One of my students is a Salesforce consultant. He’s recently made the transition from full-time to independent and engaged my services to help him close a relatively large project.
He started by asking me how he should present himself. Should he start with all his credentials, his years of experience, the work he’s done on similar projects?
I flatly said, “nope”.
As an independant, when you start with these topics, you’re positioning yourself as an inferior. To compensate for this imbalance of power, you feel the need to prove yourself. One way to do this is to list why the client should hire you.
Instead, I proposed he start by framing the conversation and asking lots of questions. Something like, “I’m excited to learn more about your project. Please tell me why this is a priority now and how you would define success. Then we’ll see whether I’m a good fit for you or whether we can look at alternatives.”
With this wording, you’re positioning yourself more as an equal. You want them to be successful, but need to know more about the context. You’re unsure whether you’re the right person for the job.
That’s because you may be able to point them in another (and better) direction.
The takeaway
Being open to not being the right person for the project is a power move. It shows you’re not hungry for the work, possibly because you’re in demand, you know your worth, and you want your client to be successful, regardless of whether you work with them or not.