How To Go From ‘Lead’ To ‘Client’

‘Client Acquisition’, ‘Return on Investment’, ‘Conversion Rates’.. depending on how much you’ve looked into the business side, I’m guessing these terms sound pretty new and kinda scary! Let me clear this up now.. business does not need to be scary. Once we break down some of this jargon and understand the fundamentals, you’ll be on your way to using all sorts of fancy terms and making money with confidence as an artist. When someone asks for work, what’s your first response? Do you have a clear smooth system in place which helps nurture a potential lead to a booked client?

This blog might be just the thing to help make more sales for your art practice.

The Start of Something New

I tried to think of a cute title for this.. but it’s basically the ‘Initial Point of Contact’. You could have spoken to this potential client at a networking event, exhibition evening or even over Instagram.

What is important about this first interaction is that you DO NOT SELL.

It’s vital to build a rapport and connection first. If you open brand new relationships by selling your art/services, you most likely will look desperate and could make the buyer think, ‘why are they not busy, does this mean they’re not good at what they do’.

Focus on getting to know them first.

People work with who they know, like & trust

They’ve Come Back

They’ve built a connection with you and they’ve returned to ask about some work. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Arrange a phone call with them

Book a call with them, try to do it for the same day or the next day. I know I know, I feel uncomfortable doing phone calls too, but it’s so much easier to ask questions and talk about work than going back and forth over email. Things inevitably get miscommunicated in writing.

2. Ask questions

Ask as many questions as you can and let them talk. Don’t talk over them and take notes. You should aim to speak about 20% of the time, let them talk for the rest. The questions you should be asking will give you more information about the project, what they need from you, timeline and their goals for the project too.

3. Don’t be afraid to talk about money

Depending on how well you feel like the talk is going, ie. Are they engaged in the conversation and seem interested to work with you, I would them bring up the budget question. I tend to go with “Do you have a budget set aside for this work/project?”.. 9 times out of 10, people do have an idea of how much they would like to spend. However, if they aren’t sure I would provide a rough estimate of how much the work would cost and gage their reaction from there.

4. Close up the call

So you’ve gotten all the info you need to be able to send a quote with a brief project outline. Then I would say to them, “If you’re happy to, I’ll get you a more accurate quote written with a short project outline and email that over to you by tomorrow morning”.

It’s important to act fast on these work enquiries which is why you set a clear deadline of when they should anticipate to hear from you again. If you set an expection, please make sure you meet it as that builds credibility.

Send a Quote & Project Outline

In a separate guide I can go into how to price work/projects. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in?

The Project Outline basically goes over and clarifies everything that was said on the call, which is why you took notes. Here’s a few key things to remember:

• Lay out very clear expectations

What is the work you are delivering, how many, what size, what materials? Eliminate any confusion or miscommunication.

• Explain your timeline

How long will it take to draft a design, detail design, create the design, deliver. Have you also factored in time for revisions and edits? Giving the client a brief outline of this timeline will give them confidence in that you know what you’re doing, but will also keep you accountable to staying on schedule. P.S. if this gets delayed or overruns be honest with your client and let them know as soon as you realise.

• Is there anything you need from them?

Do you need some key bits of information in order to create your designs. I would be sure to put a note of that in the document just so they’re reminded that you can’t do the work until you’ve got everything you need.

• Let them know it’s a 50% non‑refundable deposit

You might feel nervous asking for 50% of the total project cost as a deposit but don’t! It’s pretty much the industry standard and so most people are used to it. It’s a way to not only protect yourself as a freelance artist, but also use those funds to buy the materials or expenses to create this project/work for them.

Give them time to read over this and let them know that you’re open to any additional questions if they need some more clarity.

Yes or No

It’s important to note that you’re not going to ‘win’ them all. However, if you’ve followed the steps, built rapport and made sure that the work is a good fit for you (read my last guide on when to say ‘no’ to work) there is a good chance it will be a yes.

If it is a yes then great! I would wait until the deposit has been sent and then get to work, following the timeline which you laid out previously.

I would recommend giving regular updates to your client too.

Let’s create more thriving creatives!

Guiding emerging artists to have a financially sustainable practice.