Freelancing is rarely the breezy, carefree path we as soon as imagined. It may be bloody arduous work. However it’s additionally extremely satisfying. Constructing one thing for ourselves, answering to nobody (properly, aside from these beautiful individuals who pay the invoices). Shoppers. A lot of them. And preserving all of them comfortable is a continuing juggling act.
This is the factor. Retaining shoppers is way simpler than looking down new ones. Particularly now, when the economic system feels shaky and plenty of in our inventive group are frightened about the place the following large challenge will come from. Which is why we need to discuss in regards to the biggie… why shoppers generally resolve they’re achieved with us.
The explanations may shock you. The fixes? Fairly easy. Even higher, they’re solely inside your management. Listed below are the large ones that may make or break your shopper relationships. Ones that I usually got here throughout once I dabbled with freelancing a few years in the past, however stay true as we speak. And if you end up nodding alongside to any of the next, then you understand what to do.
1. You have Gone Quiet
It is wonderful what number of freelancers nonetheless underestimate the ability of communication. A easy Monday check-in e mail will be the distinction between being forgotten and being the individual they could not stay with out.
If you wish to keep in a shopper’s good books, hold your self of their thoughts. Do not act like an occasional, exterior useful resource – act such as you’re a part of the workforce. Present up. Share what you are engaged on, the place you are as much as, and what’s coming subsequent. I used to ship standing stories (which I am certain some shoppers hated), however a minimum of I saved them knowledgeable of my work…and hey, my different enterprise remains to be working with the identical shoppers it gained 20 years in the past!
It isn’t about bombarding them, removed from it. It is about placing their thoughts relaxed. Exhibiting them that you just’re on it and that you just care. These small, considerate updates will mark you out as somebody they will belief – and somebody price preserving.
And that little voice in your head that claims, “I actually ought to contact my shopper as we speak”? Take heed to it. As a result of when you’re pondering it, there is a good likelihood your shopper is already questioning the place the hell you have gone.
2. You Await Them to Come to You
It is such a standard mistake. I’ve misplaced rely of what number of instances I’ve seen it. The freelancer who simply sits again, toes on the desk and waits for the shopper to name when they need one thing. However it would not actually work like that, does it? Shoppers are tremendous busy. And actually, half the time they do not even know what they want till somebody factors it out.
That is the place you step in. Obtained an concept for a brand new approach to promote them? Inform them. Learn one thing helpful? Ship it over. Spot a pattern they need to get in on? Nudge them earlier than anybody else does.
Present you care about their success. Keep one step forward and hold them impressed. It is about making your self unattainable to switch.
3. You have Grow to be Complacent
Keep in mind all these guarantees you made at first? The comfortable power you introduced? The way in which you went above and past? Are you continue to doing that, or have you ever let issues slide?
Like several relationship, this one wants work. When you begin coasting, your shopper will discover. That quiet little voice of their head will begin asking: “The place are they? Why is not this getting achieved after they mentioned it could?”
Consistency is all the things. Hold displaying up with the identical care and a focus you gave on day one. As a result of the second a shopper feels ignored or taken with no consideration, they will begin questioning if it is time to discover somebody who really desires the job.
4. You have Grow to be Too Unreliable
You have missed deadlines. Ignored calls. Emails have been forgotten or replied to late. These guarantees you made at first? Pah, overlook ’em. You are not round whenever you mentioned you would be. And deep down, you understand issues are slipping.
Shoppers need to really feel like they matter. The second they sense they’re slipping down your precedence record — that you’ve larger fish to fry — resentment creeps in. And as soon as they begin pondering, “Why am I paying good cash to somebody who’s by no means round? “… properly, that is a tough thought to unthink.
In freelancing, reliability is all the things. Shoppers do not have the time or endurance to chase you for updates or marvel the place you have gone. They only have to know you will do what you mentioned, whenever you mentioned you’d do it, with out drama.
5. You are Too Sluggish to Reply
Velocity builds belief. When you take days to answer, shoppers will discover somebody who solutions quicker. That does not imply you have to be glued to your cellphone 24/7… nevertheless it does imply ensuring they’re by no means left questioning the place you have gone.
Put easy programs in place. An out-of-office can work wonders: “I am round as we speak (insert date), however away from my inbox. If it is pressing, name my cellular…” It exhibits you are organised, thoughtful, and nonetheless in management.
In freelancing, silence can really feel like neglect. A fast reply – even when it is simply to say you will reply in full later – can hold the belief alive.
6. You have Misplaced the Human Contact
At first of your relationship, you clicked. You remembered their birthday. You requested how their weekend was. You had fun over Zoom. However someplace alongside the way in which, all of it received a bit… transactional.
Shoppers do not simply rent your abilities, they rent you. They need to take pleasure in working with you. If each e mail reads like an bill, they will cease feeling that connection. And that is after they may begin wanting elsewhere.
During which case, deliver the human again. Ask questions. Share a win. Present that you just care about them as individuals, not simply as a part of your revenue. Most of the time, it is the heat, not simply the work, that retains shoppers coming again.
To Conclude
Shedding a shopper is rarely enjoyable. We query ourselves. Confidence takes successful. We go over each name and e mail, attempting to determine what went unsuitable. However most of the time, it is one or a mixture of the explanations above. And the excellent news? You possibly can spot them early and switch issues round.
Backside line: deal with each shopper like they might stroll away tomorrow. Present up. Keep engaged. Hold proving why they picked you within the first place. Complacency loses shoppers; consistency retains them. And actually, who desires to spend hours pitching for brand spanking new work whenever you’ve already received somebody who enjoys working with you?
