Strong Communication Skills are Key in Business
One thing that I have learned from freelancing is that strong communication with your clients is crucial and unavoidable in order to maintain a smooth workflow, and build positive rapport with the people who hire you. Having the ability to show respect, clarity, and understanding (especially in an era where discourse is often shared through virtual means) is what will allow you to go further in your career.
Email Communication + Project Management APPS:
Written communication, in my opinion, is the most important form of discourse between you and your client. I am happy to have meetings with my clients via call or in person, but making sure feedback is in writing is so important to have as a reference point. When clients offer me feedback on design work, I always try to follow these steps when emailing or working in project management apps (especially if the feedback is short or unclear):
Show Gratitude for Feedback: Often times, feedback is considered an annoyance because it can sometimes alter your vision as a designer. However, when you are doing client work, you need to do your best to balance your expertise with their needs. Taking feedback and criticism with grace is a skill that is important, and being able to voice that to your clients will show them that you are adaptable and appreciate the time they took to analyze your work.
Verification of Understanding: Emails can get overwhelming fast when you are working on high-demand jobs with tight deadlines. That is why it is extremely important to make sure you understand every project requirement, and what is being asked of you (especially those of us who charge hourly or by day). Often times, when clients give me a run-down of project details that seem scattered or un-organized, I will read through the email and list the key tasks that I am being asked to do. Then, I will send it to them and ask them to confirm that what I interpreted is correct. This is important for 2 reasons:
You will now have an organized list to reference quickly while working, rather than having to decipher the requests in the paragraphs of an email.
Your client, who is often busy, can quickly read through your list and find comfort in seeing that you heard and understand their needs. In addition, if you misunderstood what they asked, or they forgot to include something, this gives them a chance to correct that before you get too far ahead in your work. This makes life easier for the both of you.
3. Deliverables Must Be Organized: A lot of times, I am working on multiple projects a day for my clients, which means it is my responsibility to send files to them in an organized way. There are a couple things you can do to keep files tidy for your clients:
Drive Links: When sending any files as drive links (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.), it is crucial to name your links according to the project name, and have folders to organize your assets within those links. One of the worst things is having to sift through unnamed links to find the files you need for a project - don’t waste your client’s time with that.
Project Management Software: When working through project management apps (Slack, Basecamp, Monday, Trello, etc.), follow similar practices as how you would when sending links. Do your best to keep projects in separate folders, always name versions (v01, v02, etc). to stay organized with the latest updates, and don’t be afraid to ask your clients if you can create folders or project channels that make more sense to achieve better workflow. Often times, they will be grateful that you took the extra steps to keep things organized.
Email: When sending deliverables via email for smaller projects, it is crucial to try and encourage your clients to keep projects distinct through separate emails. Trying to work on multiple projects and getting feedback through a single email chain becomes a nightmare, and often leads to details being missed easily, or edits being applied to the wrong project. As a freelancer, it is your responsibility to openly communicate ways to improve workflow to achieve best results for them.
Phone + Video Meetings:
Always Take Notes: When in meetings via phone or video, it is crucial to jot down notes that you can reference. When communicating verbally, the brain has to process a lot of information relatively quickly, so be vigilant in making sure you retain as much as you can.
Always Follow-Up: Anyone who works in a field where they are getting feedback from clients knows that written communication is crucial to staying on track with project goals. No matter how good you are as a note-taker, or retaining knowledge, verbal communication leaves a lot of room for things to be missed. If I ever receive feedback through a call or meeting, I always follow-up via email with my notes to verify that I retained everything, and nothing has been missed. Your clients will be happy to confirm that the information is correct, or at the very least, they can correct any misunderstandings.
Show and Tell: Being a designer, most of my work has a visual end result. When in video meetings, it is important to have progress to show your client. They often can’t visualize your direction without having something to reference, so always have an example on hand and ready to share. Having a visual can also help you to better sell your vision and direction to them when they can actually see the idea coming to life.
There are many tips and tricks to being an effective communicator, but the best way to become reliable is to put good habits into practice. Treat all of your clients with respect, and always look for ways to improve communication to make working with you feel effortless. Having strong communication skills is something that is lacking in the industry, so it will help you stand out amongst the crowd.
For more tips and resources, check out the other blogs on my resource page.