Meeting with Clients
I receive a newsletter from The Profitable Freelancer, which has on occasion some interesting tips and articles about freelancing. There was one today about meeting with prospective clients. Is it really worth the time or is it a necassary step in getting more work. The article intrigued me since I have been asking myself the same question due to some client meetings that haven’t worked out. In the article he brought up a way to determine if you should make the time or not. It’s called the “BANT” test. You need to at least ask four questions to determine if it will be worth your time. Although, you might need to alter these according to your needs.
BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need and Timing. To make BANT work, you want to develop a few simple questions to ask prospects when they request a meeting. The answers they give you will help you determine how to proceed.
Here’s how it works:
First, thank the prospect for their interest and the opportunity to meet them in person. Then, ask if you can run through a few quick questions over the phone first, just to make sure you better understand their situation.
Budget: “Do you have a budget already set aside for this project?”
Authority: “Mind if I ask who will make the final decision on hiring the
freelancer for this project?”
Need: “Have you identified a specific project you want to discuss?”
Timing: “When are you looking to get started on this project?”
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