Here's a one-minute hack to keep your clients happy and make them work with you again, and for longer. I'm lucky I had a friend to tell me this lesson at a critical moment when I was losing my shit not realising I was the problem.

I've mentioned this before, and I will keep repeating it - your professional conduct, and who you are as a freelancer is your brand. So make sure it's shiny and chrome!

Communication is the key

I'm sure you've heard this one a million times.

But what does that actually mean?

"Communication is the key"?

Oh yeah, thanks a lot Captain Obvious!

I was thinking of not talking to my client. Doh!

Funny... Because that's precisely what I did.

When I was starting out, one of the critical mistakes I did was to get a client, start a project, and then go and work on it, without informing the client of anything. Treating them as a customer in a restaurant - they made an order, and now they wait, while I cook my stuff.

I thought that when I finish the project, I will present it with a bit of "Ta daaaa! 🎉🎉 🎉"; and they would go ecstatic from the feelings of joy that would wash over them once they lay eyes on the wonder that is my work.

But they didn't. They had questions, concerns, additional inputs and a lot of feelings of mistrust due to lack of communication on my part. I was angry at my clients a lot back then - letting my inexperience and ego take the better of me.

Go on a journey together

Rarely are we on the opposite end of freelancing - paying someone for a service, and then waiting, hoping we didn't waste our money. I took me a long time, and few hard lessons to fully appreciate all the emotions clients are going through when sending the payment and then waiting—hoping for the best and that they made a right choice by working with us, not someone else.

What my friend, a software engineer, told me he does is - he sends out a daily report to their client. Even if the client is not a technical person, and doesn't understand all the details, it puts their mind at ease. Simple email at the end of the day "Today I worked on XYZ, made progress on these goals, tomorrow I plan on doing this and that." That's it. The client now feels safer, that this person he is paying, somewhere on the other side of the world, is helping him with his business.

I do something similar now, but I tell a story, taking them on a little journey of my day, or a week, with what we did and why, but what we discovered and how I felt. Business communication shouldn't be void of emotion. If you're happy, show it. If you had a problem, don't hide your frustration. It's easier to work with humans than with robots.

Show them you care

Your clients' victory is your victory. Share in the feeling of joy over their success, especially when you help them get there. Thank them for the opportunity to be a part of their story and make sure they know that you were happy to work with them on this project, and would welcome the opportunity to do it again.

When I finish a successful project, and I come at the other end with a happy client, when the time of year for gift-giving comes, I will send to my clients a gift box and a note thanking them for the opportunity. It goes a long way into building your brand as an outstanding professional.

our clients victory is your victory. Share in the feeling of joy over their success, especially when you help them get there. Thank them for the opportunity to be a part of their story and make sure they know that you were happy to work with them on this project, and would welcome the opportunity to do it again.

When I finish a successful project, and I come at the other end with a happy client, when the time of year for gift giving comes, I will send to my clients a gift box and a note thanking them for the opportunity. It goes a long way into building your brand as an outstanding professional.

Have a great day!

T.

Tom Kozacinski, sir Freelance-a-lot 🙃

www.breakingfreelance.com

www.kozacinski.com

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psssst... thanks for sharing! :) I really appreciate it!