Most of us have experienced some form of frustration when dealing with companies as customers and consumers; maybe the customer service was lacking, we experienced a late or missed delivery, the product didn’t perform as expected, or there was a long queue at the checkout.
Whatever the reason, it can make us view the company in a negative light. In extreme cases, we might not buy from them again.
But what are some common frustration points that clients might experience when dealing with freelancers and small business owners, and how can we fix them?
Let’s take a look:
Ensure the first point of contact is a smooth one
The first point of contact will be your prospective client’s first direct experience with your company and how you deal with client correspondence and communicate in general, so this touchpoint should be as smooth and friction-free for them as possible.
You’ll need to consider how potential clients contact you, as there could be many channels open to them. For example, if you are on several social media platforms unless you state otherwise (i.e. tell them to contact you via your preferred method), they could contact you via any of the social media platform’s direct messaging systems. If you don’t check these regularly or have notifications on, you could miss them.
Likewise, if you have a contact form on your conversion-optimized website or simply get people to email you, these notifications all need to be managed and promptly responded to. That’s where good inbox management comes in to ensure you deal with priority queries first and don’t miss any hot new leads.
If your client acquisition process includes a sales or discovery call, you may want to qualify them first by getting them to answer a few brief questions before the call. Again, this needs to be refined, so if it’s in questionnaire form, there shouldn’t be too many questions that take forever to complete, which might put the prospect off.
The more automated you can make the process, the better; for example, instead of playing email ping pong to arrange a date to get on a call or meet, use an online scheduler that links to your calendar and other streamlined work tools and automate the whole process.
These initial little tweaks will have a big impact on your client’s perception of you and your business.
Communicate well throughout the project
Once you agree to take on a new client, you’ll want to get them onboard as promptly and smoothly as possible.
Depending on your onboarding process, this could initially involve sending out your written proposal, deposit invoice, freelancer payment terms and conditions, and written contract. Again, the more automated the process and the easier it is for your client, the better. To keep things streamlined, it makes sense to make use of automation tools and helpful additions such as automatic signatures so your client can approve things quickly and seamlessly.
Having a written process in place of everything you need to do will help you put this workflow together so you don’t miss anything out. Having standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all your workflows will also make your business more efficient in any event.
Part of the onboarding experience could also involve sending out an automated welcome email sequence, which, in addition to the above items, can include general housekeeping such as file and account access.
The key is to look at the process through the client’s lens. If you were hiring someone, what would you expect as a minimum, and what would be your ‘like to haves’? What’s going to help your client and boost your brand perception?
During the project, not only is it important to keep communication channels open and schedule regular check-ins, especially when working on long projects, but you also want to agree on what communication channels you’ll be using. Before the project commences, you’ll need to establish boundaries for when you are available and can be contacted.
Poor communication can result in delays and missed deadlines. Freelancers missing deadlines can be a major headache (and worry) for clients, so absolutely avoid it where possible.
Make paying you easy
A common frustration that freelancers can face is late payment of their invoices. Not being paid on time can be due to many reasons, and we’ve listed some of them in our post here. That’s why it makes sense to get freelancer payment terms and conditions agreed upon upfront and in writing so there are no unwelcome surprises later on.
Sometimes, a late payment can simply be a miscommunication or even an error on the invoice, such as incorrect payment information, especially if you are compiling them manually. This can be frustrating and time-consuming for both parties.
One way to mitigate this is to use invoicing software.
Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, fast online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors. You can also convert quotes to invoices at the click of a button, which is a great way to speed up processes and make that all-important first impression.
Try Invoice Ninja for free here.
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Remember, if a frustration point is slowing your customer down, it’s also slowing you down, so take regular audits of your processes to ensure everything is still ticking over as it should.
