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Free registration at the forum removes this block.Yeah, this. I encourage my freelancers to have other clients, and I make it my goal so that I keep giving them enough work that they don’t need other clients.
I’ve encouraged a “a rising tide lifts all boats” mindset.
Plus they get to see the inside of my boat as I try to keep it afloat, and steer it through the rapids.
I’ve started getting clients to have direct relationships with the freelancers I use, including them getting paid directly by the client. It’s quite refreshing.
Yeah, this. I encourage my freelancers to have other clients, and I make it my goal so that I keep giving them enough work that they don’t need other clients.This is super easy to resolve from something I learned during my entrepreneurial journey: humans respond to incentives.
I have 12 employees (mostly media buyers) to run our e-commerce brands and they run some campaigns for clients too - I pay them up to $500 per account, per month and they cannot get this deal anywhere.
I don't care about the hours they work so I'm not bothered about time trackers and we focus on the only metric that matters - conversions.
I have employees who make more money than university lecturers in their respective countries so why would they steal my clients or leave?
What I meant was, rather than whitelabelling a freelancer’s service I just put them in direct contact with the client.That can cause friction in the future. If the freelancer leaves the client has to re-setup payment. Then, again, I have everyone on automatic payments.
The game is to get as much money flowing through my system as possible. Then we figure out how it gets distributed.
Also, surely they’re not going to get the same value if they leave? What extra value do they get working with you rather than your freelancer?
How about an NDA that also stipulates that they shouldn't get in touch with the agency's clients? That seems like a good first measure in your situation, and would dissuade almost anyone from getting in touch with your clients directly.
Well I wasn't a client but a staff member and when I was a nurse aide, the reason I ended up being stolen by another company is because they basically were not honest people. Didn't follow through what they promised. It's the same with clients. They either feel you give quality service or you don't.If he wants to steal them and they want to go then they’re welcome to each other. I’d rather work with people who value loyalty.
Huh? What is the value that you are bringing?
If you want a hedge, the best way to do it is through a value-add. How are you making the freelancers better? What are you bringing to the table that your freelancers by themselves don't?
If I compare your lead generator to you, what will make me go with you & not with him?
"One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them."
There's a lot of lead gen companies who don't take the trouble to service the clients that they generate. It's outside the scope of their service. They're focused on the one thing they do.
I know a guy who did lead gen sales calls. The company he worked for was doing lead gen only. If my friend found a qualified lead, he'd connect the call over to a solar company who wanted the leads.
So just because someone finds qualified leads for a service does NOT mean that they're interested in servicing those leads. Maybe it's outside of their skill set. Maybe they don't WANT to hire this out. Maybe it just seems like a headache or a distraction to the business owner. Whatever.
I mean - if they wanted to run a digital marketing agency, they easily could. After all, they know how to generate leads.
(For all you know, they could be running a digital marketing agency on the side already and only passing on the "B-grade" leads to you, while keeping all the "A-grade" leads for themselves. Not really relevant if you are satisfied with the quality of the leads you are getting. But if you imagine that they might already be servicing some of their leads, then you can probably just rest comfortably in the knowledge that they don't have much incentive to steal or poach your leads.)
To hedge against this...
In a symbiotic relationship, it would be more expensive for you to bring lead gen in-house, and it would be more expensive for them to service the leads they generate. Therefore, you would both operate happily within the business focus you've chosen, and there would be limited need to hedge against the risk that they would poach your clients.
- I would look into how other companies handle working with lead gen services. What do their NDA's and other contracts look like?
- Ask them straight up, "How do I know that you wouldn't poach one of my leads?" They probably have to handle this objection all the time when they onboard new clients. So they probably have some assurances in place. See if you feel comfortable with their response.
- Could you bring the lead generation in-house? Couldn't you just as easily reproduce what they're doing?
"One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them."
There's a lot of lead gen companies who don't take the trouble to service the clients that they generate. It's outside the scope of their service. They're focused on the one thing they do.
I know a guy who did lead gen sales calls. The company he worked for was doing lead gen only. If my friend found a qualified lead, he'd connect the call over to a solar company who wanted the leads.
So just because someone finds qualified leads for a service does NOT mean that they're interested in servicing those leads. Maybe it's outside of their skill set. Maybe they don't WANT to hire this out. Maybe it just seems like a headache or a distraction to the business owner. Whatever.
I mean - if they wanted to run a digital marketing agency, they easily could. After all, they know how to generate leads.
(For all you know, they could be running a digital marketing agency on the side already and only passing on the "B-grade" leads to you, while keeping all the "A-grade" leads for themselves. Not really relevant if you are satisfied with the quality of the leads you are getting. But if you imagine that they might already be servicing some of their leads, then you can probably just rest comfortably in the knowledge that they don't have much incentive to steal or poach your leads.)
To hedge against this...
In a symbiotic relationship, it would be more expensive for you to bring lead gen in-house, and it would be more expensive for them to service the leads they generate. Therefore, you would both operate happily within the business focus you've chosen, and there would be limited need to hedge against the risk that they would poach your clients.
- I would look into how other companies handle working with lead gen services. What do their NDA's and other contracts look like?
- Ask them straight up, "How do I know that you wouldn't poach one of my leads?" They probably have to handle this objection all the time when they onboard new clients. So they probably have some assurances in place. See if you feel comfortable with their response.
- Could you bring the lead generation in-house? Couldn't you just as easily reproduce what they're doing?
I agree with what @Andy Black said about added value. I recommend you make a list or document of the value that you provide beyond just the 2 or N freelancers who provide service through you. And then think about how you can increase those things in your service. Also, you can have the clients sign a contract that they can't work directly with the freelancers.I run a digital marketing agency and I outsource Client Fulfillment to a team of freelancers I've hired.
One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them.
How can I prevent/minimize the chance of him stealing all my clients if he wanted to?
I understand I have to trust him, etc - However, he lives on a different continent and I just want to ensure I do whatever I can to protecting myself instead of being vulnerable.
Are there any measures one can take to prevent clients from being stolen by staff?
I’ve started getting clients to have direct relationships with the freelancers I use, including them getting paid directly by the client. It’s quite refreshing.I've started getting my VAs to work directly with my clients now. Best decision ever.
My demo would never work directly with someone overseas. Hell, getting people to work with someone in the UK is a challenge.
People do business with people they see themselves in.
Long ago, one of my clients said, "I'm not convinced this will work. But you remind me of me when I started."
I suspect the root cause is that as an intermediary your margin is too high.I run a digital marketing agency and I outsource Client Fulfillment to a team of freelancers I've hired.
One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them.
How can I prevent/minimize the chance of him stealing all my clients if he wanted to?
I understand I have to trust him, etc - However, he lives on a different continent and I just want to ensure I do whatever I can to protecting myself instead of being vulnerable.
Are there any measures one can take to prevent clients from being stolen by staff?
I run a digital marketing agency and I outsource Client Fulfillment to a team of freelancers I've hired.
One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them.
How can I prevent/minimize the chance of him stealing all my clients if he wanted to?
I understand I have to trust him, etc - However, he lives on a different continent and I just want to ensure I do whatever I can to protecting myself instead of being vulnerable.
Are there any measures one can take to prevent clients from being stolen by staff?
What I meant was, rather than whitelabelling a freelancer’s service I just put them in direct contact with the client.
This is super easy to resolve from something I learned during my entrepreneurial journey: humans respond to incentives.
I have 12 employees (mostly media buyers) to run our e-commerce brands and they run some campaigns for clients too - I pay them up to $500 per account, per month and they cannot get this deal anywhere.
I don't care about the hours they work so I'm not bothered about time trackers and we focus on the only metric that matters - conversions.
I have employees who make more money than university lecturers in their respective countries so why would they steal my clients or leave?
Yeah, this. I encourage my freelancers to have other clients, and I make it my goal so that I keep giving them enough work that they don’t need other clients.
I’ve encouraged a “a rising tide lifts all boats” mindset.
Plus they get to see the inside of my boat as I try to keep it afloat, and steer it through the rapids.
I must be too green or naive to understand why this works, or my business model is too different than yours... or something. If your client is in direct communication with your freelancer, what value are you putting into the transaction?
Mine is a service based business.
Another important lesson I've learned since becoming an "entrepreneur" - nearly all brands are commodities.
If what you offer your clients and freelancers is a commodity - they'll leave when its faster, better, cheaper, easier etc.
If you become a brand - its no so easy for them to leave because you're an awesome boss/service provider, you work with awesome clients and pay you amazing rates.
It's simple to me: build a brand.
Well each of my clients is in a dedicated slack group chat with the freelancers dedicated to working with them currently. So I have that sort of too now, also have a VA in there as the 'head of accounts'. The risk of them DMing each other is there. Again need to have something that adds more value to prevent them going rogue.
I run a digital marketing agency and I outsource Client Fulfillment to a team of freelancers I've hired.
One of which is a lead generator who has access to all of my clients as he generates the leads for them.
How can I prevent/minimize the chance of him stealing all my clients if he wanted to?
I understand I have to trust him, etc - However, he lives on a different continent and I just want to ensure I do whatever I can to protecting myself instead of being vulnerable.
Are there any measures one can take to prevent clients from being stolen by staff?
I agree with what @Andy Black said about added value. I recommend you make a list or document of the value that you provide beyond just the 2 or N freelancers who provide service through you. And then think about how you can increase those things in your service. Also, you can have the clients sign a contract that they can't work directly with the freelancers.
Good idea, I will get that together.
Yes - I've made them both (clients & freelancers) sign agreements to not poach clients/freelancers, but I find it utterly useless to enforce especially as they're all overseas. Just seems like a formality to come across as serious.
Ok, this is next level.including them getting paid directly by the client
We live in a world where most people don't tell the difference betweenMy fear is they run off with the freelancer and hire another freelancer to do what the other freelancers on my team were doing.
this.Maybe they don't WANT to hire this out.
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