Photo by lefthand.

Recession got you bummed? Fear not, there is much you can do.

I’m no economist, but it seems only natural that markets should correct themselves (level off and perhaps retract) after consecutive years of positive domestic and global growth. In any case, the situation is what it is. So what’s a freelancer to do amidst leaner and tougher economic times? The answer is: Be even more valuable to your clients.

If you’ve been freelancing for any length of time, you’ll know that your cash flow probably looks like a volatile stock chart; spiking up and down, up and down. The nature of our game is one day we’re so busy we can barely keep up, the next it’s so quiet we can hear the wind whistling through the trees.

Working on retainer is one way to smooth out cash flow volatility, yet during a recession, it’s even more important to focus on providing added value to your client base and help keep your income stream healthy.

This isn’t about being some flakey networker that spams clients with fluff, it’s about doing your best to provide your clients with some real benefit from knowing you. The more genuinely valuable you are to your client base, the better off you’ll be.

Now, I know customer service is something many freelancers aren’t fond of, but listen; when it comes to your clients, you want to be at the forefront of their minds, always. Lets take a look at some techniques that allow you to quickly and easily stay on their radar … and add value where possible.

Ping your clients

The no-brainer way is with a quick e-mail ping.

“Hello Dave, Checking in to see how everything is going and whether I can help you with anything?”

Article of interest

While you are cruising the web, take note if you spot something that might be of value to a client.

“Hello Dave, I came across this article on potential new regulations that could affect your entire industry and thought it might be of interest to you.”

Add a link to the article. The more relevant the it is, the better.

Refer and introduce

Check your client base and see who might benefit who then make some quick introductions.

“Hello Dave, I’d thought I would take a moment to introduce you a client of mine, John Citizen. John runs Crazy Potato Studios and has a great team of SEO experts that I think would be of benefit to you.  John, Dave works over at Better Buggy Whips Inc. and can service all your buggy whip needs.  I’ll let you guys connect and take it from here.”

Naturally it’s preferable to connect two people whose offerings compliment each other but one beneficial “introducee” will do.

Error check client websites and update

Take a moment to scan client web sites for errors.  A good technique here is bug hunting for breaks in that ultimate nightmare of all professional web developers; Internet Explorer.  Cruise around your client’s websites and spot breaks and errors then notify them about it.

“Hey Dave, I was doing some quality control on your site today and found that X was breaking on page Y in Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP.  Give me a shout if you want me to fix it for you.”

Offer a little free time

Ping select clients with a “Limited Time Offer” of free time (your time, that is).  For example:

“Hello Dave, A quick note to let you know that as a valued client of mine, I am extending 2 hours of my time to you for free to use as you wish.  There are some conditions for this free time which are as follows:  You can use this free time towards any of my services.  This offer of free time expires exactly two weeks from today. My recommendation is to use that time taking care of X but again, you are free to use this time any way you wish.”

This generates a ton of goodwill and you’ll find that more often than not your client will end up spending more than the hour or two you give away for free.

Wrappin’ it up

Ok so now you’ve got a few techniques you can roll out when the urge arises.  Remember, be of value to your clients and you’ll always stay busy and well paid.  If you have some techniques you use during slow times, let’s hear ‘em!

Photo by marinacvinhal.

"I got the answers I needed and my boss loves me."

Yep, speed is important!  The old cliche is that “time is money” and when your clients consistently get super fast responses to their queries, your stock with them invariably goes up. It’s also important to understand that as a freelancer one of your greatest strengths is your mobility. Studios and development teams aren’t generally able to respond as quickly as you are.  So get guerrilla and leverage that competitive advantage to the max!

OK let me put the brakes on here for a sec though.  I know some people advocate checking and replying to email during specific sessions — like when you first log on for the day, and before you leave for the day — for reasons of supposed productivity.  That technique is fine, clients will be happy enough if you get back to them a couple times a day, I guess.

Since I’m nuts about differentiating myself with killer customer service, I recommend doing things a little differently.

The 30 Second Customer Service Technique

The 30 second customer service technique is as follows:

• When you’re on the clock, keep your email client open and running in the background
• When a new email comes, skim it
• If it’s a query which would take less than 30 seconds to reply to then …
• Reply right away

Like, whoa!

Put yourself in Joe Client’s shoes for a sec.  After weeks or months of working with you and you consistently get back to him almost as quick as the message is sent, do you think Joe is going to think you are one stand up professional or what? The short answer is: Big time.

Joe will be so stoked he’ll:

• Give you more and more work as it arises
• Be willing to pay you higher rates
• Be less likely to shop around with your competitors for similar services
• Happy to tell others how “awesome my web guy is.”

All because you spend 30 seconds now and then to get back to the guy at speed.  How about you, have you got any best practices for customer service?

Photo by king edward.

Keep your clients coming back with killer customer service.

Differentiation

More than anything else, customer service will make or break your business and set you apart from your competition.  Yep, even more than your design work.  Many clients aren’t sure about what constitutes poor design work but you can be sure most of them know what poor customer services feels like. The good news is this: it’s way easier to consistently provide rock star customer service than it is to provide rock star design.

Providing killer customer service is easier than you think and has tons of benefits like:

• Helping you win new clients
• Your current clients refer you to others
• Protect you from having your clients poached by competitors
• Keep your clients coming back for more of your services

I mean, chances are most of your potential clients have bought services from other designers before and that experience is their benchmark. Clients will only put up with poor communication, lateness and rudeness for so long before they go their own sweet way looking for someone else … no matter how good the design work is.

Trust

The most valuable commodity you poses as a freelancer is trust.  If your clients feel like they can rely on you then your chances of getting work from them go up and it makes it harder for a competitor to steal that client from you. The best way to build trust is in consistently being polite, reliable and if you can; fast.

Photo by joeshlabotnik.

Ideally, your clients should always look something like this.

Wingnuts

One guy,  lets call him Wingnut, vanished on me like a fart in the wind on the tail end of a project. He was working on the front-end design for a site and two weeks into it he disappears. Trying to call him or email him yielded no reply so I start making alternative arrangements to get the job done.  Meanwhile, he is updating his blog and obviously not dead.

A day later, Matt emails me a link to a design forum where some other guy is mad as hell with for the same reason: Wingnut went MIA on him too.  Will I ever use that guy again or recommend him to anyone?  Hell no. Does he care?  Probably not.

It’s inconvenient to get let down by people yet I love that there are so many unreliable people around and you should too, here’s why…

Chances are that your clients (both existing and potential) have dealt with their own Wingnuts in the past and this gives you a chance to shine by merely being a decent, accountable human being.

Vanishing

This one is easy: don’t do it, ever. Unless you get eaten alive by a shark, abducted by aliens or incapacitated for some reason then don’t ever vanish on a client. It’s very poor form and there are few things worse for adversely affecting ones reputation.

Lateness

Life happens and we’re all going to be late on a delivery now and then.  If you know you are going to be late for a delivery, simply drop your client a quick email and let them know.

“Dave, A quick note to let you know that I am a little behind schedule.  My apologies for the hold up.  I’ll be in touch soon with an update.”

It takes mere seconds to email something like that to your client and you know what? Unless there is some red hot deadline in question, chances are said client will understand and be cool about it.  Keeping Dave informed like that means customer satisfaction is generated in the blink of an eye and an otherwise awkward position is immediately diffused. Naturally, you’ll want to keep these kinds of emails to a low and tolerable frequency!

The worst

If you know you are going to miss a deadline, no matter how small, the absolute worst thing you can do is do nothing.  Doing nothing is the same as a temporary vanish.  The deadline will pass, Dave will be wondering “WTF?” and his respect for you will drop. Do this enough times and Dave will go looking for someone he can count on.

Lastly, if you are going to miss a deadline, don’t make the mistake of thinking that Just because you know you are going to deliver in a few hours (or a day, or whatever) that it’s OK not to update your client.  It’s definitely not OK.

If you are going to be late, be professional and accountable by letting your client know and shine above the likes of Wingnut for doing so.

Photo by Powerdruns.

Smooth out the ups and downs of freelancing by selling your time in advance.

I completed this little project which turned out to be the catalyst for a great working relationship and over the next five years, this client would spend over a $100k with me, all from a small two hundred dollar project.

You see, not only do I always ask my clients for testimonials and referrals but I also check in with them every few weeks to see if they need a hand with anything.  Over a few months of doing this, my new client sent me more and more work to the point where they were using me regularly and directly and not bothering to post projects on Elance any more.

Now, they were a young company back then and growing at a steady rate.  I wanted to make sure that some other crafty web designer didn’t come and undercut me or worse still, have them consider to hire someone full time in-house.  In order to create a win-win situation for both of us, I offered them what I call “Studio Time” which gave my client the ability to hire me on retainer.

Here’s how I define and pitch Studio Time:

• Client gets to retain X number of my hours per month, every month (these hours are the Studio Time)
• Client gets to retain those hours at a discounted rate (e.g. bulk discount)

Some of the conditions for Studio Time are as follows:

• Client prepays for the Studio Time
• Client can draw upon retained Studio Time hours at any time
• Unused Studio Time hours only roll over from one month to the next
• Studio Time hours older than two months expire

Benefits of Studio Time

Studio Time is great for the freelancer because:

• It improves cash flow
• It can often be free money if the hours expire

Studio Time is great for the small to midsize company because:

• It’s cheaper and easier than hiring a full time employee
• It’s ultra convenient to have a designer “on tap”

Consider setting up similar retainer agreements with your clients to smooth out your cash flow and have more bankable hours every month.