Are you trying to start off your career
as a project management consultant
but just don't know how to get your first clients?
Well, tune in, because in this video
I'm going to share with you my best techniques
I use in order to get those first clients.
And stick around to the very end
because I have something really special for you.
Six basic things
you need to ensure that are in your project
so they're successful, not only for you,
but for your clients
and they're really going to be excited about it.
I'm going to tell you how to get your hands on that
at the end of this video.
Hi, if you're new here, welcome.
My name is Adriana Girdler
and I happen to be a Project Management Consultant
and you have landed
on the best practical project management channel
out there in YouTube world
and I'm so glad that you're here.
If you are here, please like this video, subscribe,
it tells YouTube we're doing a good job
and very much appreciate it.
Now, on that note,
let's talk about how to get your first clients.
Establish what you're offering.
Now, if you are a project management consultant
and you are trying to get your first client,
it is really important that you,
as a project management consultant,
understand what your services are.
There is a lot project management consultants do.
They can do strategies.
They can help other project managers
within organizations create project plans.
They can actually run projects to help out organizations.
They can help senior executives
with their whole planning cycle.
They can help create PMOs.
They can oversee PMOs.
There's so much that you can do,
it is a question of what is your expertise?
What have you done in the past?
And what do you want to build off of?
Because you need to take that information
that you feel is going to represent you
get clear on it so you can sell it to your client.
Here's the thing with consultancy work,
it is not just about the work that you're doing
but it's how are you going to sell your services to someone
so that they hire you?
So you have two hats on,
not only your project management hat, as a consultant,
but your sales hat, is how are you going to get those
clients? So it becomes very important
you understand what your services are,
the needs of your clients, potentially,
so that they can match
and you can be really clear with your message
that you're trying to come across
as to how you can be of service.
Search your network and look at help wanted ads.
So let's start with the search your network.
I promise you this from a sales perspective,
I actually am blessed
because before I became a project management consultant,
I actually was in sales
and that was the greatest gift
because it allowed for me
to really understand how to get my first clients.
And one of the things that were always taught in sales
is there's cold calls and warm calls.
And you want to focus on warm calls.
These are people that you know,
they're in your network,
and you wanna reach out to them
to see, A, can they help you out?
Can they recommend anybody that you can call?
Do they have any projects that they need help with?
Is there any suggestions they can provide to you?
That becomes really important
to really get your clients,
because they may know of someone,
and even better is if you worked in an organization
and you left it to become a project management consultant,
maybe there's some work in your past organization
that you can help with.
Again, they know you.
It's so much easier to get that first client
or your first couple of clients through the warm calls,
through introductions or your network, generally speaking.
Now, what if you're like,
"Adriana, my network is not even budging.
They're giving me nothing."
That's okay, don't worry about it.
I want you to think a little bit differently.
Go to the help wanted ads,
go take a look at what's out there
and if someone is looking for a project manager,
think of it this way,
don't look to get that job as a project manager
within that organization where you're now an employee,
present yourself as another option instead of an employee.
How you can be of service
where they don't have to take you on as an employee,
but just take you on as a consultant
over a certain period of time.
Sometimes that's a really good selling feature
and an organization didn't think about that.
So, do your network or look at the help wanted ads,
both together is actually a great way
to find your first client.
Optimize your LinkedIn.
It's an amazing networking platform
and this is the first place you should go,
because we all expect on LinkedIn
to be talking professionally to other professionals,
and what a great opportunity to meet your first client.
So what are some of the things
you should be looking at
when it comes to optimizing LinkedIn?
The first thing is your profile.
Really take a look at it
and ensure that it is explaining who you are,
what you're doing.
Remember, I told you on the first tip
is really ensuring,
being very clear with what your services and offerings are.
Well, that becomes really important in LinkedIn.
And the good news is, there's so many blogs out there
that you can go search
and find some information
on how to best optimize
your actual profile itself on LinkedIn.
So definitely, I would highly recommend,
do some research along that,
there's some really good stuff that you can find.
Another thing you want to consider
is you definitely want to put some posts out
announcing what you're doing, you're now consulting.
And that becomes important too,
because some people who may not know you
see that if you do the right keywords and hashtags
and things of that nature,
to get yourself out there and get on people's feeds.
Another thing you want to consider too
is also reaching out to your network,
giving some private messages
to those that you're already connected with,
saying, "Hey, by the way,
don't know if you know,
I've actually started my own company."
Again, that whole warm calling, cold calling,
cold calling, warm calls,
that you want to do it within LinkedIn.
And you also want to take a look at who they may recommend
that you can start connecting with,
because it's all about those connections.
Remember, it's all about networking
and don't be afraid to do it
because that is what LinkedIn is all about.
It's a networking platform.
So take advantage of this for your business.
Provide value.
So what do I mean by this
when trying to get your first client?
Here's the thing when you're new to the consulting world.
You maybe don't have a lot of clients,
maybe you have none.
You're just trying to lock that down.
You don't have that reputation yet
where people are constantly coming to you for business.
You're constantly going to them to try and get business.
So if you're going to do that, you need to have trust.
And the best way to get trust
is to build your relationships
and the best way to build your relationships
is when you're speaking to your potential client
an individual, when you're doing some warm calls with
or warm leads you have with,
is to really provide them value
when you're listening to what it is
that they have an issue with
and they're potentially maybe engaging with you on.
So what do I mean by giving the value
when you're listening to them?
So a lot of times when I'm in conversations with my clients,
maybe ones that,
I'm at a point now where they connect call me.
But when we connect, I don't make the assumption
that they're going to come on board,
I really listen and as I'm listening,
I will give them really good solid ideas,
high level, mind you, not the detail,
'cause they have to hire me for the detail
on how to execute things of that nature.
But I will start brainstorming with them
to give them really good direction.
Sometimes things, in fact, a lot of times,
things they'd never even thought about.
So now the value that I bring to the table
is, "Wow, not only does she know her stuff,
but she's even given us some different thought processes
and directions that we didn't even think about."
Whether they use me or not doesn't matter,
but I provided that value,
some additional, really good ideas
for them that they can walk away with.
Why? To make what they're doing better
or to fix the problem in a more root cause fashion
which is just going to ensure success in the organization.
That's value.
And I have people who come back to me
who may not have used me the first time around
for whatever reason,
but they'll come back, "You know, Adriana,
You know what?
I really appreciate you helping me out,
you gave us great direction.
I have this other project I want you to work on,
or can we gauge you on this?"
That is gold.
You cannot buy that.
That is just something that you develop.
And that's why providing value
and giving a little away for free
and I'm careful with that terminology
'cause people say, "give it away for free,"
but you have to be careful with how much you give away.
Kinda similar to what I do on this channel.
I give a lot of free content away
but I'm hoping that you think it's extremely valuable
and you keep on coming back and subscribing.
So on that note,
really providing the value is going to distinguish you
from others 'cause you're in it for the long haul,
you're not in it just to secure that client
and make it a checklist and walk away.
You want to build the relationships
because it's all about that repeat business.
So, ensure you're providing value.
Be active in online communities.
We're in an age where we're very blessed actually
to have a much larger market
from a professional standpoint to reach.
That we can now be working with people globally
because the markets, the social media,
the networking, the online communities that are out there
allow us to reach a much greater audience.
And because of all the virtual work you do,
you can do a lot of things virtually.
So, you want to reach out to those online communities,
you want to partake.
This is part of your networking in a different way,
not on LinkedIn, but outside of LinkedIn.
And it's just going to help you out tremendously.
You want to partake in questions and comments,
and if there's forums,
you also want to put out posts,
just so you can get yourself out there as a thought leader
in the chosen consulting work that you want to do
because people will then start seeing you in that light
and want to hire you.
Okay, now that you know how to get your first client,
oh, I'm so excited for you by the way
and when you get your first client,
let me know in the comments below, like say,
"Hey Adriana, your tips work."
Go here, it's free.
Get it, get it, get it.
If you want to know how to help your clients,
you gotta know this.
It's just going to, again,
give you additional value to them
because you're going to help guide them in their success.
The link is below this video, check it out.
So on that note, I will see you later and at the next video.