How to Nurture Relationships with Your Gem Clients
As freelancers, we spend a lot of time surrounded by less-than-desirable clients. So when a gem comes along, it can not only shock us, but we may be a little dumbfounded on how to nurture the relationship or accept it for how wonderful it is.
In my copywriting business, I deal with all types of people everyday. My best clients are those that are professional, give me some creative liberties, offer constructive feedback, pay well, and—ideally—come back for repeat work. Not every client fits that formula, but there are those rare, almost cosmic, instances when I get a customer that seems to have an angelic glow.
Of course it’s easy to respond to a warm, pleasant client. But for some reason, I have to take a step back when I encounter this rare breed of client—I want to make sure that I am doing all I can to reciprocate how much I enjoy working with him or her, and ensure that I can cultivate this one-of-a-kind gem.
Here are some tips to help you do the same.
Recognize a diamond when you see one
If you notice a client that’s pleasant and enjoyable to work with that respects your business policies, you’ve got a shining example of a fabulous client on your hands. Whether you interact with them just once or the client produces repeat job opportunities, it’s good to recognize that this is a client that you should focus your efforts and energies on.
Whenever I have a “gem” client, I always take the extra time to let them know that I appreciate and enjoy working with them. One of my gems and I were on the phone recently and he mentioned that he wanted my invoice to get it paid on time. When I emailed him the invoice, I included a note letting him know how much I valued his eagerness to pay me on time. It was a small gesture, but I always want my top clients to know that I appreciate them.
Go above and beyond for said gem
Whenever I have a class-act client, I think of little things I can do to help them. For a client who pays on time, gives me regular work and makes the time to ask how I am doing when we talk, I let him know when I came across a website he may be interested in.
I recently turned a press release into a query letter and pitched it to a national magazine that would be the perfect platform to promote one of my gems. I told him about it and let him know that there would be no charge. If the idea got picked up, I would get paid by the publication—and I’d be happy to feature this client and give him some free press!
Use the client as a shining example
Most of us want to showcase the work we’re proud of; not only to promote our talents but to garner more clients that will be impressed with the project. That’s why I make sure to ask my favorite clients if I can feature their work on my website as part of my portfolio. This does a number of things: It shows their audience that they take marketing seriously (in my case) by hiring a professional copywriter; it shows my clients the types of projects I do and the types of clients I represent; and the client, in most cases, feels special that I’m pleased enough with their project and their company to let it represent what I do.
Not all of my star clients let me brag about their work, though. Some projects are governed by confidentiality agreements. I make sure that I stick to their wishes in those cases.
Don’t let the client relationship lose its luster
Your dream client may be wonderful at paying well, paying on time and giving you the creative liberty to take charge on one of their projects, but they may need a little hand-holding in other areas. Invest the time to do so.
For example, after the project is over make the effort to stay in touch. This goes back to my first point about staying on top of a client’s industry. You don’t have to set up a Google Alert for news that affects them, but when you come across something that may be of interest to the client, let them know. It’s a wonderful courtesy and you never know when that may get them thinking about using your services again. You may choose to keep the relationship alive by checking in every few months, or adding the client to your email marketing list. Stay visible.
Once you’ve got a fantastic client, treat him or her like a precious gem: make sure you maintain it, flaunt it, wear it again and again, and enjoy the shine every time you put it on!
Kristen Fischer is the author of Creatively Self-Employed: How Writers and Artists Deal with Career Ups and Downs. Find out more at www.creativelyselfemployed.com.
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Great article, this is so true. Its works on the whole 80/20 rule… that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients. I make an effort to stay in touch with my regular clients and let them know how important they are to my business. I will also always send through information I come across that I feel will help their business and try to keep them up to date with the latest trends.
So true, the gem clients are rare. I’m lucky to have one that keeps giving me good work and good pay =)
Great suggestions, especially about including them in your portfolio and using that as a way to make them feel special. But isn’t writing an editorial piece about a client a conflict of interest? I’ve had clients ask me to write about them for X magazine, and I’ve gracefully bowed out to preserve the separation between my editorial work and my copywriting work.
Great post! We have a few clients that I would consider Gem’s and we always make sure they are taken care of first. We like to offer discounts to them when they bring repeat work or especially when they refer other clients to us. Great suggestion on putting them in your portfolio as well. I like to have a featured project on my home page that I generally switch out every so often as we bring new clients online.
Keep the great articles about client and customer management and appreciation coming! Great stuff!
great reminder to put the effort into nurturing those diamond-in-the-rough clients. Thank you!
The good old 80/20 principal…that 80 percent of your revenue will come from 20 percent of your client base. I’ve been working hard to slowly cut down on the negative 80 percent of clients that don’t contribute to that 80 percent so that I can add on more of the positive 20 percent, though sometimes it can be tough to figure out just what those positive clients will look like in the wild.
Great post, valuable info! Whenever I have an important meeting with a gem that doesn’t require laptops or projectors, or sometimes to conclude a project, one thing I like to do is take them out to a nice coffee place for discussion. For $5-10, it’s an inexpensive way to give your appreciation!
Thanks for this post! Most of my clients are gems and I honestly love them to bits! One thing I did last Christmas was to put together a discount coupon book with other service providers. The coupon book had discounts, not just on my services, but also for services that any business owner would need, such as graphic design and even business coaching.
The other day, my client was asking for testimonials (she’s a mentor for WAHMs, among other things). While others gave her written testimonials, I made one in video and posted it on YouTube, complete with her branding. She loved it and said I drove her to tears.
I also like sending clients physical cards through the mail.
There are so many ways to show our appreciation of our clients, and anybody else who has helped us along the way. Let’s make it easy for them to remember us and keep coming back to us for our excellent work.
Love the idea of using forwarded Google Alerts to show a past client that you are thinking about them. A very low-key, thoughtful way of keeping in touch. I made this a subject for a blog post. With appropriate attribution to you, of course.
http://www.alertrank.com/mrgooglealerts/2009/04/17/google-alerts-sales-tool-freelance/
Excellent post, i generally send my “A” category clients a monthly newsletter about the latest ways in which their competitor are promoting their products/services. I make it a point that i give my suggestion or estimates about the campaign and its effectiveness, this helps the client to think and see if it fits in their budget or its worth doing. One of my client is a big IBM competitor, so when i send him a newsletter with some of the latest IBM new media marketing tactics along with a rough cost and effectiveness estimate, he immediately provides me the task of making a similar kind of campaign for them.
So it pays to go an extra mile for those Gem clients.
I love this article. I like the concept of Gem Clients. If we have just one or two of these then we are doing something right!
I’ve found that recognizing a client as a gem does so much more for the relationship and boosts the ‘virtuous spiral’ between us. I find I get a lot more work through word of mouth from my Gem Clients. It perpetuates itself!
Truth is, we all have Gem Clients – these are the clients that we have the best relationship with, not necessarily the most earning from at first. By nurturing these relationships, the earnings are likely to grow and ‘go viral’!
Writing an article for a client is not a conflict of interest–that’s exactly the type of connections that writers should be using to benefit their clients. Especially since this client has no problem with me landing a piece that promotes them. He doesn’t mind that I get paid and encourages me to pursue it. Plus, it’s a great way to give him exposure (article won’t just feature him, but others too) and get his press release even further. This is why the client is a gem!
Great Post, Great Reminder, I will save it, I will follow the action…. thanks very much for your post, it will help me a lot.