The Care and Keeping of Long-Term Clients
Posted May 19, 2010 in Business, Managing Clients
Basically, there are two kinds of clients that a freelancer can have:
- One-time clients–Clients who need your services a single time
- Long-term clients–Clients who return frequently to use more of your services
Both types of clients are important for a successful freelancing business. Long-term clients can offer you many benefits that one-time clients cannot.
In this post, we’ll focus on long-term clients and how to keep them happy.
Benefits of Having Long-Term Clients
Having long-term clients that bring you repeat business has some obvious benefits:
- Strengthens your relationship with the client–The more often you perform a project satisfactorily for a client the more the relationship between you grows.
- Increases the likelihood of getting a referral from the client–If the client is very happy with your work they are much more likely to send other business your way or provide a testimonial.
- Decreases your marketing costs–While you should continue your marketing, if you know that some clients will be giving you repeat business marketing may take less effort.
- Reduces your learning curve on new projects–Once you become familiar with what the repeat client wants, you shouldn’t have as big of a learning curve on their projects.
While some gurus and experts encourage you to dump your old clients because they may be holding you back, I would recommend proceeding cautiously with that plan. If a client is returning to you with additional projects, it means that they are likely pleased with your work. If you feel that the terms that you initially negotiated with that client were unfavorable, it is often better to renegotiate than to dump the loyal client.
In the next section, we’ll discuss how to encourage your clients to give you repeat business.
How to Keep a Client Coming Back For More
We probably all agree that repeat clients are good for business, but not all freelancers understand how to encourage repeat business.
While not every client is able to re-use your services (some clients just have the budget and/or the need for one project), there are a few steps you can take to maximize your number of long-term clients:
- Go the extra mile–First and foremost, before you can approach a client about additional projects you should make sure that the work that you do for them is of exceptional quality. Make sure to meet all project requirements and deadlines. Whenever possible, gently make suggestions that will help the client’s business.
- Be pleasant–It goes without saying that you should treat clients courteously and professionally. However, you should also make it easy for your clients to work with you. Whenever you deal with client, be friendly and maintain a positive attitude. Above all, listen to what your client has to say (even if you don’t particularly agree with them).
- Follow up–Your first chance to ask for additional business is at the completion of your first project. You can say something like this: “is there anything else that I can help you with?” If a client initially answers “no,” that doesn’t mean they won’t ever give you repeat business. Check again in about month to see how everything is going.
- Add incentives–In the next section, we’ll discuss added incentives that you may choose to provide to clients that are particularly loyal. (Remember, that you have no obligation to provide these incentives. However, if you have a client you really like to deal with, you may choose to reward them in this way.)
Incentives You May Wish to Provide to Loyal Clients
Occasionally, you may wish to reward an established long-term client with incentives that you do not make available to first-time clients. Some possible incentives that you could offer to long-term clients include:
- Giving existing clients the first shot at any upcoming sales or promotions that your business will be running
- Providing them with a small finder’s fee or referral fee on any new clients that they refer to you
- Offering a small frequent buyer’s discount for repeat business
- Grandfathering existing clients in under your old rates for a time after you raise your rates for new clients
- Offer them a discount on products that you develop such as books or newsletters
In the next section, I’ll share my own experience with long-term clients.
My Experience
I have several clients that I’ve worked with, on various projects, for nearly eight years. (I also have other repeat clients that I’ve worked with for shorter terms.)
Overall, I have to say that I enjoy working with these clients. They’ve kept me up to date with their requirements, and I can usually start (and finish) one of their projects much more quickly than I could with a first-time client. I’ve also found that they’ve increased the amount of projects that they’ve given me over the years and the size (dollar-wise) of those projects.
Our relationship is such that if I don’t hear from a long-term client over a long period of time I think nothing of contacting them to ask how things are going.
Share Your Experiences with Long-Term Clients
Do you have any long-term clients? How do you keep them happy? Do you provide incentives?
Share your answers in the comments.
Image by morula_org
Related posts:
- Having a Long-Term Purpose as a Freelance Designer
- How To Successfully Work With People Long Distance
- Why Keeping An “I Hate” List Can Make You Money
- Open Thread: How Long Have You Been Freelancing?
- Seven Tips to Keep Your Clients Coming Back for More
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
The Unlimited Freelancer is Now Only $19
Unleash the true potential of your business. Get The Unlimited Freelancer and start transforming your freelance business,
now only $19.
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
Free Report
Sign up for our product discount list to get a free copy of Why Some Freelancers Thrive and Others Barely Survive. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Forum Discussions
- Re: Different types of computer
May 26th, 2012 - 1:20 am - Order Now, BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981--$850, HTC One X
May 25th, 2012 - 5:16 am - Nokia Lumia 710 T-Mobile-$330 & Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S
May 25th, 2012 - 5:15 am
Popular Articles
- SEO Techniques All Top Websites Should Use
- When a Client Can't Afford You: Why It's Still Better to Bid High
- How To Stop Scrambling For Clients And Get A Steady Stream Of Paying Gigs
- A Simple Way To Stop Clients From Rejecting Your Proposals
- 3 Reasons Your Rates Are Still Low (And How To Start Raising Them)
45 Comments
Olivia F Gresham
May 19th, 2010 at 8:36 amThanks for the incite on this topic, I’ve just started out and I currently have a client i’ve been working with for a while with possibilities of working on future projects, marketing has been a bit easier in that region because they have already recommended me like you mentioned, but it is hard to continuously market yourself else where when you’re full of projects.
Jo
May 19th, 2010 at 8:49 amThanks for the post. The majority of my clients are long-term clients. I find the benefits endless being; less meetings, they have a better understanding of my work-flow, also because they are loyal, they are more sympathetic if something should go wrong on a project, and of course lastly they are my best source of referrals!
Jordan Walker
May 19th, 2010 at 9:01 amI really like the long term clients, one reward I have for them is a decreased hourly rate. They seem to like that.
Joe Valdez
May 19th, 2010 at 9:08 amExcellent post.
It goes without saying that if you treat a client right the first time it can pay dividends for a long time.
I think sometimes designers make the mistake of trying to get the most you can out of client, financially, which can backfire when the client need services the next time.
Annie Stith (@Gr8fulAnnie)
May 19th, 2010 at 9:16 amHey!
Love the site and the info. Only one problem. I can’t drag ‘n drop with my BlackBerry, so I can’t join the forum. Any other way in?
Appreciate it if you’d pass this on…
Annie
Freelancer Dave
May 19th, 2010 at 9:16 amWhen providing incentives for long time customers, like mentioned in the article, it is important to be careful that you don’t inadvertently reduce your potential revenue to drastically. I’ve seen cases where gym owners reduce their rates for longer period sign-ups and early sign-up clients, only to reduce their revenue to a rate that their business was no longer profitable.
Melek
May 19th, 2010 at 9:31 amI have a lot of long-term clients, including my very first one from years ago. What I like is that after a while, you don’t have to keep sending contracts for each job (if they’re trustworthy of course), you simply agree to terms over email or phone. That definitely makes things easier and helps things flow faster.
Impulse Magazine
May 19th, 2010 at 9:50 amI rather focus more efforts on maintaining my clients that i already have then focusing a lot of attention on bringing in new clients. The 80/20 rule all day
Sponsi
May 19th, 2010 at 11:15 amI had a client, a middle-size flower company. There was this one lady which simply made me (with her behaviour) quit this cooperation. In general, I like loyal customers but there is one more thing which sometimes is not really pleasant – sometimes people stay silent for a month or two and then they contact you and want sth done by you… then of course “I’ll be available next week” phrase might be useful so that they know you are appreciated and hard-working.
Laura Spencer
May 19th, 2010 at 11:24 amHi Olivia F Gresham, What you describe is a common problem that freelancers face–finding time to market themselves when they have work. Still, continuous marketing is important since it helps you avoid the notorious freelance feast or famine cycle…
Jo–I love referrals. They are a great source of new clients.
Jordan Walker and Freelancer Dave. Decreased rate can be a benefit that you offer a long-term client, but as Freelancer Dave rightly points out–always make sure that you are operating at a profit.
Annie Stith–I’m sorry you can’t get into the forums. You definitely should, because there’s a lot of good stuff there. If you email me directly I’ll forward it to our site owner and see if you can bypass the need to drag and drop.
Good points Melek and Impulse Magazine!
Sponsi, it is true that clients change over time. Still, unless you feel the client is cheating you, I would probably try to work things out before I abandoned ship.
George Passwater
May 19th, 2010 at 12:38 pmGreat post Laura.
I love having long-term clients. The benefits usually outweigh everything else. They trust you and will keep giving you more work or help you get get other clients. I have some that are personal friends now.
I like the points you made to keep the clients coming back for more. I always look at how do I make that client feel during the whole project. Did I make them feel like they got more than their moneys worth? Did they trust me? I like to make an entire customer experience from before, during and after for all clients. I find this will usually keep them coming back and giving out referrals as well.
Richard Moldovanyi
May 19th, 2010 at 1:09 pmI find that many of my clients become repeat clients. I actually wish I had a few more short-term clients, but I’m quite happy with my repeat clients.
It’s much easier to work with someone you know. Neither of you need to do very much explaining and you both know what to expect!
Sara Reyes
May 19th, 2010 at 2:08 pmGood points about keeping repeat customers. Although not a freelancer it’s important to always provide the best service to your current customers to keep them returning. And circumstances change. They may not have the budget now but they’ll remember you in the future when they do if you do a good job.
Laura Spencer
May 19th, 2010 at 6:32 pmGeorge Passwater–I think it’s a good idea to look at issues from the client’s point of view. Nobody wants to repeat an unpleasant experience.
Richard Moldovanyi, Sometimes it is easier to work with people you know–but, sometimes those can be the most challenging folks to work with…
Sara Reyes. You’re exactly right. You never know when someone’s circumstances may change.
Lorraine
May 19th, 2010 at 7:10 pmHi Laura:
I rarely burn bridges with clients. I have one client with whom I’ve stayed in touch for almost 20 years–and watched him move to four different companies. Thanks to him, I worked for three of the four companies. Another benefit: As he moved I got work in different industries and with various copy platforms.
I give old and dear clients priority in my schedule–guess that counts as an “incentive.”
And I keep them in the loop with regular, friendly communications: I send them my quarterly newsletter, email them with posts or links they may enjoy–and I send everyone an annual New Year card.
I make a point of staying in touch, even when I don’t get work from clients for a long period of time. Aside from the pure pleasure of friendly relationships, it can pay off in other ways down the line: Just this morning I heard about a project with a wonderful long-term client. So pleased…though I’ve stayed in touch, I haven’t worked for him in over 3 years.
Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com
May 20th, 2010 at 6:22 amPeople will really always remember that one person that gave them awesome value. I don’t even eat pizza any more but I remember a guy one day in a Pizza Hut in town and he was just so helpful. This was like 3 years ago. And another guy gave away free USB sticks 512mb with Topman emblazoned on the side. If you see that every day it gets Topman into your head and them being friendly and giving. Great tips in this article.
Usman
May 20th, 2010 at 9:26 amVery nice topic and very informative for business point of view
Scott Corgan
May 20th, 2010 at 10:59 amIt’s hard to find a client you like enough to keep them longer than one project. I’d say about 85% of the projects I’ve done have involved clients that I wanted to fire in the middle of the project. But there MAY still be hope…
Usman
May 21st, 2010 at 8:35 amhmm nice post thanks for sharing this one fantastic post
Annie Stith
May 23rd, 2010 at 2:01 amSorry this has taken so long. I’m prepping for a website launch.
The reason I can’t join the forums is because the spam/bot protection at signup requires dragging and dropping items into two separate lists (I.e., hot and cold). My BlackBerry Curve has a trackpad that doesn’t allow for drag and drop (or right clicking).
I’m finding more and more sites that just aren’t BlackBerry friendly and, unfortunatelyy, it’s my only web access.
Thanks!
Laura Spencer
May 24th, 2010 at 10:05 amHi Annie!
I’ve forwarded your comment to our site owner. I am hoping that he will be able to come up with a solution for you regarding the forums.
Everyone, continue to share comments on long-term clients…
einter
May 25th, 2010 at 6:54 pmI don’t know what the post is about but the girl on the picture is absolutely beautiful!
Angelee
May 26th, 2010 at 4:14 amOne should be proud to have a long-term client. It means there’s good business relationship in the middle.
Jake
January 9th, 2012 at 2:25 pmGreat post, we have some long term clients who we’ve worked with since their founding as a start-up and it has been very rewarding to help them grow and see that they are still around and doing well 6 or 7 years later.
how to undelete deleted files
January 31st, 2012 at 7:10 amHi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
reverbnation song plays
April 10th, 2012 at 8:08 amGot referred here by MSN. Anyhow, I see what you’re saying. Great read…
clicking jaw
April 20th, 2012 at 8:22 amFantastic goods by you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent. I actually like what you’ve got acquired here, really like what you’re saying and in what way that you say it. You are making it entertaining and also you still attend to to maintain it smart. I are not able to wait to see a lot more of your stuff. This really is actually a tremendous website.
Trackbacks