3 Steps to Generate More Leads From RFCs

If you’re in sales or marketing, you’ve probably done all of the lead gen you can think of. Pounding the pavement, making connections on LinkedIn, attending networking events, generating word of mouth referrals, and the list goes on and on. Now, those are still great ways to meet people, create conversations, and even land a sale. However, there are places online where you can skip the cold to warm to hot lead gen game and find warm leads right away. If you want to see a short overview of the Request For Contract (RFC) process, you can see it here!

There are three critical steps to getting the most out of what we call a Request For Contract (RFC).

1. Create a winning profile (on whatever platform you’re on)
2. Search for your perfect lead (they should tell you the budget, timeline, and goals)
3. Write a winning cover letter (much like when you apply for a job)
   

Let’s dive right into these three steps and what they mean for generating warm leads.

1. Create a Winning Profile

Everyone knows how important a good profile is. It doesn’t matter if it’s LinkedIn, Instagram, Quora, or Facebook. Your profile is your way of telling people, “Hey! I’m an expert at what I do, so we should work together.” You can grab their attention and show how you’re different from everyone else. Don’t leave anything undone on your profile. A complete, engaging, and active profile will make you more appealing to clients and help showcase that you are an expert in your field. What does it take to create a winning profile? Boundless Media can take care of your profile optimization for you, or we can create one if you need it!

    2. Search for Your Perfect Lead

Searching for the perfect lead is what RFCs are all about. There are thousands of new opportunities posted every day on different platforms.  When you set up your profile, make sure you include relevant skills and links or assets from projects you’ve completed. Once your profile is complete, you can start searching for your ideal client. The best part is you don’t have to worry about the “I understand if this service isn’t what you’re looking for right now” speech because when looking in these corners of the internet, everyone IS  looking for a service. They even tell you their exact need, budget, and timeline. This makes it easy for you to cater to their exact needs. Remember, you might not be the only one applying to these jobs, but you can stand out from the rest by writing a proposal that ups your chances of landing the client.

   3. Write a Winning Proposal

This brings us to our third step, writing your winning proposal. If a resume, cover letter, and an elevator pitch had a baby, this would be your perfect proposal. Your proposal should be straightforward, to the point, but still, detail precisely what you can do for the client. They could be looking at several proposals, so you need to make sure yours stands out. Use your initial greeting and introduction to grab their attention. Don’t just start with an everyday “Hi, my name is Sam, and I’d be a great fit for your role.” Think about this from the client’s perspective. They are actively looking for someone that can solve a problem. Get right to the point and tell them how you can do that for them. Your proposal needs to be unique to each project. Don’t send the same proposal to everyone, and tailor your proposal to the client. Let them know how you will solve their problem. You don’t need to talk about yourself; that’s what your profile is for!

What happens when you book a call with a lead? Well, it’s a lot like a normal sales meeting, except you have all of the information you normally don’t already know. You know the scope of work, the budget, and the timeline. When you go into the call or meeting, you don’t have to worry about asking those questions. You can simply showcase what you can do for the client and land the job even faster.

There are a couple more key points that are important when looking for RFCs. You want to stay active on your account. You can’t just set it and forget it. Make sure whatever platform you’re on, you are applying for jobs, answering messages, engaging with potential clients, and updating your profile and portfolio as needed. Also, patience is definitely key. It can take up to 3 days for a client to hire someone but following these three steps and staying active will help your success using RFCs. Once you start working and building up your street cred, there could come a time when clients are coming to you! You could go from looking for leads to leads looking for you! There can be a lot of work in setting up a great RFC model and managing it. If you don’t think you have the time but still want to give it a go, let Boundless Media do everything for you!