After discussing last week some rules of effective client communication, let’s look at a few more. Here are 5 things a freelancer should never say to their clients.
Don’t give your client too much information
Nobody really cares if you are in your home office right now or working from the cafeteria nearby and watching people passing by while waiting. It’s a bad taste to share too personal details of your every day life, too – with whom you woke up today, did you go to the bathroom yet, when was the last time you had sex, and so on.
This is the classic definition of “too much information”. Be professional and talk about work. Leave your personal details and stories at home.
Don’t tell your client you don’t have time to work on their project because of some other project.
Your freelance client doesn’t care if you have landed a larger project or a better paying project. They have an agreement with you – to pay you a certain amount of money and in exchange, you should do a certain task in a certain period of time.
If they request additional changes which are not agreed upon and you don’t have time to handle them – decline politely saying you have time limitations and your schedule is all booked. But under no circumstances tell them that you have a better paying client and for that reason that other client has higher priority.
If the situation isn’t in your favor, don’t draw it in black and white colors
You know I am all for honesty, right? That is one of my main principles. But sometimes it is ok to massage the truth – if it would harm no one but would save your skin. Let me give an example.
You went out last night and surprisingly, you have a bad hangover today. No way you ca do your job properly. So what do you do? Of course you’d tell your client – after all, they are waiting for you and expect to see some work well done. My advice is to not tell them how drunk you got last night and what an awful headache you have just about now.
Instead, tell them that you don’t feel well today (without saying the reason) and ask to postpone the meeting for later today or even the next day if you really need time to recover.
You can even promise to compensate the client for the delay – and compensate them with a faster turn around time and completion of the project; or another detail as bonus. This way a situation which at first glance would be total catastrophe, can even bring you extra points as a freelancer π
For the sake of effective client communication, don’t burst out
We are all people and we know that sometimes we get into fights – with our spouses, with friends, family, even colleagues. The negative energy from the fight builds up, your inner piece is getting away until you burst out. Well, make sure you don’t do it in front of your clients. You have no right to take your anger or frustration on them; nor do you have the right to make him a witness of your personal problems and shortcomings.
Brawls are often distasteful, unprofessional and even show lack of manners. Such situation can offend your client or even bring doubts in their mind about your professionalism, tact and ability to control yourself and the situation.
Don’t tell a long-term client if you have completed a task long before the deadline
Note that this tip is valid for your long-term clients who have assignments for you on regular basis.
If you work with someone for the first or second time, it doesn’t matter if you finish a couple of days earlier than planned. It may even be in your advantage and earn you a bonus payment π
However, it’s a bit different if you get assignments from a client on daily or weekly basis. If you start completing your tasks earlier than planned on regular basis, you can shoot yourself in the leg – the long-term client may start expecting you to complete your work earlier than planned. And if you complete the task on time – the client may perceive it as delayed or get frustrated with you as you waited until the last minute to finish the job.
So – be careful! If the task is not urgent and if you are confident with your work (meaning, you don’t have questions and don’t expect edits and changes requests), better wait for the deadline to come and only then send your work. π
That first point is an important one. I was once on the phone with a supplier and I mistakenly asked how she was doing. Little did I know I was in for an extended medical review. After about fifteen minutes of listening to all that ailed her I was ready to visit the dentist, anything if it got me off the call. I can’t say how important it is NOT to bring personal details into the professional conversation. It’s reasonable to ask and care about the people you work with, but make sure that the context is correct and that you are not presuming on their time.
I don’t think I ever would have thought of your last point about not telling a long term client that you have completed a task ahead of time. It makes sense. Their expectation that you will be able to do the same again could easily create challenges, especially if the only reason you completed early was because you were not as busy as usual or some fluke of a reason.
Thanks for stopping by, Debra – as usual, you bring in some fresh perspective. Glad we are in agreement and that i could help with a thought π
Great advice Diana. As a client the two points which stuck with me were don’t tell them you don’t have time or if you finish before the deadline. For the first one I see so many freelancers especially copywriters who say they will turn away even loyal customers because they are busy. It is a sure way to lose them.
The one thing I would add is never say to a client you are reducing your price for this project only. The reason is they do not care and it will be difficult to increase your price for later projects.
Thanks for stopping by, Susan!
I so much agree about the price – better add value for your price than slash your prices for whatever reason, nailed it!
As for turning away clients – well, sometimes you are busy and cannot take the job. I have a few posts coming (sooner or later) on that topic! But what i was saying in this post is not that you should not tell clients you are busy – but not to tell them you cannot work on their project because somebody else is paying you more. That is unprofessional.
But you should definitely turn down work – if you are unavailable, No need to accept a job that you know you won;t have time to complete.
The red flag to me is when they say, I am working a several projects now, and when I can clear my calendar I will start on your project. With that I am out of here.
The biggest mistake that freelancers make is when they are on the phone and I can hear kids screaming in the background. If your children are a distraction,when I am on the phone, what will they be if I am off the phone. I don’t care if you work from your bathroom, I don’t don’t want to hear noise while I am discussing a project.
yes – about the background noise – i have always wondered about such freelancers… even if they are at all able to work in such environment, why did they think it’s ok to go on a voice call wit a bunch of kids around? π thanks for your comment, Arleen, and for the addition!
“You can even promise to compensate the client for the delay β and compensate them with a faster turn around time and completion of the project; or another detail as bonus.”
This is a great way to save an otherwise ruined day, and maybe even the relationship! Great advice, Diana!
thanks for your comment, Lorraine – glad i could help π
All your tips are right on target, Diana. Clients just want the work done. They don’t need all the gory details about your life, or how pressed you are for time. While it’s a good idea not to turn in every assignment on time, it’s also important to set realistic expectations for when a project will be completed. For some clients, they will always want it tomorrow. You need to explain why you will need the time requested — maybe it’s because of the research involved, or some other legitimate reason. Every client relationship is a collaboration with responsibilities on both sides of the equation.
I totally agree, Jeannette, that every client relationship is a collaboration with responsibilities on both sides of the equation. let me make a clarification though –
i never said “itβs a good idea not to turn in every assignment on time” – to the contrary; i am a firm believer that deadlines must be kept, always. The tip was to not turn your work *before* the deadline – and that if the client is long term, regular one. (Repeating this, just to be on the safe side :D)
I agree with Arleen about the background noise. If kids at home are an issue, the freelancer should definitely invest in a headset with a mute button.
right, thanks for the addition, Jeri! Actually – now that i think about it, it is always a good idea for the freelancer to invest in a headset (with or without mute button) – the sound of the built-in loudspeakers (especially those of a laptop) isn’t good most times – unless you are in a very tiny space, like your closet, for example π
Diana – I always love all the great information you give to us free lancers. Creating a professional environment is so important for free lancers and communicating with clients is so important. π
Thanks for stopping by, Susan, and for your feedback – always glad to help π
My suggestion, Diana, is don’t give clients too much free advice.
I used to do this all the time, as I wanted to both help my clients as much as possible and demonstrate my knowledge at the same time.
But the problem is that you start conditioning clients into expecting things for free. Then what happens is they start trying on tricks as a way to tap into your knowledge without having to pay (e.g. ‘I’m just phoning to bounce a potential work idea off you and wondered what you thought about …’).
I am, at least, gradually getting wise to this now.
You nailed it, Kevin! This is so right. In the beginning, i also was getting carried away sometimes with too much free advice – gradually, i stopped due to lack of time and clients flocking to me. But now that i think about it – it was never a good idea to begin with, I should totally blog about this – thanks for the feedback and the great idea!
Diana,
I broke off with a virtual assistant who wrote in her newsletter about how her (paying) clients were distracting her from her more important work of creating info products and passive income streams.
I had spoken with her upon her completion of my work the day before she issued the newsletter and I took her statement quite personally.
No longer will I take her away from her priorities.
By the way, I didnβt bother taking myself off her list. A few months later she wrote that she was getting into βdone for youβ rather than βlet me tell you how to do it yourselfβ more seriously.
-Diana
Thanks for your comment, Diana!
I totally see where you are coming from with this VA behavior. While i too want to have more time to work on my passive income streams, i find it highly unprofessional to go ahead and just say it to the face of my paying (as you said it) clients. Right, i just repeated what you just said – LOL – you have said it so well.
Good that you let that VA go – hope you have a better one now π