Cool in a Catastrophe: How to Tell Your Clients
Posted by Hol | Posted in Info | Posted on 08-06-2009
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Welcome back!
I hate to be a pessimist, but sooner or later something is going to go wrong — and it’s going to affect your ability to complete a project. It’s happened to me more than once over the years: I’ve gotten sick, lost power and faced other situations that spelled disaster for whatever I was working on.
I still get a little worried when I think about how I’m going to have to tell a client something has gone wrong. I’ve done my best to make sure that I’m ahead on my work, that even a catastrophe can’t delay a project — but I’m also prepared to tell my clients when something goes wrong.
Full Disclosure Isn’t Necessary
When I have a family emergency that will affect my ability to complete a project on time, I tell my clients — but that’s all I tell them. The words ‘family emergency’ can cover everything from a funeral to taking a sick child to the doctor, along with anything in between. I’ve been known to use the phrase ‘personal emergency,’ as well.
Such an approach certainly limits the number of discussions that come from a client disagreeing with you on the severity of an emergency, but there’s more to limiting just what you disclose to a client. It’s unfortunate, but still true that some clients will assume that certain types of emergencies make you less reliable of a freelancer. Anything that leads a client to think that you don’t consider your work top priority can fall into that category. It’s unfair but even something as simple as sharing that you need to take your child to the doctor can be enough to get a less considerate client thinking about other freelancers he can call.
It’s always alright to simply say that you have a family emergency and that the matter is personal. Beyond that, it isn’t really anyone’s business but yours.
But Politeness Is
No matter what catastrophe a freelancer finds herself in the middle of, courtesy is crucial. I’m not talking about using ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ in your emails — I’m talking about the courtesy of sending an email about the situation, and then following up with a date when your client can expect a finished project. When a client doesn’t hear anything from the freelancer he’s working with beyond a hurried email indefinitely postponing a project, he’s likely to go looking for another freelancer. Even if the project isn’t particularly time-sensitive, clients like to know that you’re still around.
If the project is time-sensitive, you can take politeness a step further: rather than trying to get your client to extend his deadline, think about handing it over to another freelancer who can make the original deadline. It can hurt your bank account a bit, but most clients will still keep you in mind for the next project down the road.
I know some freelancers are willing to offer a discount or a break on future projects if they can’t make a deadline based on a personal issue. I don’t think it’s necessary in many situations, but if a client is being particularly difficult to work with about a delay, a discount may provide a simple solution. It depends on how you operate as a freelancer and how you want to handle your relationships with your clients.
Early Notification Is Best
There are some disasters that you can see a long way off. A couple of years ago, I was living in a city that was sitting right in the path of a wild fire. In the end, we lucked out and the fire was brought under control — but for several days we weren’t certain if we were going to need to evacuate. I was lucky enough to be able to work during that time, but the prospective evacuation would have thrown a wrench into my schedule.
I let my clients know my situation as soon as I could. I warned them that if I did have to evacuate, I would be unable to meet my deadlines. I also told them that I would try to inform them in the event I actually needed to evacuate, but I couldn’t promise everything. For the most part, my clients were very understanding. It didn’t hurt that a few of them were local and had similar worries of their own.
More than a few freelancers will try to convince themselves that they can still meet a deadline, as long as they can foresee a problem. It isn’t impossible to keep caught up, even if you do need to pick up and move out of the way of a natural disaster — but it is incredibly stressful and may not be worth it. If you can give a little warning, most clients are willing to be flexible.
