10 Ways to retain your Freelance Clients

Maybe you’re a freelancer who has just completed a few projects or maybe you’ve been working in this field from a long time and now you’re noticing a slight decrease in the amount of work you get  or you have a difficulty in finding freelance clients or that your previous freelance clients don’t come back to you for more work. If that’s worrying you, then maybe you’ve been doing something wrong, maybe you have not been able to deliver what was expected from you or maybe you are just an ordinary freelancer for your client and don’t stand out from the thousands out there. If you want to retain your most favorite or precious freelance clients and keep coming back to you with more work you’ve got to try some of these things to get what you want.

1. Being Polite and Cheerful

Your freelance clients should feel comfortable talking to you. You need to be polite to them. At times if they make a special request for an early delivery or some extra work it is okay to oblige, don’t complain too much about it. This shows them that you value them as a client. At the same time, make sure that they don’t get a chance to exploit you by burdening you with work. At the end of the month send them a complete list of work you have done for them, thus letting them know everything that you’ve done for them and what are the services they have received free of cost from you.

 

2. Provide Discounts or Freebies to Regular Freelance Clients

If a client is ready to give you regular work, do some small things or easy freelance jobs, free of cost for them or offer a discount on your services. You can tell them that on the next project they offer you, you’ll do something for free. This gives them the satisfaction that they’re getting more than what they are paying for and who doesn’t like that! If they can give some good feedback about you, then finding freelance clients for new work will also be easy for you.

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3. Add a Personal Touch to your Communications with them

When you communicate with them treat them as an individual and not just a freelance client. If you’ve known them for quite some time it’s okay to ask them about themselves. They’re just like any other colleagues you would have at a workplace. You can be friendly but remember to stay within the limits of professionalism. Wishing them on their birthday or any other festival makes a difference too as it shows them you remember details about them and care about them as a client.

 

4. Celebrate your Milestones

You can celebrate your work milestones with them, this could be in terms of duration or payment. When you  have completed working with them for a certain period of time or for a certain amount of money, you send them a message a card congratulating them or thanking them for the opportunities they’ve given to you, in  order to show them that you care. You can make a list or a nice collage or a presentation with all the projects you’ve worked on for them, this will show them that over the period you have worked for them on both difficult and easy freelance jobs. If you are good at what you have done, they might even offer you other creative freelance jobs.

 

5. Respect your Client

It is very important that you treat your freelance client with respect. When they receive respect from you, they will also give you respect in return. This helps a lot in building professional bonding between the both of you. Your freelance clients need to know that you value them as a client.

 

6. Stick to Deadlines and Commitments

AnotherYour clients need to know that you take this work seriously. In all types of jobs like writing, designing and other creative freelance jobs or freelance  consultant jobs it is important that you stick to the deadlines and deliver your work on time. You shouldn’t make your clients ask for it again and again. If you have committed to do something for them do it on time. This will help them trust you and give you more work.

 

7. Ask them for Feedback and Value it

Ask your freelance clients for feedback from time to time. This helps you to know what they expect from you and you can work on it to keep them happier. It also shows them that their opinion counts and that you are willing to learn and do better. Once you receive their feedback make sure you work on it and deliver good results. This plays a key role in finding freelance clients.

 

8. Work as a part of their Team and not as a detached Individual

You need to consider yourself as a part of your client’s team when you work. Work towards adding value to their business and make sure you give your 100% when you take up work from them. If your clients see that you are passionate about the work you do for them it makes a big difference. For creative freelance jobs, you can give them your inputs on various creative aspects for your clients site.

 

9. Be responsible and Learn from your Mistakes

It is possible that your client has a problem with something you have done. If you haven’t followed their instructions properly, accept your mistake, apologize if needed and take immediate measures to rectify it. If you are careless and make the same mistakes over and over again, your client is likely to get disappointed and lose trust in you. What is important here is that your clients should be able to rely on you. For freelance consultant jobs, you can give them your inputs from time to time in order to help them plan better.

 

10. Never Compromise on Quality

What matters to your clients is that you deliver quality work. They should receive the value for whatever they pay for. There is no point if you deliver quickly or at cheaper prices. For easy freelance jobs, the client will never agree to compromise on quality.

 

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