Whassup fam?!
I recently bought some juicy new gear and was SOOO impressed with my sales guy that I just had write home and tell mom about it.
The simple truth as a freelancer, if you want to get more clients and earn more income, is this tiny reminder that pays massive results from my gear sales guy.
Mom are you there?
I now have a total bromance with my gear sales guy. I will never buy from someone else again.
Have you ever inquired about buying gear at www.sweetwater.com and just didn’t actually buy anything?
I did about 3 years ago and maybe 2 years ago, a sales guy named Ian from Sweetwater had called me to introduce himself. This guy turned out to be my future gear sugar daddy. And if you’ve ever bought gear from them, you in fact know about the sugar.
The first time Ian called was just to say hello and I told him to piss off because I was busy and I didn’t know who the hell he was.
But Ian didn’t give up. He was a persistent little fella.
He called a second time and asked me about the work I do and the studio I had. I actually had a spare minute to lend him my ear and we talked about gear. We talked about school. We built a rapport.
I wasn’t buying anything at the time so he asked if he could follow up later.
He called me 3 months later. I wasn’t available so he left a voicemail. Then he called me again and again and left voicemails and sent emails just to follow up.
Ian called me 6 months later. It was Christmas time. I was in the market for a new interface and was shopping around to get the best deal on Universal Audio’s Apollo 8. YASS queen new gear!
He quoted me a price and I was comparing it with a guy’s quote over at Vintage King. Somehow the guy at Vintage King just had a sweeter deal for me, he threw in a copy of the new Pro Tools 10/11/12. At the time, I absolutely needed that upgrade so I went with the better deal.
Holiday time is crazy as you know, so I never told Ian I bought from someone else. What a DICK Anthony! I know, I know. Shame on me.
But Ian eventually called me back a few weeks after the holiday storm. I told him I went another route. He was sad and jealous and he broke up with me. We had a gear divorce.
Life moves on.
And later, I must’ve popped up in his Gear Tinder feed, because he called me back to check up and to see if I needed anything for my studio. I didn’t. So I hung up on him.
But THEN………
Christmas time part 2 is here! Ian calls me and asks if I need any gear.
And by the GRACE of the GEAR SLUT GODS I say YASS! YASSS QUEEN!
I was in the market for about $5,000 worth of gear. He put together a quote, and of course I was shopping other dealers tryna hit a lick and get the best price. I’m a total brown jew.
******Smart Audio Income Tip**********
Get multiple bids/quotes from other service providers/sales dealers and have them bid against each other so you can save the most money and get killer deals.
I do this with everything. Audio Gear, cars, food, mastering, and even massages.
So back to the story.
Ian gave me a quote. I was comparing it with other dealers and told Ian what they were doing with the price. He matched it and made it sweeter with offering other services like 36 month interest free financing, extended warranty, tech support, 30 day guarantees, etc.
In my freelance business, I call these deliverables. Juicy things the clients want that are included with my price. Things like: Free CD’s, multiple revisions, free drinks and snacks, wifi, money back-guarantee, mp3 versions, full pro tools session, cool studio pic with my nice Nikon cam, 30 minute consultations, free singing classes, etc.
I was ready to pull the trigger and buy with Ian but somehow I called him too late and missed the deal for the free financing. I ended up going classified style and buying one of the pieces of gear used.
Did Ian just miss out on a big sale? What a loser!
Yes. Partially.
BUTTT….
…He still made the effort to call me back to apologize for the missed opportunity. I was set on the free finance option and he told me he would follow up once that option opens back up.
Long story short, I ended up buying the rest of the gear I needed from Ian. It was a nicccce time. Great experience!
He made sure I had all the cables and stuff I needed to hook everything up. He gave me an amazing deal saving me hundreds! And he still calls me to follow up and make sure everything is working okay and to let me know about different deals going on.
It took Ian over 2 years to get me to buy something from him.
It took 12 emails.
It took 20 calls.
It took losing out to other competitors and hearing no multiple times.
That’s some dedication to a craft right there.
I respect his hustle 100 %.
And from this dedication to customer service, I will only buy from Gear Lord Ian of Sweet Water Land.
It’s a friendly reminder of how to really land that client and get the sale.
And this is following up and lead tracking at it’s best!
You stay humble, you call back, and you call back, and you call back.
They are going to say no. No. No. No.
And then one day they say yes. And you win.
I go through this all the time. Everyday. Sales and booking clients is the most boring, simple, but easiest thing to do if you just do the work and install a good follow up system.
It’s also the hardest thing to do because it’s not as exciting as going on social media, binge watching Game of Thrones from start to finish, and designing new business cards. All of the stuff that’s not important is easy. The important stuff is hard.
Stay in the system of adding leads to your list, contacting them, and following up with them forever until they say yes. Then rinse and repeat.
Once you do this long enough, you’ll build a nice list of clients you can always contact and humbly ask, just like Ian did, for the sale.
SOOOOOOO………….
If you’re stuck or hit a wall with your freelance business, with booking clients, with making money, and you want to get out of the rut, be like Ian the gear hustler from Sweetwater.
If you want to get busy and earn some cash, you have to follow up with those leads that said no to you or never heard back from them.
Always remember: It’s okay if they decline today. Follow up with them in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and even 2 years from now.
Follow up key. It’s the most important and profitable tactic you can do right now.
ACTION STEPS:
- Get out a paper and pen and list out 5 people that never booked or haven’t booked you in a while.
- Call them, email them, text them, dm them, show up to their kickball league, until they say yes.
- Rinse and repeat.
- Then rinse your mouth with a nice cold beer. You deserve it.
- Follow up Follow UP. FOLLOW UP.
Sincerely,
Anthony Navarro
The Follow Up Gear Slut
