Have you ever been in debt?
It’s not a good place to be.
Being in debt is like being in a cage (from the financial point of view)
You cannot:
- Get things you want
- Maintain normal living standards
- Do activities you enjoy
Heck, you won’t even eat at your favourite place just to save money and get yourself out of this misery.
You will understand this if you have been in such a place.
Back in 2020, I was in such a place.
My dreams of going to Germany for my Master’s went down the drain because of COVID.
I had burned all of my savings in hopes of making big bucks in Germany. How naive.
I had to borrow money so that I could meet my monthly expenses and start something.
Long story short, I was in debt and I needed money asap.
And, when you are heavily in debt, you start living a frugal life. You are careful with your resources.
Every penny matters.
I started my freelance business again in 2020, I was keen on doing organic marketing because I wasn’t sure about paid marketing.
I was careful with my efforts and energy and I wanted to get more with less.
And honestly, this frugality helped me create a system which would last a lifetime.
This system is the backbone of my transition from an agency into a media company.
If it wasn’t there, I would have given up my media company long ago.
Not because of low motivation but because of low cash flow.
This system is called CLOSE Framework.
C.L.O.S.E Framework
It stands for:
Create value
Listen
Offer solutions
Sell benefits
Engage
So, how does this framework work? And does it actually work?
CLOSE framework is all about Upselling.
Pitch Once, Sell Forever.
I pitch new projects to my old clients first.
We stay in touch even if we do not need anything.
And all of this was possible through the CLOSE framework.
Here’s how you can master this art.
There are 5 steps to this and each one is important.
Create Value
Since the dawn of humanity, hunters are the most valuable people.
Why?
Because they are always on the outlook for a hunt.
As a freelancer or agency owner, you should always be on the hunt for new opportunities.
Once, you identify that opportunity, make a plan to add value to your client’s business through it.
Pitch your client how your additional services can benefit the client’s overall business.
For example, a client of mine hired me for her client’s website copy. I upsell her design as well.
You can upsell whatever makes the most sense in your scenario.
Make sure your upselling amplifies the impact of your current tasks.
Listen
A good way to learn what to upsell is by paying close attention to your client’s needs, challenges, and goals.
This will help you tailor your upsell to address their specific pain points.
To get a better idea of their pain points, ask open-ended questions.
Listening is all about asking the right questions and getting the client to spill the right information.
Offer Solutions
Once you have all the information, come up with a solution.
Remember, clients on Upwork pay for solving their problems. You are hired for your solutions.
So, positioning is make or break the deal.
For example:
If the client is worried about brand consistency, offer to create a comprehensive copy strategy for all their website pages and social media channels.
This ensures a unified voice.
I am no one to educate you on the solutions that you will be creating. This is your job and you should learn to create solutions.
Otherwise, go sell burgers at McDonalds or cigarettes for Marlboro. They have the perfect solution for the vast majority.
Sell Benefits
As a marketer, I am lucky that I started as a copywriter.
Early in my career, I learned the most crucial yet basic principles of marketing.
These principles helped me build a strong selling game. The basic principle of this is to always sell benefits over features.
Explain how the additional services will help them meet their business objectives such as brand awareness and recognition.
Or personal objectives like saving time, increasing revenue, etc.
Engage
Now, Never pitch and ghost.
Keep the channel open by following up, even if the client doesn’t hire you. He will next time.
You will benefit more from an open channel than a closed one.
Keep flowing the information. Or Keep following until you get a clear YES or NO.
It takes time to build trust and get clients more receptive to your Upsell offer.
Show that you are invested in their success and are always looking for ways to add value to their business.
These principles have brought more clients on rainy days, on sunny days and on days I was binge-watching seasons.
Psst. I just landed 5 copy projects applying this principle.
You can too.
Don’t give up.
Keep following my advice and keep implementing. You will be hitting your $5k/month before you know it.
Only catch? Keep at it no matter and you will succeed.
Reading alone won’t do you much good. Action will.
Get your lazy ass off the couch and get to work.
To your success,
Talha X
Dreamer & Founder @ The Notion Millionaire.
