Overseas clients account for most of the projects available in the freelancer market. Do you know the best manner or the right way to communicate with these clients?
Most business for freelancers comes from overseas clients. Traditionally the major chunks of these assignments are for writing, editing, translating, content management, blogging, graphic designing, report making, website design, and related fields. Now, companies are more open to giving work to freelancers and also parting with jobs like app development, marketing plan making, sales pitches, data entry or even client scouting kind of jobs through freelancers.
The number of service providers is much more than the jobs available and there are multiple people pitching in for one project. Mostly, the person with decent work and lowest quote takes the job home. The criterion however may vary from client to client. When working on a project a freelancer is expected to coordinate and communicate with client many times.
Hence communication with the client is one of the most crucial tasks because right words spoken in the right manner can actually create a long term impact. This impression on the client can well materialize into a possible business later or a long term business relationship right away.
A lot of overseas client operate in India through intermediaries, direct recruits or local cells for representation on such issues. Sometimes, the client too can directly get involved in the pitch or work process. There are a series of general and communication etiquettes that help a freelancer make the best impression. Here are few of them –
Be courteous – When speaking to the client in mail or on phone for the first time, it is imperative to refer to him as Mr XYZ or Ms XYZ. Most people nowadays preferred to be called by their first name and they will indicate so to you gradually. Use that name henceforth, but not otherwise. For women managers, it is advisable to refer to them as Ms XYZ always and not dabbling with Ms and Mrs as per convenience - which is popular in India.
Also, salutations like good morning, good afternoon, best regards make a good impression.
Indicate time in all communication – When dealing with clients, do mention clearly that you can send a quotation, sample or work stuff only by certain time IST. The clients may be working in a different time zone. Hence indicating your time is a good thing to do.
Another fact is when requesting for a phone or video conference-call or sending a chat invite do mention your time in advance and always ask for their convenient time too. The idea is to collaborate on a time comfortable to all. Waking a client in his sleep time or missing on your sleep for a work-related call is not advisable at all.
Flattery doesn’t win – There is a thin line in being friendly and flattering people. Nobody likes false talk and it may just create a bad impression for you. Refrain from going overboard in conversations, using personal remarks or unnecessary jokes. Also, some freelancers think that sending ‘happy weekend or ‘super Sunday’ kind of messages continuously is cool. In real world a person can get annoyed and may mark your mail or message as spam. Use your judgment when sending such mails or messages.
Knowing client in advance helps – When you pitch for a project or begin working with any client it makes sense to check his presence and work thoroughly. It will tell you a lot about his liking, work ethics, culture and some where the performance benchmark that he may have for you. Follow them on social media and subscribe to their newsletter. Any client will like to work with a freelancer who is upbeat with their work and culture.
Don’t look desperate – Lot of us try to use language specific salutation to show our allegiance with them. You will often see people saying ‘Bon Voyage’ or ‘sayonara’ and all. Try to keep all formalities in English. It helps to be prim and proper in front of clients. Gradually when a relationship builds, then you can get into that mode.
Also, few freelancers have a habit to send personal invites on social websites. Some client may not like that. Unless he sends you an invite, hold your horses on that front.
Don’t bitch about competitors - Once I had posted a data entry work for my website. Few quotes for price came in. One freelancer sent me a private message on a social media website and told me many glorified tales about his work and how the other weren’t competitive enough. That put him in a bad light right away.
That is how bad back biting can spoil your reputation.
Brush up on the concerned work language – Client is God, at least till the time you are working with him. Hence respect his language and mannerisms. If he works in English UK, you too should be doing that. If he uses English US for work, do that. There are two general work languages used and confused too.