As a freelancer, finding clients is the next big step in starting your freelancing career.  Before that, you need to acquire enough skills so you can confidently apply for various job posts.   Then you start sending cover letters (lots of them!) And eventually, a client notices your profile, decides to interview you, and then offers you the job.

Congratulations!  You have now secured your first client.  And with this achievement, you must continue to learn and upgrade your skills, to get more clients - thus, more money!  But whether it’s a short-term or a long-term job, you should focus on creating a good rapport with your client.  

Let me share with you some tips on how to maintain good connections with your clients at different stages of your working relationship.

Relating with Prospective Clients

When a client messages to offer you a job, the way you respond should depend on how the message sounds to you.  Is it too formal?  Is it casual?  I suggest you analyze the message and try to hear it so you’ll know how to respond.  

When you’ve had several exchanges of messages already, and you now have a feel of the tone of your conversation, go with the flow.  If it started out as very formal but then begins to lighten up to a casual convo, then respond accordingly. This creates a great first impression on your clients.

This also goes the same with interviews.  We all know that interviews can be nerve-wracking, but they are very crucial because they’ll determine whether the client will hire you or not!  So better prepare, take a deep breath, and don’t let that panic show on your face.  Talk casual but very respectful, and let your client know that you are easy to talk to.

 Relating with New Clients

Now that you’re hired, woohoo!  Another achievement!  Now’s the time to shine and let your client know that they made a great decision to hire you.  Always keep an open communication with them.  Make sure to ask which communication channel they would prefer to use when discussing work.

Most of the time, clients are friendly and very casual to talk to. So you should always match their approach. They would definitely appreciate it whenever you ask them questions about your tasks.

Maybe you’d ask, is it alright to message our clients anytime, about anything?  It may be quite disrespectful if you bombard your client with questions during their non-working hours, especially when they have a different time zone than yours.  This is a concern you should clear with them once you’re hired.  

You can simply ask, “Would it be alright to message you anytime?”

But don’t expect them to answer your questions right away.  Make sure these are questions that do not require urgent answers. Demanding instant replies may irritate them and make them think something else of you.

One thing you could also do is to ask your clients how they are from time to time.  It may seem like you’re being too close - but it will make your client feel valued by you as a person.  Treat them as a friend as well. Caution: The closeness shouldn’t be too much to the point of being able to blurt out anything or having a shoulder to cry on -  but just enough to build rapport and earn mutual respect.

Another thing: Having a good relationship with your clients may make it easier for you to ask for a rate increase! *wink wink*

Relating with Present Long-Term Clients

Your present clients deserve your professional skills, but also make sure you create a personal relationship with them.  You may want to share some personal information, THAT IS, when you’ve established a comfortable relationship already.  You don’t just flash selfies or photos of your child when it’s not asked.  That may be weird for the client.

This relationship usually starts when you ask for a day off. You’d message them to show courtesy, and you’d be inclined to state the reason for the day-off.  Clients would either be compassionate or stay formal and would not be interested to ask more about your reason.  So make sure you listen to the tone of their replies and respect them.

When you have that friendly relationship, maintain it by sending simple greetings from time to time. If you know their birthdays, greet them on their special day.  If they give some personal information about their families, especially kids - show them that you’re interested and be compassionate.

Your clients may be the corporate world’s counterpart for “officemates” or “bosses” - so, friendly conversations are important, right? Freelancers wouldn’t have “officemates” to chat with because we’re either at home or at some co-working space or at a coffee place where we work alone.  Engaging with friendly chats is important to balance work and life, so might as well have those with your clients too.  

But again, not too friendly though - there may be clients who would be quite conservative and would not engage in this type of relationship. So better get to know them through their responses and act accordingly.

Relating with Past Clients

In the freelancing world, ending contracts with your clients is inevitable.  But whether it’s a short or long-term client, freelancers should still try to maintain a  friendly relationship with them.  

What if it’s a client who did not pay you on time? Or someone who ghosted you after completing a task for them?  Is it still recommended to create a good relationship?

As for me, it’s still a yes.  Why? KARMA.  🙂  So even if you had a bad client, you should not speak ill of them. They may have their reasons why they did that. You may report them, yes, so they can’t do it to someone else.  But who knows, karma may come to them, and to you as well.  So don’t burn bridges, no matter what happens.  Keep the faith that everything happens for a reason.

In general, your past clients may give a good word about you with their connections.  They may refer you to other potential clients and thus give you more work and more chances to fulfill your financial freedom.

So it’s a good thing that you keep open communication with your past clients.  Give a little “hello” when you see them online and see if they reply or not.  Or if you’re friends on a social network, try to like their posts or give a friendly comment too.  This may result in your client remembering you and the professional work you’ve done.  And that’s what we aim to achieve with our clients.

Communicating with Clients in General

So what tone should you use with your clients?  You can be formal, and you can also be casual.  Being formal will usually happen when it’s about work - when you have questions about the task, etc.  Make sure to talk in a respectable and polite manner, especially when you have suggestions or ideas that may be quite different from your client’s ideas.

Being formal does not mean you call them Ma’am or Sir. Foreign clients would probably hate it. They’d prefer to be called by their first names.  A formal tone expresses your professionality as a freelancer. You may want to use complete sentences to answer some of their questions - or make sure your questions are easily understood. Caution: No emojis here

When can we use the casual tone?  The casual tone can be used after confirming the tasks assigned to you.  You can express your gratitude, your doubts, or when you’re sharing something personal with your client.  

The casual tone creates a friendly atmosphere and breaks the seriousness of your conversation.  That way, you and your client will feel comfortable working with each other.

One more thing: Always remember to use correct spelling and not text speak. This applies to both formal and casual conversations.

Summary

I had my first long-term client last 2018, and we ended our contract around 2020.  We had a good run and he was very casual to talk to. He even curses on some of our messages, not directed to me, but due to some technical errors, which shows how comfortable he was with me.  Up until now, I still send some greetings to him, asking him how life is and about his family.  He still responds, and we’re friends on Facebook too.  I try to message him not to imply that I’m still available for some tasks he might be able to give me, but just to ask how he’s doing.  No other agenda, but simply to express my gratitude to him for being a great client.

But even before we ended our contract, he already referred me to another client that I’m working with up until now.  So that’s a pretty successful client-freelancer relationship, right?

You all know that catching that first client is not easy. That’s why when you finally get them, you’d want to do everything right to make this client like you, your work, your skills and give you more tasks to work on.  But also remember to slowly create a good relationship with them, because if not, there may be no follow-up work, or no referrals, or any substantial learning from them.

You can be a rockstar freelancer with great skills, but don’t forget you are a person who can be friendly and one who genuinely cares.  This creates a good impression on your profile - that may result in more clients and colleagues who’d want to work with you.

We are humans, indeed, and we need to create good relationships with people offline and online.  We’d want our clients to put on a good word for us out there in the online world where we strive to stay and make money.  Don’t be afraid to create these healthy relationships with your present and past clients. It will bring you more benefits and confidence as a freelancer.

If you want to learn more about working from home as a Virtual Assistant, you may check out VA Bootcamp's courses.