Selling Yourself
Now you have all the information you need and have determined that you're interested in working on the project and for their company and have the skills they need. How do you get them to say "Yes"?
- Believe in yourself. Always show the full benefit of your knowledge and experience. You do have skills they lack.
- Reflect back to the client what you heard as the key requirements for the project. Discuss your proposed business (not technical) solution. Tell them what you see as the outcomes of this project that will have it be a success.
- Reassure them that you are qualified and say how you can meet the key requirements. Let them know you understand and can solve their business problem. Your job at this stage is to build trust. Your potential clients must trust you before they will do business with you. If they do not trust you, they will not trust your recommendations.
- Tell them how you would get the process started. You want to reassure them that you have the technical skills to get the job done without overwhelming them with technical jargon.
- The last part of the "sale" is the platform or product (i.e. 4D). Some clients may not even care what database you use.
A few tips from a seasoned 4D developer:
Clients will ask "Why you and not another developer"?
Your answer…
- You are going to do wonderful, personalized work.
- You will be around to service the product that you create for them.
- State any other reasons you can come up with. (e.g. industry experience, prior projects you've completed that are similar).
They may ask "What happens if you are hit by a bus?"
- Explain the benefits of software code escrow if they are not familiar with it.
- Before you get asked this by a client, consider establishing an alliance with other developers especially if you are the only developer in your company. This will provide you with some back-up and/or additional programming resources if you are incapacitated or too busy with another project.
It would be wise to develop alliances with other programmers or have programmer employees. If you have done this, let you client know you have a team of people who are available if needed to service their needs. Assure them, however, that they can rely on you to ensure that anyone who works on their project will meet the same high standards that you hold.
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