FREELANCING | CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS
How To Manage Client Relationships as a Freelancer
My top 5 tips for a healthy and fruitful collaboration!
I’ve made three failed attempts at freelancing before finally getting the hang of it.
The number of times I failed is beyond the point, but why I failed is probably something you’re struggling with — managing client relationships!
Being an introvert, I never wanted to hop on a call with a client. In fact, the first time a client requested an interview call, my anxiety had its hands on my throat for four days, and I couldn’t stop crying.
But the joke’s on me because that client became a retainer thanks to my best friend’s constant counseling and tips to manage client relationships.
In this blog post, I’ll share those tips along with the things I picked up during my journey. If you’re struggling with keeping your clients happy, keep reading!
Why Is It Important to Manage Client Relationships as a Freelancer?
You’re probably wondering how failing to manage a client can result in failing as a freelancer. Well, you’re in for a surprise because your skills won’t make much of a difference if you don’t know how to talk to your client.
I learned this the hard way, so let me try and help you avoid falling into the same ditch.
During my failed attempts, I lacked confidence. Never asking questions and always timidly replying to queries with a simple answer made my clients feel like I wasn’t an expert. They felt like they weren’t getting enough value from me.
And since my answers lacked detail, I couldn’t convey my point. This led to communication gaps and misunderstandings, and eventually, the relationships faltered. (If you’re a potential client, please skip this embarrassing part; it’s just for motivating my fellows :D)
Each departing client took away a piece of my motivation and confidence. The next thing I knew, I was deactivating my freelance accounts and getting ready to hide in a corner.
And let’s be honest. Why would a client refer me further if they felt I wasn’t an expert? Yes, how you manage your client relationships controls whether or not you’ll have word-of-mouth marketing from your clients.
Also, if you want more flexibility in hours and availability, you need to ask them for it. But how will you do that if you don’t have a good relationship with them?
You’ll be stuck with strict deadlines that won’t budge. Additionally, you won’t be able to raise your rates if each previous client keeps leaving. I would know!
5 Tips to Manage Client Relationships as a Freelancer
Now that you know how important it is to manage your clients confidently, here are five tips to help you.
1: Under-Promise and Over-Deliver
I know you’ve probably heard it a million times, but this tip is worth mentioning a quintillion times, so I’m not stopping anytime soon.
Only promise to do what the client asks, but when it’s time to hand over the work, surprise them!
Let’s say you’re a freelance writer, and your client wants you to write a blog post of 1500 words. The requirements are simple, and there isn’t a lot of research involved. During negotiation, you ask them about the deadline, and they require you to complete it in 2 days.
We all know writing such an article in less than 24 hours is possible, but don’t say that to the client. Agree to their deadline but deliver it within 24 hours.
This is the exact strategy I followed to get retainers for weekly articles, so if you have any doubts, take a page out of my book!
2: Avoid Being Dishonest
If you ever lie to a client about your expertise, experience, etc., it will eventually show. So isn’t it better to come clean from day one?
If the client requires a medical blog post and you’ve been writing technical ones, you won’t be able to give actionable and detailed advice on the topic, even if you do extensive research.
Plus, it’s hard for clients to trust a person claiming to be a jack of all trades. Now, I’m not saying you should outright say you’ve never done a particular task because you’ve got to start somewhere, right?
But don’t pretend to be an expert either, because that will leave you with three things you don’t want: embarrassment, a bad review, and a refund request!
Apart from that, be open about everything. Tell the client beforehand if you can’t deliver a task during the set deadline. There should be at least a 24-hour gap between the time you tell the client and the time initially set.
Suppose your deadline is the end of coming Saturday. It’s Friday night, and you haven’t even started the task. You know you won’t be able to complete it on time.
But you push through and manage to reach the halfway mark. At 7 PM, you’ve had enough, and you text the client saying you’re sorry and won’t be able to complete the task.
What reaction do you think you’ll get? Even if they extend the deadline, you’re bound to hear something like: “Well, that’s okay, but you should’ve told us 24 hours prior as informing at the last minute is quite unprofessional.”
3: Engage and Ask Questions
A routine mistake I see freelancers making (one I made not long ago) is being afraid to ask questions. You don’t want to be in the same situation as the lady above, do you? But there’s a reason for this fear.
It’s a common misconception that asking questions is desperate and clingy. Some people even fear that the client might think you don’t know what you’re doing if you keep asking questions.
But the opposite is the truth. If you don’t engage with the client, you won’t be able to grasp the requirements. Take any freelancing website. You’ll see “Didn’t fulfill all requirements” as a common theme of negative feedback. When that happens, clients consider it an incomplete project.
Therefore, you must ask questions to completely understand the requirements and complete the project as per the client’s demand.
Since I freelance through Upwork, let’s take that example. Sometimes, job descriptions are so vague that you must ask several questions in the proposal.
I believe clients do this to filter out freelancers who have genuine interest and ask the right questions.
Other times, the descriptions are quite detailed and leave no room for questions about the project. What do you ask in this case? Well, I show excitement by asking about their company and goals.
Put yourself in the client’s shoes for a second and think about who you would choose: someone who shows interest in your work or whose conversations revolve around themselves.
4: Set Clear Expectations
Just because you’re working for them doesn’t mean you have to agree to everything the client says. This is another lesson I learned the hard way.
I once had a job to write three blog posts for a company. They told me these were test tasks, and if everything goes right, they’ll extend the contract to three per week.
However, when I delivered the three initial articles, the client asked me to make a revision.
“Wait, that’s not bad. Everyone asks for revisions.” If you’re thinking that, I’m going to stop you right there. Because who asks for a revision where the whole topic needs to be changed? Without extra payment!
When I put this point on the table, they argued that I said I would give unlimited revisions. Yes, I did, but for things that were my fault, not when the client didn’t like the topic. But how would they know since I didn’t set clear expectations?
So the point is, be crystal clear from the start. Tell your client exactly what you’ll be delivering and clearly mention what type of revisions and add-ons would require extra payment.
5: Imitate a Live Reporter
When clients hire you for a task, a constant fear nags at their brains, especially if it’s your first time working for them. Well, actually, a few fears:
- What if the work you deliver doesn’t meet their needs? Or worse, what if you fail to understand their requirements?
- Would you be able to deliver the expected quality?
- What if you bail on them and pull a Houdini act?
If they have to think about these questions for the entire time you take to complete the task, they wouldn’t feel like it was a good experience even if you deliver exceptional quality.
So what’s the solution? Give the client constant feedback about where their project is going, what you’ve done so far, and what plans you have next.
Keeping them in the loop removes any doubts they might have. And it also works in your favor, as you’ll get constant feedback about whether or not you’re going in the right direction.
Create small milestones for yourself, and once you complete those, share them with the client. They always appreciate freelancers who have a process.
For example, let’s assume you’re a freelance writer tasked with creating an article. You can break this task into outline creation, writing each section, adding images, linking for SEO, and proofreading.
Once each step is complete, confirm it with the client. If they need a change, it will be done then and there instead of after the project.
Don’t send each section separately after writing it; you don’t want to annoy the client. Instead, send the article as a whole. And don’t forget to mention that it’s the first draft, and you’re open to making changes.
However, do this just for the first article you write for them to share a glimpse of your process. If you get a project to write monthly articles, you might annoy them with too many emails.
Also, don’t delay when they do send revisions. Make the changes immediately because nothing screams determination more than instantaneous responses, prompt deliveries, and smooth feedback incorporation.
How To Proceed Further
As I said, these tips are from my personal experience and the issues I have faced as a freelancer.
However, if I wasn’t able to cover the issue you’re facing, you can reach out to me at romirafiq505@gmail.com, and I’ll try my best to help you!
If you’re a fellow copy and content writer, give me a follow to learn about my experiences, projects, and how I tackle each.
(Psst … I also rave about books, skincare, and general life problems if you’re interested.)
And if you want to get hold of my AI-free writing services for either this type of conversational articles with storytelling or formal, technical articles with SEO, I’m just an email away!
