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Dealing With Dead Silence, Advice for Freelance Writers

By Michael Stelzner

The email comes in. You have a prospect that wants to hire you.

All seems to go well. You send out a proposal.

Then . . . Nothing.

Ever happened to you?

Today, WhitePaperSource hosted a teleclass for writers called, Thriving as a Freelance Copywriter. We had some great discussion about the field of freelance writing. This question came up…

Kevin from Rhode Island said:

I have had instances as a beginning freelance copywriter where the company appears very interested in hiring me, then no response to follow-up emails.

Hating rejection, how much should I keep following up before giving up on this prospect?

My answer: What is the bigger risk: Losing the deal because you did not follow up or finding out you did not get the deal? Make the call (over the phone). If you lost the deal, ask “Could you share why so I can improve my services in the future?”

FYI, your problem happens to me ALL the time. You are not alone. :)

How do you deal with this problem??

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Freelance Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Great advice Jess!
  • One additional step worth taking if a prospect passes on your proposal or bid: follow up in a month or so (depending on the project length). I drop an email to these folks to "check in and see how the project went." There's all kinds of ways to phrase it so that you show your concern for the success of their project—you can ask to see the final results becuase you're genuinely interested, you can ask if there's anything else they need, you can ask them how it all went.

    The key is to keep the communication moving back and forth for as long as they will let you (without being a pest, of course). Rejections are just part and parcel of the business—I just try to deal with them as gracefully as I can.
  • Roberta - Thanks for sharing your process! Seems excellent. - Mike
  • Great topic. After I send a proposal, I'll email within 48 hours just to make sure the prospect received because email is NOT a guaranteed delivery service. Then, if I haven't heard, another quick email after about a week to answer any questions or to set up a time to discuss.

    Still no word after two weeks? I'll call, but early in the am (prior to 8:30am) or after 5:30 pm when I have the best chance to catch the person and not the VM.

    If still a no-go, I consider it dead, but do keep in occasional touch. I had a no-go turn into a big account after 6 months. You never know ...
  • Hi Susan and David;

    Susan - You are right! Phone calls are very important. Why are so many of us scared to pick up the phone??

    David - Great point about getting the feedback. That helps big time! We learn more when we fail.

    Mike
  • I used to use the follow-up after unsuccessful job applications, so I could work on my weaknesses. It's a good habit to get into.

    I've found that most of the time those clients don't get back to you because they're simply too busy, and have been meaning to for some time.
  • I agree about the importance of follow-up phone calls. I've been pleasantly surprised by how often prospects have thanked me for calling them to follow up.

    If you're wondering if it's time to make a phone call, it's probably time to call. That's a lesson I learned during my corporate job hunting days.
  • Hey Jonathan and Tom!

    I actually have had clients get back to me months later.

    I think it is good to follow up with a voice mail if you can. You can often tell by their voice if they are interested.

    Persistence pays well!

    Mike
  • It happens to everyone. After a couple e-mails, you need to call. Two weeks is a reasonable stretch of time.

    E-mail is distressingly easy, but you're less likely to get real answers. Also, if you ask for feedback, take it like a pro. Don't whine when they tell you the job went to someone else because you made four errors in the cover letter.

    Finally, if the job's still on the rails, don't let someone turn this into an opportunity to negotiate your fee downward (no, I'm not bitter).
  • A more appropriate question is how much time do you give the prospect before beginning the email and phone assault.

    You have to put yourself in the client's shoes as well. Many have a lot on their plates between meetings, travel, deadlines, etc. Unfortunately as a freelance resource you rank very low on their list of priorities.

    I would give the client 2 to three weeks. After leaving both email and phone messages, if they don't return any of those, then consider your proposal dead.

    The whole idea of not getting a return call is something that urks me a whole lot. In fact I posted something to that effect in my blog:

    http://www.whitepapercompany.c...
  • Michael - Thanks for catching my headline blunder. I changed it. - Mike
  • "Deadling"?

    A nice combination of deadline and dealing?

    I wouldn't normally point out typos, but on a blog about writing....
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