Your sales skills are what matters in the world of freelancing
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You are that client looking for a developer for your new app, DuberEats (I’ve finally achieved my low in creativity.)
Who would you pick?
“I’m Josh. I have ten years of experience in development. I know how to write Larvel, CSS, Python, Java, and twenty other languages. I have been based in the U.S. for as long as I can remember.
The secret to the perfect product is quality, time, and updates. So, I’d like to jump on an exploration call to discuss our future potential.
P.S. my pricing starts from $100.
Have a good day!”
Or, would you pick contestant number 2?
“Hi, I’m Fanny, a seven-year developer who simply loves coding. You can find more about me on my personal website. You said you wanted to work on a food delivery app.
What makes this unique compared to UberEats? Usually, what’s essential in this industry, from my experience, is user behavior. You need to make the ordering process seamless and the U.I. similar to what they know.”
I asked around ten people this question, nine of whom went for Fanny, and one went for Josh. The person going for Josh ultimately decided based on his years of experience. The people going for Fanny, however, mentioned the following:
- She’s more casual.
- She did not tell me what I did not need to know.
- She did not talk about money.
- She knows the industry, and I agree with her on her points.
What happened above is that Josh could not sell himself as good as Fanny. He might be a better developer but not a better salesman. So then, who qualifies for being a better freelancer? Well, 9 out of 10 Fanny was picked. First, she will be getting more clients. She will be making more money. Finally, she will be learning more.
I am bluntly telling you that your sales skills are what matters in the world of freelancing. This is what I’ve discovered in my professional journey. I was done with my university (ironically, software engineering) and was determined to start freelancing.
Then I asked myself, “How in god’s name would I be able to compete with people working on these platforms for years?!”
They know better about everything. So I turned to one thing that made me go from a Z-player to an A-player — Reading.
I read over a hundred books about entrepreneurship; I love that topic. I want to know how the others were successful, how they were awful, and what they would want to tell me.
Then the conclusion was building slowly. All these entrepreneurs knew how to sell their products because they were highly confident in their abilities.
- Steve Jobs’s belief that the iPhone is a future product could not have been changed by any means.
- Jeff Bezos was extremely persistent and patient with Amazon because he was confident in his product.
I am not any of those two guys, and I surely do not have a product like the iPhone or Amazon. So what am I supposed to sell?
Then it came to me. I am selling myself. If you are buying, then in that cart, you’ll have — One individual with extreme confidence, enthusiasm for the topic, and the willingness to read a hundred other books on whichever topic.
It was easier than ever after this moment of realization. I do not know about others. But I know that if this client signs up with me, I will be providing dedication mixed with interest that no one I know of is providing.
I purely wanted to help every client by any means necessary. If this person needed a better developer, I’d tell them straight in their face, “You need someone better in development.”
So I became who I am. I’m Al Anany, a business consultant with high interest and love for entrepreneurship.
When a client approaches me, rather than think like an average freelancer, “This might be some extra money,” I would think,“There is a new story that I could be a part of. Exciting!”
Hence, if a client comes to me with some product that gets me drooling, no matter the budget, there is almost a certainty of me accepting to work with them.
Here is what you should perfect to become the ultimate freelancer, plain and simple.
An unconfident freelancer is no better than a bad-looking fruit. It might taste good from the inside. But no one will buy it, even if it’s cheap.
Becoming confident comes purely from within. You need to understand that you are capable of being the best freelancer, which is logically a true statement. So why would you object to it?
Me: “Hi, do you believe you can become the best freelancer?”
Freelancer: “What? The best freelancer? No. I could become a good one. But the best, that’s statistically unlikely.”
Why would it be statistically unlikely? Let’s play this game. If I tell you:
There is a 1 out of 10,000 chance that you will become the best freelancer.
Which of the following options would you think:
- You will not become the best freelancer.
- You will become the best freelancer.
I am only giving you those two options (unfair and primitive, I know.)
The majority of people would choose A. Here’s why this is all wrong.
The fact is that the majority of people would not become the best freelancer. This is purely a fact. However, belief, on the other hand, is optional.
I am not asking you if you’ll 100% become the best freelancer. I am asking you to believe in the possibility.
Once you actually believe that, then you’ve passed stage 0.
You: “Really? Looks?”
I am not asking you to perform plastic surgeries to become the most beautiful human being. It does not matter how you biologically look like.
However, you can control the tiny details: the background behind you in each call, the shirt you are wearing, the lighting, how confident you sound, etc…
These tiny details are deal breakers that clients are not aware of. They start talking to someone on a zoom call, for example, and before knowing it, their mind auto-judged that person in front of them.
So, bypass this, and you are in stage 1.
One thing is what differentiates good freelancers from great ones — knowledge. You could be a software developer who writes 100 programming languages fluently.
But another freelancer who writes five languages could outshine you because they know the real reason why Figma was sold to Adobe.
If you perfect your technical elements of freelancing and forget about the rest of the world, then the rest of the world will favor someone else who’s aware.
For you to be knowledgeable, it’s pretty easy
- Read, read, then read more.
- Monitor others and learn from what they’re doing.
- Do not be scared to steal some of their tricks, as long as it’s not intellectual property. For example, how a person uses their images could take your game to the next level.
I’m Al, a business consultant in Zurich, Switzerland. I believe in the power of delivering value to you, the reader. Follow me on various social media platforms if you’re interested in the value of my content.