try to change their mind. It always kills me when I’m looking for an individual to work with a client and I discover on the call that the person I’m speaking with is “secretly” running an agency.

On the flip side, something I’ve been guilty of in the past is using “we” messaging on my website - in the early days, it made me feel more legit…even though the “we” in question was just me and my dog (she’s cute, but lacks work ethic). While I do occasionally bring in subcontractors to handle executional work when my clients don’t have existing resources in place², I’m primarily an “I” - and leads aren’t coming to me for agency-style support, so I lean into that now. (Of course, as I write this, I’m noticing lingering “we” messaging on my website that I need to clean up³. 🫠)

Qualify leads

As leads start coming your way, your next step will be to qualify them before hopping on a call. Yes, this is the second time today I’m suggesting that you walk away from potential work. 🙀 But if they’re not a fit for your business or don’t have the budget to work with you, is hopping on a call really the best use of your time?

This episode of Agency Darlings includes some amazing inspiration for qualifying leads via contact forms and has me wanting to update my own, which currently asks about the type of service leads are looking for, when they’re looking to start work, and how they found me (this is true for both the contact form on my website and the Calendly link on my LinkedIn profile).

Worth noting, though: when I’m exploring resources on behalf of clients, lead forms that are too lengthy can turn me off, and if I’m forced to enter a specific dollar figure for budget, I’ll most likely bounce - yes, I’m one of those annoying clients who starts out without a clear price range in mind. So when I update my lead form, I’ll add an open-ended question about the problem they’re looking to solve and a link to my services page for context on my rates.

Finally, if someone books via Calendly and I’m not sure it’s a fit, I’ll email them with a question or two and a bit of context about my rates. If they don’t reply within two business days (or by 24 hours prior to the call, whichever comes first), I’ll cancel.

A quick pause here - I’ve got two more tips to share, but since we’re getting into the specifics of how I manage my business, they are landing behind the paywall. I’d love to have you join me as a paid subscriber, but if this is where we part ways this week, here are some other ways to support this work if you find it helpful:

• “Like” this post - down at the bottom if you’re reading in email

• Share Fractional Fridays with other fractionals and consultants who might find it helpful

• Buy me a coffee (or fancy Swedish candy, which is what actually fuels this newsletter)