“We’ve been trying to get that furniture for months!”
That was my mom’s reaction when I told her that my Uncle Gregg had just dropped off a van load of my dear, departed grandma’s furniture to our house.
My grandma died in January after several years living in memory care.
Because the final years of her life involved so much assisted living, her six living children split up the responsibilities as best they could.
My Uncle Gregg and his wife took most of Grandma’s furniture and threw it into their garage until everyone could figure out what to do with it.
After she passed, the family could exhale a little and start going through the belongings she left behind.
A few weeks ago, one of my aunts ran into my wife and told her, “If you need furniture, you should talk to Gregg. Grandma’s got a ton of stuff in his garage that they are just holding onto.”
I texted them and asked, “Hey, is any of Grandma’s furniture up for grabs? We really could use a few pieces for the basement and we hear you have a couch.”
Within half an hour, I was on the phone with them as they ran through all the furniture in their garage.
That evening, my Uncle Gregg pulled into our driveway with a sewing table, a couch, a clock, two end tables, and a lamp.
Soon we’ll be getting another couch, a coffee table, a dresser, a bookshelf, and potentially a foosball table.
Couldn’t have been easier.
When I told my mom about it that weekend, she was both happy for us and also kinda annoyed.
Turns out, half the family has wanted to go through that furniture for a long time now.
They’ve been telling my Uncle Gregg to set up a day when everyone could come over and go through it, and they just never got around to it.
“I don’t know what you did to be able to get through to them, but I’m glad somebody did!”
Truth is: all I did was ASK.
Stop waiting for clients to come to you
The reason my Uncle Gregg didn’t disperse all the furniture is because he was busy.
Between caring for his dying mother and his work, along with kids of his own, he didn’t have the bandwidth to actually organize any sort of effort to get rid of the furniture.
They didn’t want it.
They wanted to park their car in the garage!
But getting to the project just didn’t happen… until I asked them.
I wasn’t coy.
I wasn’t indirect.
I didn’t say, “When you get around to it…”
All I did was reach out and say, “I heard you have Grandma’s furniture. We need some. Can I come by this week and maybe take some off your hands?”
Simple. Direct. To the point. And clear.
(My mom’s family is not known for being direct and clear with each other.)
Getting clients is as simple as asking for them.
That’s the dirty little secret about building your business that nobody tells you.
They say you need experience and a brand and a portfolio and a presence.
You don’t.
You just need to reach out to decision makers and ASK for work.
Why does this work?
You don’t have to believe me.
But 16 years of experience can’t be wrong.
Any time I’ve struggled to get work, it’s because I’ve failed to ask for it.
It’s that simple because clients often have the need… but they don’t have the bandwidth to solve that need.
So they keep skirting by, doing their best, even though a writer could make their lives 10x easier.
It’s only when a writer shows up and asks for work do they realize they can offload some of this stuff.
This is why it pays to understand how decision makers think
Every step of the process – from getting attention to convincing them to discuss to negotiating pay to making them happy with your work – becomes effortless and profitable when you approach it with THEIR situation in mind.
If you understand the ins and outs of what the decision makers are doing on a daily basis, you can position every step of the working relationship in a way that makes you look good and makes their lives easier.
The result?
They willingly and happily pull out their checkbooks… and they keep paying you.
Whether you are searching for more clients to grow your business or you’re searching for more consistency and stability in your client work, it begins and ends with getting into a decision maker’s head.