How To Freelance Tuesday: Tips on Being Professional
I began my freelance journey last year with a bunch of research, reading every article and blog post I could get my hands on about the process. I remember finding an article that said something along the lines of, “If you act even the least bit professional, that’s going to go a long way with clients.”
Huh?
As someone who’s worked on high-performing teams, who had a lot of responsibility, and who managed a program at scale, I don’t know how you can’t be professional at all times in all work settings! I haven’t worked with other freelancers before, but what I tend to hear is that there are some, well, professionalism issues out there. So here are a few simple things to remember and adopt that will get you far in your career:
Be Pleasant and Personable
Gaining the trust and confidence of your client is key, and the simple way to do that is to be human. Be personable, be confident, be funny. Ask them how their day is going, and tell them how yours is going in response. (And I had to learn this — for a while I was very “Let’s go through the list!” in my meetings, and one of my past managers had to get me to loosen up by making me talk about my weekend. Changed the dynamic for the positive, actually!) At the end of the day, we’re all people trying to get projects done, and being a person is going to go a long way in building a good rapport for a lengthy relationship.
Be on Time to Calls and Meetings
You’ve heard the adage, “On time is late, and five minutes early is on time”? I was always five minutes early so I could chat with my co-workers, set myself up, and be ready to go at the time. That doesn’t so much apply to freelance life, where calls are the lay of the land (don’t show up early to a call!). But call or dial in right at the time scheduled. That way you and your client can get started, and it respects your client’s time as well. You don’t want them to be waiting for you or chasing you. If you’re running late, let them know — don’t just think it’ll be Ok to call five minutes late, because it isn’t.
Be Nimble
One of the markers of a high-functioning team is the ability to roll with it, and you should to. Even though the power dynamic is pretty much equal in a client/freelance relationship, you should always roll with their needs: be flexible on changing a meeting time, or revisiting expectations, or the deliverables timetable. Don’t be flexible when it comes to things like a suddenly ballooned project scope after the contract is signed, however! But little day-to-day things will let them know you can be nimble and adjust.
Response Time
I ran customer service for many years, where I was the primary contact by email for a large volume of people. My response time was always by the time I left work that day, but was usually only a few hours’ turn-around. I never set up one of those auto-replies the other departments did because my priority was getting back to them, because a prompt reply not only didn’t leave them waiting, but built trust, reliability, and relationship (I also wrote all my emails from scratch — never a script). The same thing goes for client response. Get back to them quickly so that they can get on with their business, and so that you can build trust and reliability.
Be Communicative
I can’t stress this enough. Communicate to the point where you think you’re over-communicating. What you’re really doing is keeping your client updated on your progress so that they can track their own work accordingly, but most importantly so they can relax! They don’t have to take the time to check in with you because they know they’ll hear from you. If an issue appears you’ve communicated about it early so you can both adjust. And you never want them wondering where you are. (I’ve heard enough stories about ghosting freelancers, and I’ve managed employees who ghosted me, and it’s not good, and rarely forgivable.)
Hit Your Deadlines
Always hit deadlines. If you promised something, deliver, even if you have to adjust your schedule or stay up late. And if you get stuck with something, communicate, because if you’ve built up a good relationship with your client, they’ll be super flexible. I managed deadlines for a large population, and the folks who communicated with me early that they may have issues hitting a deadline I was always happy to work with and offer accommodations. But the folks who missed deadlines, who I never heard from, and had to track down…?
Own Up
This goes back to the “being human” part I mentioned before. Own your mistakes or misunderstandings, and be honest if you don’t know something. It sucks and sometimes it’s humbling, but it not only shows you’re human, it shows you’re honest and willing to learn. Again, it builds trust and relationship with your client, and that ever-important transparency.
Follow Through, and Don’t Commit If You Can’t
Too often we get the message “Oh, you can just quit if you don’t like it.” (I know was always given that option growing up, and took it too many times.) But the reality is that stick-to-it-iveness and following through on your commitments is a highly valuable trait. It not only makes you trustworthy but reliable, with a demonstrable loyalty. In other words, if you have a contract or made a job promise, see it through. You can always adjust or change things afterwards. And yes, there are times when you do need to get out of an agreement or contract (I had to break a lease once, and had to quit a job). But if you’re constantly bouncing about and never stick to something for very long, your client isn’t going to be able to rely on you, and others won’t take the chance.
