Standing Out: How to Give Your Clients Extra
Posted August 5, 2009 in Business, Marketing 14 Comments »
You might think that you just need to land more clients in order to grow your freelancing income, but often it’s about keeping those clients as well. I’ve had clients that only wanted odd jobs and never returned, but also companies who hired me for contracts that were six months in length.
When there is so much competition out there, getting a signature or verbal agreement rarely means that your new client will be sticking around. Instead, at times, you need to do things differently to set yourself from the rest so that they naturally come back to you.
Below I’ve listed some of the best ways to stand out from the crowd and keep your clients pleasantly surprised.
Send Video Updates of Products
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve went back and forth with a client trying to explain a certain point but my words and images just weren’t getting through. There was one time when I resorted to using Camtasia and taking a screencast to get my point across and if I had thought of this earlier, I would have saved a lot of time.
Instead of sending your typical email updates or phone calls to your client whenever necessary, consider trying video updates. They don’t have to be of you speaking into a camera (although they can) but they could also be a screencast from your computer about the work you’re doing.
I use Camtasia for mine, which is quite pricey, but you could also try something like Jing which is free.
Offer a Free Product or Service after X Number of Orders
I know this might sound a little gimmicky but it can work if you use it well. If you’re someone who commonly gets odd jobs from people who rarely return, this can work as an incentive for them to stick around. It’s not always the case that they have no more work or they didn’t like your services, it’s just that they’ve probably forgotten who they worked with in the first place.
There’s a good chance that this will keep a client coming back and there’s also a good chance they won’t reach your ‘X limit’ (but spend more than they would have) to get their free order anyway. I recall hearing a story of two car wash companies who implemented a similar idea, giving drivers a free wash after a certain number of visits.
Company A gave drivers a card with one box out of 8 filled, promising a free service after all 8 had been stamped. Company B gave drives a card with 3 of 10 boxes already filled out. In both cases the drivers had to pay for 7 more washes before they receive a freebie. The result? Company A increased their profits by a small margin but it was nothing compared to increase that Company B received. It just seemed like you were more likely to get a freebie with Company B.
Based on that logic, you might want to tell your clients you’ve counted their first assignment as multiple orders and they’re not far off that free offering.
Genuinely Care About Your Customer
If you’re just taking on a job purely to get it out of the way and earn cash, that will undoubtedly come across to the client. Similarly, if you care about the project your client has hired you to work on, then that will come across as well.
Don’t confuse caring with having to put in extra working hours. In fact, it will probably mean that you give things your full attention the first time around. You’ll then need to make less refinements to your work before your client is happy with the end result.
It’s often good to change perspectives to see why something as simple as caring about your client would work in your favor. Tell me: would you prefer to hire someone who just seemed to be interested in the cash, or someone who genuinely wanted things to work out for you and was interested in both financial gain and the end result?
Under Promise and Over Deliver
This isn’t a new idea by any means, but it is still one of the most effective. The basis is that you slightly underestimate how quickly you can finish a job or how well you can put something together and then either beat that time or produce an extra high quality result.
Be careful that you don’t use this to extremes, though, because if you downplay your skills or speed too much then that might just cost you someone who was previously interested. If you know there’s potential for more work after your first assignment then you should always be looking to over deliver where you can.
Have you implemented any of these ideas before? How did they work? Have you used other ideas to stand out from the crowd?
About the author: Glen Allsopp writes on the subject of Personal Development at PluginID. His aim is to help you 'Plug into your Identity' and reach your full potential.
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14 Comments
John Soares
August 5th, 2009 at 9:36 amI focus on your last two suggestions. Since I write for college textbook publishers, both my editors and I really want to create high-quality educational materials that help college instructors teach and college students learn.
I also typically beat my deadlines by a few days, which always makes editors happy. And when I can, I’ll add a bit extra to the project, which also helps me stand out.
Make Quick Cash John
August 5th, 2009 at 10:51 amBright ideas you have just posted here buddy. I get some from here. Thanks for sharing your thoughtful minds. Take care. Make Quick Cash John.
Laura Cross
August 5th, 2009 at 10:55 amUnder promise and over deliver. I always allow for extra time on an assignment and usually end up submitting the work earlier than the deadline, which makes a client happy and helps them remember me :)
Lexi Rodrigo
August 5th, 2009 at 11:09 amI love surprising my clients with a little “extra” now and then. And looks like they love it too. It keeps everything positive and definitely helps you stand out.
About under-promising and over-delivering: I once underestimated how long a project would take and ended up having to work until morning! So always, always be careful what you promise. Definitely make sure you can deliver.
Preston Lee
August 5th, 2009 at 12:36 pmThis is a great post! I’ve always believed that giving the client more than what they expect is the best way to make them happy.
Perhaps those who liked this post would also like to read “10 steps to become a successful freelance designer”. I’ve linked to it in my name.
Thanks again.
Thiago Cavalcanti
August 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pmCouldn’t agree more on the under promising and overdelivering thing.
Anna
August 5th, 2009 at 9:41 pmI like that idea very much – under-promise and over deliver. With my first few jobs I would give a price based on how long a job should take. But I didn’t take into account that the cilents themselves often add time by requesting changes, not answering questions as to what is needed, submitting content with errors to be fixed, asking the same questions over and over … Then it is a bit late to say, “well, this should have taken an hour but now it’s taking a week because you …”
So that is another reason why I think it is safer to over-estimate than under estimate. Then if it turns out to be a lower cost than expected, great. At the same time, if you over-estimate TOO much you can lose a potential client.
Igor Helps You Succeed
August 6th, 2009 at 4:26 amUnder Promise and Over Deliver is an awesome tip.
Over delivering will probably make your customer so happy
that he simply coudn’t think about anyone else who can take
the job and get it done the way he wants it. Straight Forward Satisfaction.
~Igor
Team Nirvana
August 6th, 2009 at 10:08 amUnder Promise and Over Deliver is the concept which I trust in.
I have seen live examples from my professional life and I do implement the rule by default whenever I put myself to a task.
Thanks for the valuable post.
Nikhil
August 6th, 2009 at 11:02 amGreat tips
Thanks…..
FreelanceApple
August 7th, 2009 at 7:02 amGenuinely Care About Your Customer is like the holy grail of freelancing. I think junior freelancers and those starting off may sometimes overlook this one.
Nicole Foster
August 7th, 2009 at 12:40 pmGiving clients a little extra goes along way.
For the non-computer-savy I work with, I always give them a readme document that teaches them how to edit, and update their website. I also make sure I add conditional comments in the CSS and the HTML, so they can understand where to edit.
I’m not sure what to do for other clients. Any ideas? I was thinking of virtual gifts or even sending a cute pen with my website logo and address.
Julian
August 8th, 2009 at 11:53 amLove the video idea. I’ll make sure to do it sometime with one of my regular clients.
james
August 11th, 2009 at 12:49 ami honestly believe the best way to marker your site is to use http://www.phinditt.com/ this site has helped me so much bring traffic to my site they have a very big network with millions of people. so if you are looking to advertise for free try this site.