One of the things I find hardest about freelancing is handling new business enquiries, and particularly deciding how often to chase someone if I don’t hear back.
After many years of playing this by ear, I have come to the conclusion that it is best to chase someone only once. If I don’t hear back the reason is probably one of the following:
- They are really busy and haven’t got round to replying yet.
- They have a family or business emergency that’s taking up all of their time.
- They have decided that they don’t want to work with me or have found someone else.
In all of the above scenarios there’s no point chasing, because either the potential client is too busy to respond to my original reply (so they won’t respond to my chase either), or they’ve decided they don’t want to work with me, in which case there’s no point in chasing (other than to find out why, but it’s rare that anyone tells me).
I have occasionally had potential clients go silent on me and assume they’re not interested, only for them to get in touch many months – or even years – later and give me work. Generally though, if I don’t hear back after a few weeks and one reminder, it’s unlikely things will go any further.