Good Freelance Writer Customer Service: Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
May 12, 2009 by Deb Ng
Filed under Customer Service
A freelance writer is only as good as his (or her) reputation. You can be the best writer in the world, but if you can’t deliver as promised, no one will want to work with you. When making promises to a client, be sure you can deliver, otherwise it can lead to a whole lot of frustration. Don’t promise to have something done by a certain day, or promise a certain amount of articles or blog posts each week if you have no intention of delivering.
Some things to consider:
Your client isn’t as dumb as you think: Just because your client is nice and doesn’t always make a scene about missed deadlines or broken promises doesn’t mean she’s not frustrated with your lack of concern. She might be all about second chances, but don’t count on her being a sucker. Trying to get one over never works out for any of the parties involved.
Just because you agreed to a low rate doesn’t mean you should renege: It doesn’t matter if you’re being paid $5, $50, $500 – or nothing at all – if you agreed to do a job, and get it done by a certain day, you should deliver exactly as promised. Today’s low paying client might be tomorrow’s high paying client or an important reference.
When you miss a deadline it causes a chain reaction: Do you know what might happen if you miss a deadline? Your editor misses her deadline. She can’t read your work, which soon after has to go to the webmaster or printer. Perhaps she’s counting on your work to show advertisers or get funding. Perhaps she needs good writing to show clients who need to contract out more writing. When you flake or miss deadlines, you cause other people to be late as well.
Friday means Friday: If your client is in a position to hire writers, she’s heard it all. She knows how long it take to produce certain types of work. If she checks in and you tell her you’re halfway done or almost done, and then you don’t turn in your work in a timely manner, she knows you lied. If you tell her a job will be complete by Friday, miss the date, and then promise for another date, and miss that date too – it tells your client you really don’t care about her or her project.
No one is forcing you to take a certain job. However, if you do it’s up to you to deliver as promised. If you don’t, it can ruin your reputation and that of your client. Say what you mean and deliver what you promise and you’ll never have to wonder why you have problems finding work or getting references.
Excellent points here. It’s so important to meet your deadlines and if you can’t just be honest with the client and tell them in advance. If they can’t bend, outsourcing is an option. Integrity is so important!
As they say “Honesty Is The Best Policy”.
All true, Deb. Clients aren’t dumb, and neither are editors and others who buy writing from us. I’ve always found that if I know I’m going to be late, and I rarely am, I know this pretty early in the project.
Oh sure, there are exceptions, like when my kitty got her foot badly cut (she’s fine now), but mostly I know when I’m getting in trouble with a deadline long before the deadline arrives.
And it’s then, when I first realize I’m in trouble that I need to contact the client/editor and tell ‘em I’ve got a problem. I need also to tell them how late I’ll be, and give them some choices if at all possible.
Speaking of which, I’ve got to get back to work
How do you become a freelance writer?
To paraphrase a Scarface quote, “All I have is my word.” There have been plenty of people who I’d never work with again because they’re unreliable — people who make promises they don’t keep, disappear for long periods, periodically seem not to care, etc. You can plan around having a B+ writer who’s on time, but you put everything in jeopardy by having a writer who’s always late but turns in A material because of, as you say, chain reactions.
Always strive to be a man/woman of your word.