Last year, I took a month off from my freelance work to drive around a few of America’s southern states. In the lead up to my trip, I was incredibly excited but also absolutely terrified.

Why?

Because I thought my client relationships would suffer. I thought my clients would trade me in for someone who wouldn’t just up and leave for a month without their laptop.

With gritted teeth and a pounding heart, I sent an email a month in advance to my clients to tell them about my upcoming adventure. And then I braced myself.

The first reply came in quickly.

Cue clammy hands.

And then cue a big ol’ smile of relief. Because, you see, my clients didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity of hiring someone else. Far from it, in fact.

I’d tried to soften the blow by saying I’d have my phone with me and could do any urgent work from the road, but my clients were having none of it.

“You deserve a break!”

“Go and have fun!”

“That sounds amazing! I hope you have a great trip and let us know as soon as you’re back.”

These were the resounding replies from the clients I’d been so terrified of emailing.

There’s this common misconception that freelancers have all the time in the world to travel and bunk off work early. But since I’d been freelance, I’d probably taken less time away from my laptop than I had at a 9-5 (although I had taken my laptop with me on several trips that could count as holidays).

I deserved a break.

And, luckily, my clients thought so too.

Nurturing Client Relationships Is Important for Your Business AND Your Soul

Now, I doubt I’d have had the same response if my clients consistent of low-paying companies scraping the barrel on UpWork. On content mills like that, freelancers are a dime a dozen and are, unfortunately, incredibly disposable.

But the clients on my roster at that time had either come to me or I’d strategically reached out to them.

And that’s just the easy part (I know, I know, finding clients is difficult, but the hard work doesn’t stop when you sign a contract).

I’d been working with most of my clients at that point for over a year, so they knew I was reliable and wasn’t just using my trip as an elaborate ploy to ghost them.

And, sure enough, when I got back from my adventure, they were all there waiting for me with open arms ready to dive back into work – something I’m not sure would have happened if I hadn’t taken the time to show them my reliability and skills.

But why is it so important to work on your client relationships? Surely they’re just a person at the end of an email who pays you when you hand over the goods, right?

Let me fill you in.

1. Referrals Are One of the Best Ways to Get Work

In the 2018 Freelance Writers’ Survey by Content Work, client referrals were revealed as the second most popular way freelancers found work – no surprise, really, when you consider that word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

When you build strong relationships with existing clients, they’re more likely to refer you on to other businesses and individuals they know. And, because they can vouch for you, you’ll have the upper hand when it comes to laying down pricing and contract boundaries.

2. Strong Client Relationships Lead to Consistent Work

One of the hardest things about being a freelancer is the prospect of losing all our contracts in one go and being left with nothing.

It’s terrifying.

When you’re working individual contract to individual contract, you’re constantly having to look ahead to find more work. However, if you build solid relationships with clients, they’re more likely to give you more work and sign longer term contracts with you.

Even freelancers that are renowned for working on short-term contracts (like designers) can benefit from this. I know a few designers who have regular work each month with a client because they’ve spent the time nurturing their relationships.

On top of this, working long term with clients can lead to more pay as well. I have several clients I’ve worked with for two years now who regularly increase my prices without me even having to nudge them.

These are the types of client that value what you do and are aware of how much you bring to their business.

3. You Quickly Become Part of the Team

There’s a saying in the writing world that you need to “show” and not “tell”, and I think this can be applied to freelancing, too.

It’s all well and good telling potential clients that you’re good at what you do and that you’re reliable, but showing them is even better.

The clients I’ve been working with long term know that I deliver work on time, stick to the terms of our contracts, and deliver my best stuff each and every time. They know this because I’ve shown them over and over again.

In long-term client relationships, you have time to show the client that you’re an expert at what you do and, when this happens, you’ll be invited into the fold.

With many of my clients, we have Slack groups or similar where we talk about random things as well as work. It feels great to be “part of the team” and it boosts my confidence as a freelancer knowing that I’m worthy enough to be considered one of the team.

4. Great Client Relationships Are Better for Your Soul

Imagine getting up every day and dreading the thought of sitting at your desk and interacting with clients you don’t get along with.

Not a good thought, right?

One of the joys of being a freelancer is the fact we can choose who we want to work with. When you have great relationships with your clients, it makes going to work that much more fun (and who doesn’t want to spring out of bed on a Monday morning ready and raring to go?!).

So now you know why client relationships are important for your sanity, business, and bank balance, let’s take a look at how you can successfully nurture those relationships.

Be human

This is something I constantly tell my students.

We’re human and our clients are human and, as humans, we like to connect with other humans!

It’s simple, really, but you’d be amazed at how many freelancers communicate with their clients like they’re a robot.

If you’re emailing, write like you would speak or, even better, try and get them on a video call so you have a face-to-face conversation.

Don’t be afraid to set boundaries

You are in charge of your business.

As freelancers, we’re not employees, but it’s often difficult to shake off that mindset. As a result, a lot of us simply go along with whatever the client wants and essentially bend over backwards to make them happy.

What this does in reality though is it eliminates any kind of respect the client has for us. Instead, you want to clearly set your boundaries. Remember, you are the expert and they need someone with your skills for a reason.

Talk about things other than work

I mentioned the group channels I have with some clients earlier, and I think it’s really helped to cement our working relationship. As well as sharing work related tidbits, we also chat about the weather, what we’ve been up to, and any inspiring things we’ve recently come across.

This doesn’t mean you need to start messaging your clients every day about what you had for dinner, but it does mean you can slip non-work related conversation into your communications – maybe you just came back off holiday, or maybe your child did something funny that you want to share.

Show your clients that they made the right choice

Hiring a freelancer is a risky game.

As someone who’s been on the hiring end the past, and after having many a candid conversation with my clients, it seems that the majority of freelancers aren’t reliable (can you believe it?!).

If you want to build lasting client relationships that lead to lasting contracts, you need to show your clients that you’re there for the long haul.

You can’t expect clients to invest in you if you’re not investing in them.

In this day and age, we all seem to be after the next quick buck and to land a contract quickly, but the best thing you can do for your freelance business is to work on building deep and long-lasting relationships with your clients.

These are the people that will keep your business ticking over for many years, and they’re the people who will get you more work.

It’s not something you can do overnight, but you can start working on your client relationships right now.