Hey everyone,

Hope you're doing well So, I'm a self-taught graphic designer and I'm looking for some tips as to how to sell my services locally. I have a set of business cards and leaflets outlining all my services, but, while I have quite a large portfolio, I've never tried to sell anything yet.

 

So, suppose I walk into a local business and I'm looking to make a sale, what would you recommend that I say to them? Like, do I try to pitch a sale there and then, or do I just inform them of what I can do and let them decide whether they'll want it at a later date?

 

I don't have much of a clue when it comes to sales, so any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to hearing your responses.

Cheers,
Amy

Edited August 5, 201313 yr by amyamyesque

I would first do a bit of research on the business you are going to approach, and explain to them how you can make their business grow/attract new people, increase enquiries etc...

 

Ask them if they would like a few ideas knocked up on improving website or anything else.... obligation free of course and see how you get on...

I work for a large IT company. Think about the size of IBM...

We do it the following way:

1. Assign a senior person to each major company that can be potentially a client.
2. The assigned person gets introduced to the key person of the potential client.
3. The assigned person is responsible to keep in touch and be sure that we get invited to future biddings when an opportunity shows up.

So in your case this would try this:

1. Get in contact with potentional clients. List local businesses who might need your service. Call them and ask for marketing manager or whoever might be responsible for contrating a graphic designer. Ask him to join to join lunch with you (everyone has lunch, every day...). This way contact could be done.
2. Stay in touch with them to be sure they don't forget about you.
3. Don't screw up. Local businesses usually in contact with each other. This can spread a good reputation and bad reputation as well...

Of course this can be time consuming, but sales is like that. I would try to contact 2 companies per months this way. Once you get a local contract everything should speed up. Those guys are really talking to each other...

You say you have a large portfolio, but is that client based or personal projects? Business cards and leaflets are great and all if you're targeting the right place. I agree with researching the business you're approaching, but bear in mind a wealth of businesses don't accept 'cold callers' regardless of your intentions and your character.

 

Word of mouth and referrals are always a winner but it depends on whether you already have a client base or not. It might be worth approaching agencies to do a spot of freelancing. At least that way you'll get live work to update your portfolio with and have the chance to build a rapport with customers. It is a tricky one when first starting out - that's for sure. Either way, good luck!

As you mentioned, if you have a large portfolio of client websites, you must ask your clients for references and must go with those.

 

If you are looking to target local businesses, the best way would be to reach out to your friends and ask them to promote your portfolio but giving them cards which should actually be moved into their organizational characters. This way, you just dont have the value of reference, but also reach.