Barbara Kerbel, who runs a corporate communications business based in Great Neck, N,Y., has been a solopreneur for more than a decade. She started her business after a successful career as a vice president of corporate communications for a publicly-held company, a columnist for Newsday, and a weekly newspaper journalist. In this installment of our interview with Barbara on how to grow and manage a successful freelance marketing business, she address how to work with clients.
What happens when your client is actually a team of people, each with different viewpoint on the project?
The more people touching a document, the more dilute the cadence, the tone, the style in which you have written -- especially if the ultimate decision maker sends a manuscript out to an entire sales team for opinions. Suddenly everyone is a writer. Once you have established a good relationship with a client, it is time-saving, copy-protecting and useful to suggest to the decision maker that when he or she sends the piece out to the troops for comment, it is with the intention of finding out if something is missing or incorrect -- not having it edited for style. It is also a good idea to request that all edits come back to you on one document that someone with decision-making power has vetted. Beware of the team that wants to make massive changes because 'the boss would never go for that.' I have a library of documents that went through half a dozen drafts only to end up very close to the original after the real decision maker finally got to see it.
What if you disagree with your client?
No one need tell you who gets the last word, but don't be afraid to wage the good and gentle fight if you feel your client may not be making the optimal decision. That holds true whether it is about the strategic approach, or the key messages. Approaches that make it clear you know who's boss but want to inject an alternate way of looking at something often bear fruit. Phrases like, "I see that differently, and let me tell you why…", or "Another way you might look at that is . . .," or, "If you were a prospect, would it be more important to you to learn about . . ." are most often welcome especially when it is clear that your goal is driving client business, not having your way about language.
Is there a protocol about how to handle referrals?
I like to express thanks to former colleagues and friends who have referred business to me. There are many ways to do this -- dinner, show, gift card, golf club, cash, personal letter, interest-related gift, whatever feels right to you based on relationship and size of the job. Some people expect a percentage and will tell you so if you don't offer. In my experience, most do not. They are happy to make a match. It is also good practice to let your clients know how much you appreciate the business they are giving you and how much care about theirs.Any other words of advice for freelancers?
The hero is your client, not you. Regardless of the task, remember that your job is to make the person who hired you look great. In group meetings, if you are thanked for good work, defer the praise to your client who was so instrumental in achieving a positive result. Also, help to ensure that the completion of a project is not a temporary endgame. Put into writing your thoughts about other steps your client may want to take to nurture customers, launch a product, differentiate themselves from the competition or reach whatever goal you know is important to them.