The secret to building trust with clients [Issue 032]
Want to know how to make more money without having to resort to stealing office supplies from your client’s office?
Well, building trust with your clients is key!
1. Prove you are reliable by building immediate trust
First, promise something simple by end of day or next day and deliver when you promised.
This could be as simple as sending your availability or links to something mentioned on the call.
One of the biggest fears of clients hiring freelancers is that you’re going to run off with their money and not deliver on your promises. And some clients have had that happen, so they might be conditioned to not trust you until you prove you are trust worthy.
2. Set clear communication expectations
How are you going to communicate?
How often should they expect updates?
If the client asks for updates every couple of hours (or any amount of time that hinders you from focusing long enough to get significant work done) explain that you need a X amount of time (four hours, a whole day, or a whole week) to have time to think, sketch, design or animate. Lead with “I want to produce the best work for you, so here’s how I work best.”
Now that you’ve shown that you’re reliable and trust worthy (promising something and delivering on time) and you’ve set expectations for communications and updates, the next step is…
3. Keep delivering on time
No disappearing acts.
If you keep delivering updates or communicating when expected things should go pretty smoothly.
But life gets in the way, so let the client know that you’re behind on a particular update as soon as possible. This may seem like you’d lose their trust by admitting you’re behind (it’s not fun delivering bad news), but the opposite is true. If you just try to push through and deliver as soon as possible, they are going to assume the worst. In the absence of communication, they will fill in the gaps.
So, there you have it, folks! Building trust with your clients is easy if you start on the right foot. And it’s something that takes place over time. It takes thinking from the perspective of a client paying a random stranger on the internet a lot of money, nervous they’re going to be hornswoggled. It makes all the difference.
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