Engage in meaningful personal interactions

There are different levels of human interactions, which can include both high and minimal investments:

• Liking or commenting on someone’s post on social media.
• Sending a text message.
• Sending an email.
• Making a phone call.
• Meeting in-person for coffee.
• Getting together for a meal.
• Conducting a virtual meeting.
• Conducting an in-person meeting.
• Attending a group event.
• Hosting an event.

As Fields explains, a minimal investment with low impact is liking a social media post. Meeting for lunch has a high investment, with fairly high impact, but takes more time and needs more scheduling with another person.

Let’s look in more detail at two impactful interactions that can be particularly successful for independent consultants.

Make outbound phone calls

This is a step that many people feel uncomfortable with and skip. It can feel awkward to pick up the phone and call someone, and much more comfortable to send an email. 

David A. Fields argues that making outbound calls is an incredibly effective means to reach out. It’s also much more comfortable if you have a plan for how you want the call to go. 

In Episode 170 of Unleashed, Fields walks listeners through how to do outbound phone calls in a way that feels authentic, and offers a strong way to maintain relationships through a low-investment effort.

“A lot of consultants dread it. In all honesty, I don’t love making outreach calls,” he admits. “I make them because I know there’s a direct correlation between picking up the phone and the health of your pipeline.”

The first thing to keep in mind is that these calls are not cold calls, and they aren’t sales calls. They are relationship-building efforts. 

Don’t call to check if there are any projects coming up. Make the call about the client — you’re simply checking in on them.

If it’s someone you’ve worked with before, you can always call to follow up on the project you worked on previously and see how things have been going since.

This is a great way to stay top of mind, and possibly generate some projects in the future — especially if you’re consistent about the process. 

Fields says it’s often helpful for consultants to set aside a consistent block of time for making outbound calls. He makes his calls on Wednesday mornings, for example.

Tips for making outbound phone calls

Fields offers a few tips to make calling easier:

• Don’t feel you need a reason to call. If you always have a reason to call, it can feel too transactional. It’s okay to call and ask how they’re doing and what’s new.
• Don’t feel you need to add value. It’s a call to say hi and check-in.
• Try seven minutes before the hour. Or 8 am or 5 pm. People can have appointments or video meetings on the hour.
• “What’s new in your universe?” Use this or a similar statement to catch up with the person.
• Don’t try to sell. You’re just checking in with a friendly call.
• You don’t need to schedule the phone call. Scheduled calls are not bad, and might be preferable for a more formal call, but these types of check-in calls can be impromptu.
• Do leave a voicemail if the person doesn’t answer.

Bachman recommends making a list of five people for one outbound calling session. These are people who will recognize your name when you call. Maybe you’ve worked with them or a colleague in the past. 

The first call will be the hardest, but after that it gets easier and more natural. 

“It’s not about selling, but if the other person does raise the topic of some project they might have, then you don’t want to dive in right there,” Bachman advises.

Instead, when the topic comes up, say, “Would you be open to a separate conversation about that?” 

He credits this approach to Fields, who calls it “The Turn.”

The Turn accomplishes two things:

• “Would you be open” is a statement people like. Generally, people want to appear as open, not closed.
• “To a separate conversation” acknowledges you would transition from this friendly conversation, to a professional business conversation. This gives the other person the agency and the opportunity to not have the conversation at that moment if they don’t want to.

Email outreach

Although the power of phone calls should not  be underestimated, email outreach is also an important piece of the marketing strategy.

Fields says the most important part of any outreach, including email, is “Right-Side Up thinking” — he calls this the core of successful consulting.

“It’s the realization that consulting is about them—the clients—not you. That principle holds true in emails too.”

Even if you think your email is about you, it’s not. Consulting is always about the client. 

“Make your emails Right-Side Up by thinking about what the client’s purpose is for your email,” Fields advises. “You know what your purpose is, but what is theirs? When your email is built around your client’s needs and wants, you’ll compose a valuable email that builds trust and rapport.”

A few ideas for what to say in an email:

• Something personal: How was your trip
• Something about the last project: Did that proposal get approved?
• A request for help: Question for you…

Host client events

Hosting client events is a great way to network, build rapport, and provide support to your clients. 

Amanda Setili organizes thought leadership events for her clients twice a year, and finds them to be incredibly effective. She explains the key benefits she derives from hosting client events:

• Saves time. She was spending a lot of time calling clients, having meetings or lunch with them — a process that was very time consuming.
• Enhances her brand. Events are a good way to market your brand and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
• Develops content. By delving into what people were thinking and extracting thought leadership ideas, this gave her a rich content library.
• Builds a network of clients. She wanted to meet clients and form relationships with them before they were looking for new positions.

After Setili began hosting such events, she found they reap great rewards for her business. She became better known in the Atlanta area for what she does. 

“People began talking about me and referring to me. So many people have said, ‘I really look forward to your events and appreciate you running them.'”

Tips for organizing client events:

• Pick a format for the event — will it be in-person or virtual?
• Begin with an “anchor” — a topic your clients or prospects will benefit from.
• Consider starting with a smaller attendee list, even a Zoom with three or four people.
• Pick a time. It won’t work for everyone, so don’t spend too much time going back and forth on the time.
• Reach out personally to each individual you would like to attend and invite them to join.
• You don’t need to be the presenter — you can approach a client who would be a good fit and offer for them to host, while you organize the event. 
• The goal is to connect attendees with one another, not necessarily with you.
• Client events provide opportunities to interact — make sure mingling or question-and-answer time is built in.
• Listen and follow up afterwards individually with everyone afterwards. 

Resources:

• Unleashed Episode 57 with David Topus: Talking to strangers.
• Unleashed Episode 170 with David A. Fields: Effective Outbound Calls.
• Unleashed Episode 74 with Will Bachman: Influence techniques.
• Unleashed Episode 481 with Dorie Clark: The long game connection. 
• Unleashed Episode 259 with David A. Fields: Show you care.
• Unleashed Episode 221 with David A. Fields: Converting leads.
• Unleashed Episode 195 with Ray Carbonell: Reputation building.
• Unleashed Episode 410 with Amanda Setili: Client events.
• Umbrex article: ​​How to Plan Great Thought Leadership Events.