3 Ways To Land New Clients Using Your Portfolio

Written by: Maria Ebenezer, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

Have you been wondering how similar businesses like yours land premium clients and close multi-million deals? What if I told you that the tool they wield like a magic wand is their business PORTFOLIO? As an Event Staffing Agency Founder that has closed multiple 6-7 figures deals with globally renowned organizations across 15 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa, without a physical meeting, my most effective marketing and sales tool has been our Company Portfolio.

Whether you’re a business owner, professional or freelancer, if you ever want to land high-end clients, you need a portfolio. No, your Instagram page and website are not a portfolio, these high-end organizations don’t have the time to check those out.

What is a Portfolio?

Think of it as a resume for your business. A Portfolio is a document that introduces your brand in a grand way to prospective clients – a professionally done Portfolio shows your professional background, your expertise, your track record and everything that makes your business impressive.

Over the years, my conversion rate with our company portfolio has been over 90%. The following are the top 3 ways I have utilized our Portfolio to land my dream clients in the last 5 years.

1. For Proposals

Send those cold emails with your portfolio attached. This strategy gave us 50% of our current clientele.

The world now has a low attention span and at such you need to catch attention at first contact. When you’re pitching to a prospective client, it’s never been more important to attach your portfolio to your proposals.

As you know most high-end clients receive proposals like yours on a daily basis, so how do you ensure that your proposal stands out from the crowd? By attaching your portfolio to your proposal! Because most other people won’t. With your portfolio, you have just introduced yourself or your business in a professional way and raised the perception of your brand.

When prospects review your portfolio, it builds trust at first contact, because they’re able to get familiarized with your brand, see your professional history and capabilities and make an instant decision of whether you’re a good fit for them.

If your portfolio is as impressive as it should be, you have taken advantage of that moment to sell your business instantly.

2. For Vendor Biddings

If you’re looking to land multi-national organizations as clients and win multi-million contracts, then you know you're going to be bidding against a number of competitors.

One of the documents you’re required to submit during biddings is your Company Portfolio. Having won a number of biddings myself from multi-national organizations, I can tell you that presenting an impressive portfolio gives you an undue advantage over other vendors.

Pro tip: During your vendor biddings, whether a Portfolio was requested for or not, attach your portfolio. Thinking ahead of your competitors and going the extra mile that they may not have thought of, makes you stand out.

3. For Referrals

When you ask your family and friends to recommend your services but you don’t give them your portfolio, they can’t really do much for you. Imagine if they were pitching your products or services to their bosses at a meeting, and then the boss goes ahead to ask them to show your works, but there’s nothing they can present, they won’t close that deal.

Some time ago, we were working at an event and a lady was really impressed with our staff services and she asked for my business card. Two months later, we were contacted by an organization she referred us to. When the call came in from this organization, I was informed that we were referred by someone who was impressed by our services, but guess what they asked next? Can we see your company portfolio?

So even though our services came highly recommended, they still needed a tangible document to verify our expertise. I emailed our Company Portfolio in less than 5 minutes, and that company discarded vendors that have been coming to present physically at their office and hired us over the phone instantly.

So if you’ve ever asked anyone to refer your business, go back today and give them your portfolio. To effectively get referrals, you need your portfolio as a marketing tool in the hands of your supporters.

Do you have a Portfolio that you can deploy in these 3 ways to start landing those new clients? Figuring out how to put the contents together and ensuring that your portfolio is impressive may be overwhelming. What if I took you by the hand and gave you a step-by-step guide with my proven template on how to create a winning portfolio for your business all by yourself in less than 2 hours?

Sounds great, right? This is one of my core expertise, let’s get to work on your portfolio today.

Follow Maria on her Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website for more info.

Maria Ebenezer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Maria Ebenezer is an Ex-Model and a Serial Event Staffing Entrepreneur.

She is the Founder of Emerald Green Ushering Services - Nigeria's premium event staffing agency for West Africa conferences and exhibitions, and Creator of The Event Staffing Roadmap - an online course that has helped African women start and scale their event staffing agencies.

She has currently trained over 1,600 young women across Nigeria to become professional event hostesses and hired over 100 hostesses in her agency.

Maria is a CREA Global Awards Honoree 2021, a Cherie Blair Foundation Mentee Alumna 2021 and Nigeria's 25under25 Awards Nominee 2018. She has been published in international media outlets, including Brainz Magazine, She Leads Africa, Apreneur, to mention a few.

With an educational background in Business Management & Entrepreneurship, she established Emerald Green Ushering Services in 2015, staffing West Africa conferences and exhibitions held in Nigeria for globally renowned organizations across 15 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa, including Global Trade Review, Global Real Estate Institute, International Data Corporation, TMT Finance, National Insurance Commission, to mention a few.

Beyond growing her businesses, Maria is passionate about ensuring that young women maximize income opportunities. She established 'The Pro Event Hostess' project in 2018 which offers free training to young women across Nigeria on how to maximize ushering job opportunities in the event staffing industry, working as event hostesses.