How To Retain Clients Better in 2022
Losing clients is part of the game of freelancing. But losing most of your clients might mean you aren’t very good at the game. Long-lasting client relationships depend on two things: great work and great service. When I first started freelancing, I was completely focused on doing great work, and not focused on providing great service. I got dropped by client after client–and realized something needed to change. Over the past five years, I’ve drastically improved my client service skills, and have developed a few best practices that help me cultivate lasting relationships with great clients. I’ll share them with you below.
Set Clear Expectations
Confusion kills deals. If your clients aren’t sure what you’ll be delivering and when, the mental gymnastics associated with your contract will be too tiring for them. This is why you need to set clear expectations about what you’ll be doing. You may not have the budget to hire a lawyer to draft a bullet-proof contract, but that doesn’t mean you can’t clearly spell out the project’s deliverables and timelines. You need to be clear. Don’t just say you’ll deliver “social cutdowns” for your videos. Write out every single specific deliverable, like “1x 30-second 4:5 lifestyle cutdown, 2x 15-second 9:16 product cutdown.” See the difference?
Nothing puts a sour note on a relationship like unfulfilled expectations. You might have said you could do something hypothetically in the pitching phase to win business, but if the client interpreted that as a literal promise, you’re in a tough spot. It’s always better to undersell your services, then over-deliver, than it is to over-promise and end up under-delivering. This is tough to do at the start because you don’t want to lose potential business, but it’s a lesson you’ll learn the hard way at some point down the road.
Build Check-In Systems
I know how it goes. When a production or pitch opportunity comes up, everything else just fades away. When I first started freelancing, I threw my full focus on pitches for new business, and neglected my consistent clients. This lead to annoyance from my clients and strained relationships.
I learned to remedy this by building consistent check-in systems with my clients. My team and I will deliver weekly and monthly reports to clients to keep communication systems lively. It’s not that every client asks for weekly check-ins like this. I do it because I know how busy things can get, and without these systems, I might forget about my clients for weeks or months on end.
Most people are very understanding when they receive communication in advance. It’s not uncommon for me to tell my clients that I’ll be out for a week on vacation, or that I’m unavailable because I’ll be on set for a few days. No one gets mad about that when it’s communicated in advance. But without check-in systems, they wouldn’t feel taken care of, and they would drop me.
Offer the Occasional Discount
You don’t need to charge for every little thing you do for your clients. Every so often, take the initiate to deliver a helpful report or creative concept for free. Not only will you create a moment of surprise and delight for your client, but they’ll also begin to see you as an invested team member.
At the end of the day, every product, service, and deliverable has an associated value. A consultant could come into your client’s business, take a look at the numbers, and decide you’re too expensive. Then poof! You get dropped. But creating emotional experiences of delight for clients, and proving that you’re invested in their success is priceless. So when the consultant suggests to cut you, your client will step in and say no. Because they trust you, and they have an emotional connection with you.
As I said before, losing clients is part of the game of freelancing. You can’t keep every business relationship forever. But by setting clear expectations, check in consistently, and offering occasional discounts, you’ll lose fewer and fewer clients each year.
Good luck out there!
