I Would Never Do This To a Client....

I will never do this to a client.

Let me explain.

I’ve trained — or retrained — to be a copywriter. I’m seeking clients in the personal development / self-help niche. This means reaching out to success coaches and others working to help people better manage their time, design morning routines, and so on.

My business will include writing their marketing materials or helping them in other ways (e.g., if someone wants a white paper on some topic, I will research it and write it for them).

Helping the helpers, as it were.

But being a man of many interests, I’m not limiting myself to just that. I always have an eye out for interesting writing opportunities of all kinds.  

A month or so ago, I saw one. A west coast periodical was seeking a writer on topics such as astronomy, physics, and climate.

Since I follow those topics — especially the first — I went for it.

The website asked applicants to upload a resume, so I spent some time putting one together, based on older vitae I had here. It had the usual stuff: full name, contact information, a link to my website, and a prominent note that I have an information packet available.

The also-usual bullet lists noted that I’d written articles of all kinds for years, had ghostwritten two books, once wrote and edited obituaries for a city newspaper (very details-oriented stuff!), and so on.

There was also a button where I could click to get a free resume critique. I thought: why not?

So after applying for this small position which could be a steady stream of very interesting writing assignments, I went for it.

A few days later, I received a detailed critique. The respondent, whom I’ll call Kathy, had found some problems, which didn’t surprise me because of the speed with which I’d put it together.

Kathy also observed (she’s not the first to say this) that a lot of companies are now using software to screen resumes for certain words and phrases to eliminate candidates: Applicant Tracking Software, it’s called.

If your resume doesn’t contain the right keywords, and the employer is using this software, it won’t even be seen much less evaluated!

Kathy positioned her company as uniquely qualified to design resumes that wouldn’t be eliminated. Her critique ended with an offer — I’d assumed she was trying to bring in revenue, just as I was/am doing.

I did some restructuring. After all, there was a chance I’d want to use this resume again.

After a mild nudge from the other end (I’d a full workday and all weekend without replying), I decided to pen a personal response.

I thanked her for the work she’d done and the time it looked like she’ d put into it, noted what I’d already done to improve the resume, asked a couple of questions, invited a response.

I was interested in doing what we copywriters are trained to do: begin building the trust that leads to a professional relationship.  

Who might she know, I was wondering, and might this lead to a referral? And might I be able to send her company some business?

What I received the next morning — too quickly! — was a very impersonal and corporate-bureaucratic appearing introduction to all this company’s services, with price listings, etc.

It was clearly, and obviously, something they sent to everybody who reached out to them — one size fits all!

But if I’ve learned anything at all in the writing business so far, it’s that one size usually doesn’t fit all.  

I’m in the business of building relationships with my fellow human beings — whose businesses are solving problems, easing pain points, enabling changed lives, for their fellow human beings.

That means not sending everyone I come across or who discovers me — on LinkedIn or anywhere else — the same formulaic message.

I get it. People are busy. They might ask, do I have time to send something personal to every potential client or customer?

Well, if you’ve sent out thousands of letters, possibly not. Which is why we talk about target markets and niches. So those at the other end will (hopefully) see something in our writing that makes them respond, “That’s me! He’s talking to me!”  

But in cases like this one where someone reaches back to you — you make the time!

In our impersonal and anonymous society, we need more and better connections. Part of our job is communication, so we understand one another, to better serve one another and solve one another’s problems.

I naturally want to be liked — and I also want to know the person who is opening my email, so I’ll like them.

Not being “needy” here, and not complaining. People can run their businesses any way they like. But maybe, one day, we’ll have nurtured a professional environment in which there is understanding that coming across like a bureaucrat costs you revenue and hurts your business.

If I know you and like you, I’m more likely to trust you. And if I trust you, I’m more likely to buy from you. And if you know, like, and trust me, you’re more likely to buy from me.

Kathy did not get my business. I hope I don’t have to explain why not.

I hereby aver that I will not do this sort of thing to a potential client. Call me old school, but from where I’m sitting, we’re all human beings, not merely names / numbers on file folders or in our computers. One of our obligations as relationship-building professionals reaching out to each other is to put this realization into practice.