So, there are clients and then there are clients. I braced myself for a range of clients when I started out \u2013 the brilliant ones and the hair-pulling ones, because that\u2019s life, right? Some people are clear, logical, structured and great communicators, and some people\u2026.less so. I\u2019ve been looking back over the last 18 months and realising how lucky I\u2019ve been to work with the clients I have. Here\u2019s some of the things that have stuck out recently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently got a leaving card and voucher from a charity I\u2019d worked with \u2013 and it bowled me over. Now yes, I had been working with them for just over a year, and it was an interim role so I was more of an embedded part of the team, but, I was still freelance and it was still a business arrangement. To go to the effort of getting everyone to sign the card (and even a leaving gift) really struck me. It was such a lovely gesture and one that spoke to what an incredible group of people they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another corker is feedback. While doing a project for another charity, I was struck by how clear and direct they are with feedback \u2013 so you know exactly what\u2019s working and what needs extra work. Without this, it can feel hard to be confident you’re delivering what the client wants. I loved knowing exactly where I and the project stood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently had a project overrun, through no fault of anyone\u2019s. But the impact was a significant delay to my payment \u2013 something I expected to receive in Sept\/Oct suddenly was now moving to Dec\/Jan and for a freelancer\u2019s cashflow, that can be hard to manage. Having a client who is able to recognise this challenge and work to unblock any admin hurdles is worth their weight in gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been working with another charity to put together a proposal where they would be the beneficiary of some development work \u2013 it was a short bid document but a tight turnaround. They made diary time, co-editing the document and were quick to approve submission. It set the tone for what will hopefully be a great working relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charity<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the non-profit sector does tend to be full of good people, but it doesn\u2019t always mean organisations are great clients. Engaging freelancers needs clarity of brief, organisational availability, speedy payments and support when needed. Whether it’s good luck, the non-profit sector, or something about how I find clients,\u00a0I\u2019m really appreciated the great clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by\u00a0KOBU Agency<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, there are clients and then there are clients. I braced myself for a range of clients when I started out \u2013 the brilliant ones and the hair-pulling ones, because that\u2019s life, right? Some people are clear, logical, structured and great communicators, and some people\u2026.less so. I\u2019ve been looking back over the last…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[13,11,15,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contracts","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-founder","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t