Why you should always follow up with a Client

Why you should always follow up with a Client

When you freelance it is incredibly important that you follow up certain factors with your clients. This can include chasing up any payments, getting feedback after a completed job and following up after a bid proposal. The last two especially will help you to improve your service and having positive feedback on your profile can help your career to really flourish.  

Following up on bid proposals

When I first started freelancing I found that following up my project proposals was almost invaluable. It really does help to get feedback on why you were not chosen for a certain job and then you can try and tailor your profile to maybe include things that you had not previously thought of. On the first occasion that I followed up on a bid proposal I was told that although not suitable for that project he was willing to give me the next one because he liked the fact I was keen. I therefore cannot tell you enough how worthwhile it can be and how you may be able to find more work from doing so.

Making sure you get feedback

No matter what stage you are at in your freelancing career, obtaining feedback is always crucial. I have found that the more positive feedback I have then the more jobs I have managed to secure afterwards as a result. It is also a great way of seeing how well the job went and if there were any areas that could have been improved upon. I have also found that on the occasions where a small alteration to some articles was needed, by willingly doing this for a client it meant better feedback and even in some cases, more work.

I always make sure that I obtain some form of feedback to go on my profile as this always has a positive response.

Following up your Payment

Sadly you may find times when you have to follow up with a client and chase your payment. I have been lucky enough to only have this happen to me a couple of times but I know how frustrating it can be when you are left waiting. I always make sure that I send a final invoice with the last piece of work that I submit. If I have then not been paid within a week I send a polite email with another invoice attached because in some cases the client may just be extremely busy and have overlooked the payment.

Should you still not receive your payment then you may need to remind them again or in some cases take legal action to get them to pay you. If you ever do experience bad payment like this then I would severely advise against taking on any further projects with them. In such cases, if you have found the client via a freelance website then you may be able to leave them feedback which will help other freelancers from repeating the same experience.