Discover how this simple, four-word “rule” makes freelance clients love working with you. (And gets them to pay premium rates to hire you over and over again.)
Pay close attention to these four words…
Because they have the power to make your clients love working with you.
And when your clients love working with you, they will hire you over and over again.
Some will even sign you to lucrative retainers. (Like the one that paid me more than $150,000 over the course of a few years.)
So what are these four words?
DO. IT. FOR. THEM.
See, your clients aren’t only paying you for your work (and the results they get from that work).
They’re also paying you to make their lives easier.
So you should always be looking for ways to “do it for them.” And take more work off of your client’s plate.
Here are just a few examples of how that looks…
1. Take Ownership Of Meeting Notes, Action Steps, And Follow-Ups
Your client’s time is valuable. So if you’re going to meet with them, do everything you can to limit how much time the client has to spend outside the meeting.
That means YOU take care of putting together the agenda and recording any notes or action steps. Also, make it clear that you will take ownership for sharing those notes and making sure everything gets done after the call.
Because imagine how much relief your clients will feel heading into a meeting, knowing that all they have to do is show up and share their input.
Since everything else will get handled by you.
Also, imagine how much better feedback you’ll get from your client if they’re not distracted with taking notes and project management during the meeting.
Instead, they can focus 100% on guiding the discussion and making sound decisions.
And that alone is often enough to make a lot of clients want to keep working with you again and again.
But remember, this is just one of many you can apply the rule to do it for them…
Let me show you another one now.
2. Don’t Just Make Suggestions — Set Them In Motion
Good freelancers give their clients guidance and suggestions on a regular basis. Especially when they are acting as a strategic advisor.
And while making suggestions is great…
It’s even better to start putting those suggestions into action. (While giving the client a way to stop it if they see an issue, of course.)
So for example, let’s say you come up with three new projects you can start working on for a retainer client.
A good freelancer would lay out the details, risks, and benefits of each one. And then they would suggest the option that they think is the best.
But a great freelancer — or a Pro-Lancer — will go one step further.
They will also start putting that suggestion into action by saying something like…
“So unless you tell me otherwise, then starting tomorrow morning I’m going to go ahead and start putting [this project] together.”
That way, the client only has to reply if they disagree with your decision.
And if they agree, they don’t even have to reply if they don’t want to. Since you’ve made it clear you’re going to start on that project tomorrow morning.
(This also gives the client an implied deadline for when they need to get back to you if they want to go in a different direction.)
ONE NOTE OF CAUTION: You need to be smart about how far you go without the client’s explicit approval.
For example, you probably don’t want to do anything that will be seen by the public without the client’s permission.
So it would be a bad idea to say…
“So unless you tell me otherwise, then tomorrow morning I’m going to email our list with the new discount I think we should run.”
And then to send that email without first getting the client’s approval.
But as long as you’re careful about how far you go without the client weighing in, you should be fine.
Because overall, most clients would rather you take the initiative and start moving forward on your suggestions.
Since the benefits of having you consistently taking action far outweigh the rare instance where they have to correct course.
And as long as you do it in safe and appropriate steps, they won’t mind if they have to stop you and make you backtrack once in a while.
Okay, here’s one more way to do it for them…
3. Take The Friction Away From Scheduling
When you have to schedule a meeting with a client, make it as easy for them as possible.
Do not ask them when they are free. Since that puts the work on them to pick a time. And then they have to get back to you to let you know.
Instead, start by offering a few potential times for the client to choose from.
That way, they can quickly check their calendar to see if one of those options works. And if it does, they can reply with a quick email to book that slot.
But also say you can work around them if the times you suggested don’t work.
That way, the client can then take control of picking a time that is best for them if they have to.
(But remember — this is more work for the client. Which is why you first want to offer a few options to hopefully avoid forcing them to do the work to find a time.)
Last, do not send clients a link to book time in your calendar.
This is more of a personal preference. But to me, it gives the wrong impression to send your clients a link to book time in your calendar. (Like with Calendly, for example.)
Since that forces the client to work around your schedule — when it should be the exact opposite.
So if you’re going to use Calendly, you should save a link to your client’s calendar.
That way, you can find a time that works best for them whenever you have to schedule a meeting.
Or at the very least, make sure your client is okay using your Calendly to book meetings before you send a link.
And Remember, These Are Just A Few Examples Of How To Apply The Rule DO IT FOR THEM With Your Clients
But you should constantly be looking for more ways you can apply this rule to the work you do.
Because if you can make this rule part of the DNA of your freelance business, your clients will love working with you.
And when your clients love working with you, they will gladly hire you over and over again. Plus they’ll also be willing to pay premium rates for your services.
Which is what we all want as freelancers.
Now let me show you how to make freelance clients come to you — like clockwork — using a simple, 30-second conversation…
All the details are inside my free business blueprint 30-Second Referrals.
With this free PDF, you’ll discover how to use a simple, 30-second conversation to get two referrals from every single client you sign. (I’ll even show you exactly what to say during this conversation with my word-for-word script on page 13.)
That way, you can make clients come to you like clockwork. And you can fill your pipeline with more new business than you can handle.
But there is a small catch…
30-Second Referrals is only available to members The Freelance Like A Pro email list.
So enter your best email below to join us and claim your free copy of 30-Second Referrals now. (And you’ll get my members-only emails to help you run a more profitable and stress-free freelance business, too.)
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Thanks for the freelancing guide and the emails that you've been sending out — the 30-second referral method is so stupidly simple, that it's genius!
Connor Inch, Freelance Copywriter