The last thing you want is to have to look for new clients on a regular basis. Any good service provider knows the key to avoiding the serious ‘feast or famine’ of a service-based business is to have extremely happy clients who have absolutely no reason to leave your practice.
In this article we’ll talk about some of the best practices of providing services that ghostwriters and many other service providers live by. Use them and you’ll increase your odds of never losing a client due to spotty work.
Have a ‘Process’
In another article we’ll discuss how you create your own process. It’s important to have a process so that you don’t have to reinvent it every time you work with a client and waste time. This will make you a better, faster writer. A well-planned process will also assure your client that they are working with a professional who knows what she’s doing and they’ll be much more likely to trust you right from the start.
Get Details and Confirm Information
When you get the details of your project from your client be sure to listen carefully and take detailed notes. Ask questions as necessary. When you think you understand everything, don’t just take it and start working. As a final step confirm what you’ve heard from your client and ask them if it’s correct. Sometimes a simple miscommunication can be costly (to either you or your client) and you want to avoid that if possible.
Never Miss a Deadline
This should really go without saying, but there are so many writers out there who do not take deadlines seriously, and it hurts their business. Make a deadline a contract between you and your client. Take it VERY seriously and never let them down. You know what happens when you make a promise to a friend and then break it? Your friend stops believing in you, and will eventually stop speaking to you at all. The same thing will happen with your client if you let her down on a consistent basis (or maybe even one time if your client is a strict deadline enthusiast).
Over-Deliver
It’s not difficult to over-deliver. So many people under-deliver these days that simply doing what you’re supposed to can make you look fabulous. I suggest you go further than that by going above and beyond your customer’s expectations. Clients are thrilled when you get work to them early, add bonuses they didn’t expect, anticipate their next needs and generally anything that helps them out without costing them extra.
You can pull all of these elements together and wow your new clients. An organized ghostwriter with a process who’s always on time and gives extra without being asked is a keeper, no doubt. Be sure to brag about this as often as possible and you’ll probably fill up your writing schedule in no time.