Freelance Web Design: Building and Maintaining Good Working Relationships With Your Clients

 Today, I want to talk about a few things which are important for developing good working relationships with your clients as a freelance web designer. This is an important aspect of freelancing, in my opinion, since you most likely deal directly with clients on a daily basis, and having great relationships with your clients will make your freelance career much more enjoyable and probably more successful as well. A happy client is very likely to refer people to you. At least, this has been the case for me. Nearly all of my clients have come to me through word-of-mouth, and I know for a fact that I am not the cheapest or most talented web designer around, but I do think that a major factor in the success of my freelance business has been from maintaining good relationships with my clients. Here are few of the things that I have learned can go a long way towards having successful relationships with your clients:

Be on the same team

I think it is really important to think of yourself as a part of the client's team. This is a very different mindset than the mindset that you are simply designing a site for them in order to get paid. Making your clients feel as though you are on their side (which you should be, since the success of your business in some ways hinges on designing successful websites) will make for happy clients. So, whether you are the client's entire team or just one essential part of it, it is very important to have the mindset that you are on the same team as the client. A client will be more comfortable working with you if they can tell that you are as vested in the success of their site as they are and that you are not only out for yourself.

Listen to your clients

Sometimes, I think it is hard not to get stuck in the mindset that you are the "expert" when it comes to designing the client's website. And you are - you are definitely the one with the technical and design knowledge of how to make a successful website. At the same time though, I believe you really need to listen to what your client is saying - listen to their goals for the site, their goals for their business or organization, their ideas on how they want the site to look and function, and (one of the most important ones that I have learned), listen to what they know about their audience. I have found that many times the client knows more about their customers and their audience than I do, and it is worth listening to what the client can tell you about them.

Communicate with your clients

I think you should not leave your clients in the dark about what is going on with their website. Of course, you don't need to bore them with technical jargon and things they don't understand and don't care to know about, but - they are the ones who put down their hard-earned money to have a website designed and it's understandable that they have a vested interest in how the work is progressing. Granted, some clients actually don't care to know what's happening, but I believe it is still wise to communicate with them and give them status updates. Even if it is just a short e-mail every few days or every few weeks, whatever is appropriate, communication with your client along the way helps to ensure that you are both on the same page as far as the project is concerned.

Be honest about what you can and cannot do

If there is something that your client wants or needs you to do that it is out of your skill range, price range, or time frame, you should always be honest with them about it. Even if you can't do it but are going to outsource the work and ensure that it gets done, I think the client should know what is going on and who is handling the work. It is never worth taking on a task or project that you know you probably can't handle and then disappointing or angering your client when they realize that you agreed to do something that you had no way of actually doing. It is always better for both the client and for your business and reputation to be upfront about which things you can and can't take on. Even if it means possibly having to say no to a project or a client that you would love to take on but you simply can't because you are not the best person for the job, it is better to just be honest about it right away than to risk getting a bad reputation for not doing what you said you would do.