Introduction
- Why freelancing often involves diverse client requests.
- The importance of staying calm and confident when facing new challenges.
The Initial Client Call
Typically a quick cold call, or brief scheduled call, where you talk about the needs of the client at a high level without diving into too much detail (ie price, methodologies, etc.). This call is designed to weed out anyone who is calling you incorrectly (they may not need a web developer).
- Tips for effectively listening to client needs
- The initial call is typically brief and therefore you’ll want to get a quick laundry list of items from the client - you can then “study” the topics later in preparation for a longer follow-up call
- How to ask the right questions to clarify project scope.
- Ask about ideas and goals, not super specific needs and wants at this stage (ie Would you want to be able to easily share these blog posts to Facebook? | instead of talking in-depth about social media strategies and sharing plugins)
- Identifying whether the request is within your skill set or if it requires additional expertise.
- Vet the call right now, but not too seriously. Some people are blatantly calling the wrong person - you can let them know that they should call someone else at this stage if this happens to you
Strategies for Managing Diverse Requests
- How to simplify the client's needs into manageable tasks.- When to consider subcontracting or collaborating with other specialists.
- The importance of building a network of trusted freelancers and developers for collaboration.
Navigating Knowledge Gaps
- Should you quickly learn new skills or tools when a project requires it?
- Leverage online resources, tutorials, and community support.
- Don’t count yourself out on projects where you have some knowledge gaps, it’s impossible to know everything about everything
- Communicating transparently with clients about timelines and your approach to unfamiliar tasks.
- Some say that being honest about your knowledge shortcomings is bad salesmanship (and maybe it is), we’ve had a tonne of clients not work with us because we’re very honest when talking to them about difficult topics like this - however, we’ve also had several clients specifically work with us for our transparent and honest communication
Deciding When to Outsource
- What are the signs that a project might be better suited for a specialist?
- How to approach and collaborate with other freelancers or agencies? Should you subcontract or completely outsource?
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