How to Turn an Angry Client into a Loyal Client with One Little Word
It’s like getting struck by lightening.
You’re having a great day and then BLAM! Your client ambushes you at a meeting or starts yelling at you over the phone. Something is terribly wrong and you are in the hot seat.
What do you do?
Don’t panic! You’re human and there’s no way to be totally calm when a client is angry. But you need to keep your head clear. How? By remembering one word: ANGER.
It’s easy to recall, given the situation. Each letter gives you a step for dealing with the problem: Acknowledge — Nod — Guide — Execute — Retreat. I’ll explain each step. Then I’ll tell you how this word can help you turn your angry client into a loyal client for years to come. Read more
Voice Mail: How Not to Sound Like a Clown
“Hello, this is Bigtime Client. I’m out of the office. Please leave a voice message at the beep.”
*BEEP*
“Um, yeah. This is, er, um. This is Dotty Designer calling. I was, uh, just wondering if you, you know, got the samples I sent and, uh, well maybe you didn’t look at them yet because I know you’re busy, but they’re in a big red envelope and I, er, so if you like them maybe you could, uh…”
*BEEP*
The dreaded voice mail message. It’s intimidating and merciless. It can catch you unprepared and will record every stuttering syllable as you try to string together a few intelligible sentences. More often than not, you end up sounding, shall we say, less than professional.
What’s the answer? Be prepared with a short “script.” Read more
Want Top-Notch Pay? Do Top-Notch Work.
You can do all sorts of cool promotion and aggressive marketing to increase your value to clients, but in the end, it’s what you deliver with your freelance services that will make or break your business. Quality work is the best marketing there is.
Many freelancers or those considering freelancing sometimes want the quick and easy way to achieve the high pay they’ve heard is possible. But the fact is, there is no shortcut. You have to be good at what you do. Clients have to value the service you are selling to them.
Even marketing that is pure genius won’t take you from earning $50 an hour to earning $250 an hour. Marketing opens doors. After that, you have to come through with great work. Read more
Turning Down Freelance Work
Should you ever turn down freelance work? Yes. Absolutely.
I know that sounds like crazy talk, especially if you’re in a dry spell and you really need the money. But real professionals turn down work for all sorts of reasons.
I just read a great article over at Best Practices that suggests 6 Reasons to Turn Freelance Work Down. Number one (personality clash), number three (project outside expertise), and number five (can’t meet deadline) are all reasons I’ve turned down projects.
I’ve also turned down work because I believe the client is dishonest or acting in an unethical way. It’s never easy, especially when there’s a wad of cash hanging out there for you to grab. But in the long run, you’re better off turning down work from time to time.
11 Tips for Becoming a Freelance Pro
Most of us are trained to think in terms of putting in our 40 hours a week and taking home a paycheck. But to succeed as a freelance pro, you must make a shift from the paycheck mentality to the professional mentality. How? Here are twelve tips:
1. Think like a professional. Whether you want to earn a little extra income on the side or go full-blown freelance pro, you should consider yourself in the same class as all other professionals, worthy of the same respect and income.
2. Ignore most of the advice from the freelance “industry.” Many magazines, books, and online sources give bad advice for those wanting to make money at freelancing. You must carefully weigh the advice you get, choosing to follow only what you know will further your business interests. Read more
The Top Freelancing Mistake of All Time
When you’re starting out on your freelance career, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. That’s just a part of learning and growing. But there’s one big mistake you need to avoid from day one.
And it starts by asking yourself a simple but important question: Do you sell a service or produce a product?
If you answer that question wrong, you may certainly find work, but you’ll have a much harder time getting the sort of top-notch clients you want. And your paychecks may be limited in size as well. Read more
Freelance Success Begins with Mindset
Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — either way you’re right.”
It’s one of those quotes that make you think before you understand what it means. But when you finally get it, it’s one of those “Ah ha!” moments.
What Ford was talking about was “mindset.” It’s the idea that the way you think affects the way you act and, therefore, what you are able to accomplish. This is directly related to being a freelance pro. Read more
