There’s nothing quite like landing a new client when you are a freelancer. It’s a great feeling and usually heralds the start of a promising, fresh business relationship and an opportunity for both parties to flourish and prosper.
But before you go ahead and sign on the dotted line, what are some key questions you should be asking so you start off on the right footing?
Here are 7 questions to consider:
1. What is the duration of the project?
How long will the project run? For example, is it a long-term project or a short ‘one and done’, after which you’ll need to find another client? Is there the possibility of a retainer contract and recurring income, or another project after this one is complete?
This is an important question, as what and how you charge, and your longer-term income forecast, will depend very much on the type of freelancer contract you are entering into and will determine your capacity for other opportunities that may present themselves with this client or others.
Planning ahead can also help you avoid the freelancer feast or famine cycle or burnout if you take on too much work or the project overruns.
2. How did they hear about you?
Knowing where your potential clients come from and their path to your services will be a key determinant in refining (and improving, if necessary) your client acquisition process.
It might be that they landed on your SEO-optimized website after using specific search terms, or they read your blog, or they could be a referral, in which case, you’ll want to thank the referrer. You could even have a formal referral program in place.
Either way, knowing how your new prospective client heard about you will help you ascertain what they already know about you and where you need to fill in any gaps.
It can also help you improve your client onboarding process if you identify any friction points.
3. What problem do they want you to solve?
And can you solve it?
They might have been referred to you, but what they want isn’t in your wheelhouse. While there are workarounds to this, such as teaming up with someone who does have the required skills or outsourcing an element of the work, generally speaking, if you don’t have the skills, it’s probably better to pass this time or refer them on to a trusted and reliable resource in your freelancer network.
You want to work with the best-fit clients.
Alternatively, it could even be that they don’t know what they don’t know, and the problem they think they want to solve could be achieved by a completely different approach – so it pays to keep your analytical problem-solving hat on.
4. What’s their budget expectation?
And just as important, do they have a budget?
Some clients may not have hired freelancers before, so they don’t know what your services might cost. You can mitigate attracting tire kickers by displaying your prices on your website or having a prices ‘start from’ range. You can also pre-qualify clients by asking them a few pre-discovery call questions if a sales call forms part of your process.
Your positioning and marketing should also be doing a lot of the heavy lifting in this regard.
What you want to avoid is going through a time-consuming and lengthy sales and proposal process just to discover your prospective client hasn’t got the budget or has but doesn’t want to spend it on you.
5. Who will you report to?
Who you liaise with on the project is important.
You’ll want to know the chain of command and who you need to go to for what. You’ll also want to know who will be responsible for paying you.
If you’re working for a large organization, the person responsible for paying your invoices likely won’t be the same person who you are dealing with, and your invoices may have to go to another department before being signed off and paid, so make sure you know their payment processes, and also nail down your payment terms and conditions in writing before you commence any project.
This brings us nicely to…
6. When and how will you be paid?
As mentioned, what, how and when you will be paid should be included in your payment terms and conditions.
However, some organizations pay on specific dates or have their own payment terms and methods. This is especially the case for larger organizations or agencies. So, make sure you are aware of and happy with them before you commence work; you don’t want to start a project thinking you’ll be paid monthly only to find that you’re paid in arrears or after 60 days. Payment methods can also vary, so it makes sense to offer a range of payment options.
Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software, offers a range of payment gateways. A payment gateway is the tech that allows your clients to pay you securely and swiftly online. Multiple payment gateways give your clients more choice in how they pay your invoice. Our payment gateways include Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, and more. Plus, our BTCPay Server integration means you can now receive Bitcoin payments directly to your wallet with no fees.
See all our payment gateways here.
Try Invoice Ninja for free here.
7. Do you really want to do this work?
Will this work bring you joy, or at least some satisfaction?
You’ll likely be giving the project a lot of your time, energy and focus, so as well as having the skill set and experience to perform your work, you’ll also want to make sure you enjoy it, or at least most of it.
Sometimes we have to take on work we’d rather not do, but this should be the exception, not the norm.
When you don’t enjoy a particular task, it’s more likely you won’t be performing at your best, and it could lead to low productivity or below-par work.
So if the work is something you know you definitely would rather not do (and you don’t have to) and would lead to anxiety, then you should seriously consider referring it on!
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Finally, a good litmus test is to go on your gut instincts.
Sometimes, a freelance gig can look great on paper, pay well and seem right up your alley, but something about it seems a little off. If something feels off to you, it’s a good idea to trust your instincts, give it a pass this time, and wait for another better opportunity to fill the gap.
