When a new client contacts you, you’re going to ask details about the project, right?
And likely, the client is going to ask a number of questions about how you do business, how much your services cost, whether you have samples or testimonials they can look at… lots of things to determine if he or she should hire you.
But beyond the questions about the project, what are you asking to find out about this potential new client? Would you be brave enough to ask the client for testimonials from other freelancers or customers to see what they’re like to work with? Would you ask to talk to other freelancers they’ve hired to find out if the client pays on time?
To put it more bluntly, what do you do to have the client prove they’re worth your time?
Unfortunately, too many freelancers will say, “If they pay my rate and pay on time, that’s good enough for me.” That’s often the motto for the beginning freelancer.
Well, I’m here to tell you that “good enough” sometimes isn’t if you get some extra, negative baggage along with it. I’ve talked to a number of freelancers, many in the midst of hellish projects, who realized that money will cover up only so many difficulties with a client.
But one interesting aspect of these stories is that in many, many cases, they had a gut feeling they shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place. Perhaps if they had taken the time to explore the red flags they were sensing, they could have saved themselves a lot of headaches.
Those difficulties might not be obvious ones like a client who treats people with little or no respect. It might be a client who is so indecisive that it takes forever to get something approved. Even your best attempts to lead the process fails as the client wages some internal war over the smallest decisions. That becomes a problem when you’ve schedule other projects, yet one client is causing a ripple effect with all your other projects.
Granted, it’s impossible – especially if you can’t sit down with the client face-to-face – to uncover issues that might tip you off to a client being difficult. And to be fair, the client is in the same boat when he’s considering you… he has to make his best judgment. Although he might have an edge if you were referred to him by someone else. A referral helps the client a great deal.
But I think clients do a much better job of quizzing us than we do quizzing them. Why is that?
My theory is fear. We fear doing anything outside what’s considered normal because we might lose the project. And putting the client on the spot isn’t normal. But that puts the client in the driver’s seat. Why shouldn’t you be in the driver’s seat?
Now I’m not suggesting you put the client under intense lights and give him or her the third degree. And I really don’t expect anyone to ask for references to prove a client pays on time.
But I do think freelancers could do a better job of finding out more about the client, not just about the client project.
As far as who is in the driver’s seat, I actually don’t look at things that way. I look at my clients as partners. And as partners, I tend to see us on equal footing. We both need something from the other… they need a completed project, you need money. (Refer to my article, See yourself as your client’s peer, for more on that.)
Yet if you see yourself as “lucky to get a call, so I’d better not rock the boat,” you put yourself in the position of possibly accepting jobs you’ll regret.
So don’t be afraid to ask questions beyond just the scope of the project. Some clients will be very honest and tell you if they’re hard-to-please or if they tend to require a lot of revisions. If you take the job, fine. At least you know what to expect. A great career can be made by people willing to work with clients no one else will touch.
Don’t be afraid to ask how promptly they pay. Some clients pay as soon as they get an invoice… others pay at set times of the month. Just because your invoice says “Due on Receipt” doesn’t mean the client is cutting the check that day.
Here’s a big one: Don’t be afraid to ask who did their design work in the past and why that person’s not doing it now. I once didn’t read the signs on that point and got involved with a client that was going to be very hard to please. The client’s negative comments about the last design firm and the fact that their internal designer wasn’t even cutting it should have raised a red flag big enough to cover my studio. After the first project, I told the client that I wouldn’t be working with them any longer.
Again, I’m not suggesting you get silly about this. I am suggesting that you do more than just blindly take a project. Ask questions about the client and see if you can more solidly determine if it’s going to be a good personal and professional fit. That will help you look forward to sitting down in front of the computer each day.