Hey you! There! You–the web freelancer! Did you know why your clients dumped you for me? ‘Cause I do. You can bet your bottom line I ask why they’re leaving you when they call me, and they tell all. And if you will take a few minutes to listen, you can learn to hold on to your own clients. (I’d keep ’em warm for ya, but I’m tired of doing all that work.)
See, it’s easier and cheaper to keep the clients you’ve got than to get new ones. With biz being how it is, you really cannot afford to be cavalier about client defection any longer. So let’s look at the top complaints I hear from clients bailing.
#5. Selling the clients what you want to create instead of what the client wants/needs.Not every client is a good fit for what you do best. Is this a revelation? It shouldn’t be!
Case study: My last redesign was taken over from a small shop that promotes a single Content Management System (CMS) exclusively. Now, having areas of specialized web expertise makes good business sense and done right, can allow you to better serve your clients. But by definition, an area of specialization means that you are no longer a generalist. So be prepared to pass by sales for folks that don’t really want or need the one thing you’re selling.
CMS can be a Godsend for the right organization–or a pain in the arse for the wrong organization. If a client wants control over frequent content updates and has a reasonably tech-savvy staff who can readily learn the process, a solid CMS setup can save a lot of time and money! But in this case, the poor employees did not want to learn a new system. Worse, the client obviously didn’t NEED a CMS. All they wanted was a static website with updates a few times a year. Bonus FAIL points to the original shop for not collaborating at all with the client on site design–as a result, everyone from the client’s company HATED the design and were universally embarrassed by the site–which, a couple of years after the initial design, still sported several “Your link here” dummy links all over the front page. Ugh.
You may get a one-off sale by pimping y0ur stuff to people who don’t need it, but you ruin a potential future relationship with the client and damage your most valuable business asset–your reputation–every time you do this. For what? A single payout? C’mon. You can do better.
#4. Selling the clients whatever they want, instead of what you actually know how to deliver. I can’t count the number of clients I’ve obtained after they defected from web folks who sold sites squarely beyond their ability to deliver. Freelancers nodded “Yes” at each of their requests like one of those bobbing-headed car toys, regardless of actual expertise. “Promise anything to get the check” seems to be the call of action.
Now, I get this. I do. Web folks sometimes get a case of “Freelancers Disease:” fear of never seeing another paying project. So they smile and nod, desperately trying to grab any potential income, knowing that the specs at best are reaching towards the upper limit of their ability to deliver (or even actively misrepresenting their experience to make the sale). This is often done with the freelancer thinking they’ll “learn as they go” and sort it all out in the wash.
Uh, yeah…this just doesn’t work very well. Once the project takes about 3 times as many hours as originally estimated, they move on to the next stage…
#3. Price creep. It’s the freelancers job to appropriately price projects. Deliverables need to be specified, along with their price, from the outset . If the client changes the requirements after the fact or unforeseen expenses crop up in the midst of the project, it’s up to the freelancer to renegotiate the price based on the new facts. (Bonus: Clear deliverables eliminates the bane of feature creep for the webbie.)
But for God’s sakes, the fact you didn’t realize it would take you so long is NOT adequate reason to try and suck more money out of your client’s wallet! If you underestimate the time or overestimate your capablities, that is your error. You eat the difference and go into your next negotations wiser for your well-earned education.
#2. Broken promises. Whether the freelancer knew how to deliver or not, it’s often hard to say. But if you don’t do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’ll do it, your clients will defect, plain and simple.
Often, it seems this one comes up when the webbie underestimates the complexity of the work. Panicked (and having already cashed the deposit check), they duck out and wait for the problems to disappear. Avoidance is not an adaptive strategy.
#1. Being too slow. This is the absolute number one reason clients tell me they leave their current web folks. Surprised? Don’t be. Ignoring or postponing client requests is the kiss of death to your freelance career.
Particularly acute with the part-time/moonlighting/wannabe-pros, many freelancers lose all interest when it’s not the work they like best–usually making pretty websites, or programming a great new app, or whatever floats their boats. While updating the links list or formatting new copy isn’t exactly exciting and probably not why you got into the biz, maintenece work is the bread-and-butter of many web freelancers. Maintenece work done right will make your clients love you. It also allows you to stay in business in slump economies or avoid taking on projects you’re not well-suited for to pay the bills.
If you look at the theme here, it all boils down to a very simple concept: all business propositions must be win-win in order to be sustainable. If you only commit to doing work you know you can do, at a fair price, for people who have a need for what you offer, and exercise diligence in providing outstanding service for those folks, you will KEEP the clients you deserve. They will love you and tell their friends. Word-of-mouth will make your business buzz.
Otherwise, they’ll get on the phone to find someone else–like me–who will deliver. Up to you, my friend.
photos: breakup - NiWoTa Studios - bobbing – kenyee
Posted on April 16, 2009 at 4:45 pm in: Freelancers
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This, my friend, is a fantastic article. Being too slow is why I created http://tinyurl.com/thesisdeal . It’s (in my wheelhouse), PRODUCT BASED.
Good article, good stuff….
Very good advice. Web development student is thinking about becoming a freelance web designer when finish school.
Good luck with that! It served me well for quite some time.