Building relationships with clients is one of the most important and integral parts of running a successful freelancing business.
While of course, it’s imperative to ensure that you’re succeeding with your profit margins and growing your business in the way that you see fit, looking after client relationship bonds is a key part of ensuring that your business is a success.
It’s also important to remember that building relationships with clients isn’t just about delivering the work that you’ve agreed to; it’s about creating, nurturing and maintaining valuable relationships so that your clients know they can trust you to perform above and beyond their expectations.
Take a look at some of the other key parts of building relationships with clients.
Focus on your communication skills
Arguably the number one most important element of building and maintaining client relationships is having excellent communication skills.
Communicating with your client plays a pivotal role in the success of your working relationship as it shows that you’re reliable and trustworthy and that you’re the best candidate to get the job done.
Communication between you and your client can take many forms, whether that’s through face-to-face interaction, email correspondence or through online meeting platforms such as Skype or Zoom.
As with any type of professional interaction, it’s imperative that you maintain a high standard of professionalism when communicating via any of the above mediums.
Your email etiquette shows that you’re tenacious, meticulous and have high attention to detail, which means that spelling and grammar errors must be kept to an absolute minimum. You should also communicate in a clear and concise manner, while still maintaining a friendly tone.
Communicating via telephone or video call can sometimes be a little trickier, particularly if you’re working in a loud environment, or if your wifi connection isn’t quite up to scratch. When talking to clients via phone, you should endeavour to be in a quiet space, with little background noise and a clear internet connection. This shows that you’ve taken the necessary preparations for your call and that you mean business.
Be yourself
Chances are, that your client has hired you for a specific reason. Whether that’s due to your past performance in a similar working situation, your personality shone through upon first interaction, or you proved to be the best person for the job in other ways, it’s imperative to maintain a high level of authenticity when it comes to working with clients.
Being yourself is imperative to client relationships as they’re likely to catch on if you suddenly change your mannerisms or the way you operate. It’s much harder to keep up a facade than it is to simply be yourself, so the latter should always be the preferred option.
Be open and honest with the client
As well as maintaining authenticity, you should also endeavour to always be open and honest with your client.
Never undertake a task that you know you can’t carry out to the best of your ability and never oversell yourself or your skills if it will only end in disappointment for both you and the client.
Ensuring that an open and honest dialogue is maintained between yourself and the client plays a pivotal role in the success of your working relationship. It ensures that expectations are met and that you’re not misleading your client.
Set expectations and go above and beyond
Speaking of setting expectations, this is one of the most vital elements of building relationships with clients. It’s imperative that you always do what you say you’ll do for a client and that any expectations they have about the work you’re carrying out are met.
Oftentimes, it’s a good idea to try and go above and beyond your client’s expectations. That doesn’t mean to say that you should drastically overdeliver and offer more than what you’ve charged for, but adding an extra little bit of something to every piece of client work can help to build even better working relationships.
When setting expectations for your client, it’s important that you’re both aware of the deliverables of the project, so that one side isn’t disappointed by the outcome. You need to set estimated delivery dates, what exactly it is that you’re going to deliver and how the client can expect to receive the work.
You should also have the deliverables and expectations clearly written out, either in a contract or an email, so that you have solid proof of the work that’s going to be carried out.
Build trust
Building trust is a crucial part of building relationships with clients and especially so for client relationships. You need to establish yourself as an authority on the topic or subject that your client has hired you for, without appearing arrogant.
It can take a while to build trust in any relationship, so you need to get off on the right foot right from the start. Maintain a policy of openness throughout your working relationship with your client and always share any thoughts or issues about a certain project that you have. If you don’t fully understand what’s been asked of you, it’s imperative that you clarify with the client, rather than just going ahead and doing what you think should be done.
Be personable, but professional
If you’ve only just started working with a new client, it’s important to remain professional, but also personable.
With any line of client work, you need to show that there’s a person behind your brand and that you’re approachable and friendly, not just strictly professional at all times.
That doesn’t mean to say that you should invite your client to your local pub for a night of shenanigans right away, but slowly building up a personal relationship as well as a professional one will likely see your work together soar. Always be fun, friendly and approachable with your clients, but don’t forget to always have your working hat on as well, so that your client knows the boundaries.
Dealing with every type of client
It goes without saying that not every single client will be the same and while more often than not, you’ll be blessed with lovely clients who provide you with clear briefs and who always pay on time, you may also be subjected to some not-so-great clients too. If you find yourself with a difficult client, we have a post on dealing with an uncertain client which may be useful.
Here’s a brief rundown on how to handle every type of client.
The unrealistic ones
These are the types of clients who expect you to go above and beyond and deliver things that don’t even seem possible. They’ll want you to move heaven and earth in order to deliver their work, and will expect you to be on hand 24/7.
Handling these types of clients is an art form and must be treated with caution. While you don’t want to put the client off working with you, it’s also important to establish boundaries and manage expectations with these types of clients from the start.
The ones who think they know best
Also known as the micromanagers, these types of clients will hire you for your services and then proceed to try and tell you a better way of doing everything.
While of course it’s great to always listen to other people’s opinions and ensure that you respect the client’s wishes, it’s also important to establish yourself as the expert and gently remind them of why they hired you to carry out the project.
The pedantic ones
Clients who nitpick every single thing you do can be quite frustrating at times, so it’s important to remember to stay calm and try not to take it personally, even if it feels like the client is constantly ripping apart your work.
The best way to work with this type of client is to keep them informed and up to date on every aspect of the project, so that you can make any changes they see fit before you complete too much work and then have to go back and redo it all.
The ones who ghost
Clients who seem excited about working together at first and then seem to disappear are another kind of difficult client to handle.
While often the client “ghosts” without quite meaning to because of other commitments or issues they have to deal with, it doesn’t make it any easier to complete work for them if they’re constantly disappearing or seemingly evading your queries.
Handling clients like this involves ensuring that you have everything you need to work on a project before you begin and always keep a written log of your communication efforts so that you can show the client how often you’ve tried to seek their approval or guidance on a part of the project.
The ones who don’t like to pay
Clients who refuse to pay are unfathomably frustrating and it can be quite the kick in the teeth to complete a lot of work for someone who then doesn’t want to pay for it.
This is exactly why you should have a formal contract in place when carrying out any type of client work; it sets the expectations of the project, payment terms and any late fees that may be incurred if the client doesn’t pay on time.
While it’s certainly not a very nice eventuality to face, you may need to be prepared to provide your client with a formal warning or even a threat of a court summons if they refuse to pay. Hopefully, it will never have to come to that and your relationship with every client will be a good one, but you should always be prepared just in case.
In conclusion: Building relationships with clients
Remember that every client is different and no two projects will be the same; it’s imperative that you treat each client as such and maintain client relationships in the best way that you see fit.
Freelancers are an important part of any business’s success, and it’s for this reason that companies will invest time and money into ensuring that the relationship between their freelancers continues to grow and flourish. Without an emphasis placed on making sure that your clients are getting everything they need from you, any freelancing business you run is essentially courting disaster. To ensure a happy client relationship, the best plan is to follow your instinct and make it clear that they are at the forefront of your mind at all times.
