One of the most demanding and time and energy-consuming aspects of being a freelancer is being constantly on the lookout for new projects and clients. Constantly make offers on UpWork or wait for a client to contact you on Fiverr is not fun and adds uncertainty and insecurity to the lifestyle of the freelancer. It also scares many people from starting a freelancing career in the first place.
However, many expert freelancers have proven that a solution to this insecurity is the ability to secure long-lasting relationships with your clients. So, let’s examine the ways and skills that are essential to becoming a freelancer your client cannot do without!
Make sure you are sharing the same values
One important aspect before you start investing your energies in a long-term relationship with a client is that you are sharing the same values. Otherwise, it can be just a big struggle, for you and for the client as well.
How to evaluate if you are sharing the same values? You can get the answer intuitively – how do you feel about the client’s business and their goals as a whole? How do you feel supporting this business with your energies and capacity? If you see the client as bringing a valuable contribution to society and you can really back their values, then you are a good match.
This initial evaluation of the company culture and style is crucial in maintaining long-term work chemistry with a particular client!
- Make sure your client has a business you can support wholeheartedly
- Make sure you and your client have the same working style and can feel a synergetic effect
- Ask yourself questions: Is this business honest? Is it valuable to society?
Understand your client in-depth
Freelancers who build lasting relationships with their clients are devoted to understanding well their clients and their businesses. They take the time to do their research and gather as many insights as possible about what the business of the client is all about and how the freelancer’s contribution can make this business thrive.
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So, spend some time to know the market and how the business of your client fits in the market. Also, research the new trends and best practices, especially if you are new to freelancing or to working with clients in such an industry. All this knowledge and experiences are not in vain – you can use all of it to encourage ongoing work with the client or promote it on your portfolio – so that you can help similar clients.
When you do your research well, this will enable you to walk the extra mile for them, and leave a contribution that is so valuable, that they have a “wow” moment. This way you will be someone clients are seeking after, and you won’t need to look for new projects anymore!
- Communicate regularly – via chat, phone, or video-meeting
- Ask a lot of questions about their goals, challenges, and practices
- Listen carefully and observe anything that can be relevant to your position and their success
- Do good research of the company and the industry
- Know the newest market trends and best practices
Great long-lasting partnerships are built with trust, communication, and constant collaboration.
Building trust and reliability
From the first day you work with a client, never promise more than you can fulfill and always keep your word. People like working with people that are honest and reliable. This is how to build an awesome relationship with just anyone, client, spouse, or friend.
Hit your deadlines or warn in advance if something prevents you from doing so. Set reasonable expectations of your work for the company and do your very best to accomplish them. Be very straightforward in your communication and never try to mislead them in any way.
This will give them a sense of trust and reliability and will work always in your favor!
- Create reasonable expectations and fulfill them
- Respect deadlines
- Communicate openly and honestly
Be proactive
Your clients may be very busy people running different aspects of their business, but they might not be aware of what are the best strategies and practices in your field of expertise. This is the reason why they have come to you for a solution and have handed you a portion of their enterprise they cannot manage themselves!
So, when you fulfill what they have asked you for, be creative and approach them with new ideas and suggestions. When you show them how they can do things better and this improves their income or save them money, you immediately become irreplaceable.
It also shows that you work with passion and a high work ethic, and this will make the client throw more work your way!
- Make valuable suggestions
- Show your client ways he can improve his business
- Come up with ideas that can either save him money or increase his income
- Invent creative ways to run their processes smoother and better
Always add and show the value you are bringing to the company
When you have already secured a long-term relationship with a client, do not sit and rest on your laurels.
Always keep improving your skills and the value you are bringing your clients and their companies. Make them aware of your valuable contribution and highlight what you are doing and what they are achieving thanks to your efforts – the tangible results and the impact on their business. This will make them see your contribution and don’t take you for granted.
Request their honest evaluation and opinion on things that can be improved in the process, and with every step try to do things better and better. Regularly discuss with them their future projects and how your role will fit in in the future of the company.
The client should really feel you have taken to heart the company’s success and you are doing your best to promote it!
- Always improve your skills and processes
- Underline the results and the impact of your work on the company
- Ask for feedback
- Discuss future projects and how you can contribute to them
Great long-lasting partnerships are built with trust, communication, and constant collaboration. When a freelancer and a client accomplish that, both can thrive in a stress-free and creative environment, and the quality of work and life improves on both sides.
So be determined to grow with your client, and always improve yourself, your skills, and the way you can make a valuable impact for your clients’ businesses and keep them for a long and productive ride!
