How do you deal with a new client who has been treated badly by freelancers previously?
April and May have been busy this year, finishing longer one-off projects, retiring a large retainer client and filtering in new projects and four smaller retainer clients. One thing that has cropped up with two of these new clients is the bad experiences they have had with previous freelancers who didn't deliver for one reason or another. It has left them cautious and even a little shaken. I get it. It is frustrating and upsetting, and there is nothing to show for it, except a depleted bank balance.
How am I dealing with this?
Firstly, I need to handle that first call with kid gloves. Whilst I don’t accept projection (I am not that freelancer you had a bad experience with), I am at least understanding. I know that I equally wouldn't feel so great if it happened to me, which it has.
From that first call, I’m quite strict with myself that I provide these new clients exactly the same top level of service I would give to anyone else and that starts with the following things.
How To Deal With Clients Who Have Been Treated Badly By Freelancers
1. Open the lines of communication
Taking the time to include clients in my process and thinking helps alleviate their worries about delivery. It also makes it easier if a project takes longer for any reason because the client can see the timeline unfold and make informed decisions with regard to budget and direction.
Something to also remember here is that clients may not necessarily understand how long it takes to complete something, so communication alleviates my worry that they might misjudge a project’s rightful timeline.
Good communication solves a good manner of potential issues with individual projects and client relationships. As freelancers, we must remember that we are also the head of our own customer service team.
2. Make sure you get detailed briefs
We have all had those vague one-liner briefs! The ones that tell you nothing about the project, the deadline or where this fits into the grand plan for a client’s business. I always make it my first job to flesh that out before I start, asking for relevant details and the content or file access I need upfront. This means when I sit down to work I can be more productive and give better results.
If it is a bigger project then I will create the scope of my work for client approval. This is useful for two things, the client’s timeline and actions, and of course any cost amendments.
3. Aligning client expectations with reasonable results
Sometimes expectations on both sides can be utterly misaligned, meaning that results are not where they should be. My job as the expert a client chooses to work with, is to share my hard-earned advice on aspects of what they need from me. Communicating and working together can quickly realign any misconceptions, making a project much easier to work on and deliver well.
There are occasionally grey areas to consider. For example, KPIs in website traffic from a set of blog posts can be estimated from potential traffic indicators, but they might not be achievable unless content is revisited and adapted at specific intervals to increase SEO opportunities. It could also be that a trending topic drops off the radar, yielding much smaller returns than planned. If something feels like a grey area, I make this known, so that everyone involved is on the same page.
4. Be clear about money
I stop a lot of money issues by posting my prices on my website (controversial I know), this helps me weed out time-wasters and provides clients with easy-to-budget-for project and retainer costs. I also ask for money upfront, 50% for new clients and 100% for returning clients (even more controversial). This stops that icky relationship standoff when invoices aren’t paid on time and we have all been there!
If a project is outside of the remit of priced projects on my website, then I quote on the understanding that the price given is my best price.
Clients ultimately have budgets for every aspect of their business. As a freelancer, my job, in their eyes, is to offer them the very best value for money, as well as a great product within budget. It pays to remember that when setting prices.
Communicating your worth also helps you to secure the price that you need in order to do the work. No one should be working for less than their employed counterparts, in fact, freelancers often earn more, because we have extra expenses to cover.
The money conversation doesn’t need to be difficult, but it needs to happen. Be clear, be helpful and this should win over a potential client, or root out relationships that won’t work.
Over the years this approach has worked for my clients and has gained me those all-important referrals.
I’d love to hear your take in the comments! What would you add to the list?
