MY client intake process for paid clients is 21 steps on basecamp, it’s printed and it sits next to my Imac, on the wall.   I make sure that I wow ‘em with a welcome letter that describes what’s going to happen, a clear understanding of hard deadlines, their expectations and requirements, and my own.   I want to make it super simple to do business with me, so however they give me the information is fine.  Even if they’re stuck in 1997 and insist on using faxes.

Some steps:

• Welcome letter restating the project & deadline
• Phone call or voice mail restating it to demonstrate understanding.
• Mutual signed agreement in their box in minutes.
• First deliverable, first 4 business hours.   (along with the other stuff).
• Introduction to team members that are also on the project.
• Reminders sent of their commitments same day.
• Basecamp set up and calendared.

Not every job is a big one, but every job worth doing is worth processing for a lot of reasons: you get REALLY good at processing jobs when you practice, and even if you’re on a $200 job, everything is an audition for the next gig.  Everyhing is an audition, and even if it’s $300 bucks worth of work, Basecamp makes things easy, and you can be up and going damn near instantly.   Google Notebook, same deal, copy project to a new doc/spreadsheet and go from there.

Now, you ASK for a referral at project start.  “Since I’ve got this project solidly underway, I’m always trying to help more people–is there anyone that needs me to do X?”  Low key, simple, obvious.    It’s sales.  It’s just asking killer questions, showing you care.   The beginning is a surefire way to demonstrate virtuosity.  Here are some simple rules:

• NEVER EVER EVER make a client repeat themselves. Even if you have other team members.  I use skype to (with permission) record m calls for design interviews, especially when I’m not actually doing the work (most of the time).   We all get that there are multiple people working on something, but seriously, nothing says bad experience like that.  When I’m asked to repeat myself ,I always wonder: what’s going to be faster, repeating myself or finding someone professional.
• Always rephrase what you’re understanding the project to be.
• ALWAYS restate terms, delivery dates and payment triggers.  “Ok, so we’re on the same page, $3500 upfront, $1,000 when x happens, and $2,000 when y happens, with X happening before the 15th, and payment due on the 20th”.   Freelancers are ham fisted about money, and don’t communicate expectations clearly, and then get annoyed when clients don’t pay when they imagined they would.

What is your client intake process?    How many referals are you generating at that time?  Even on little jobs?  How many compliments on ‘being an excellent communicator,’ do you get?  Note: this takes WAY WAY less time than fielding ‘where’s my stuff,’ calls.

If you’re not getting many, your results are poor, and you need to rethink the way you’re doing things.

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Problem is, some of the stuff has been going on for weeks, and it is a momentum killer.   We only have some limited amount of bandwidth and we can’t have umpteen half done projects waiting for us.  David Allen aptly puts out the notion that each unprocessed loop consumes some amount of psychic RAM that keeps us from doing things more effectively.  And this is true (though I’ve taken in a ton of work lately).   So–in addition to the planning that I do, I have to have an action plan for when a project loses momentum–what to do.

I don’t really know the answer for this.   Sometimes the client absorbs the energy and is the obstacle, sometimes it’s circumstances (and sometimes, it’s simply my fault).   A conscientious freelancer needs to have a plan in place for this stuff though.  It’s not really about ‘causing’ or ‘manifesting,’ the loss of momentum.   It’s about having a plan in place to ensure it never happens.   So…instead of phrasing it ‘planning for the loss of momentum.’  Let’s say ‘ensuring that projects go fast and well,’ and accounting for normality.

Here are thoughts on how to do it–none of them are exhaustive–or even complete.  This is more or less a brainstorm:

• Acknowledge the issue proactively at the beginning of projects.  “We’re going to plan–in advance–for the BS that happens on projects…and do something about it.”
• Financial Incentives: Clients can be motivated by money, and having an understanding that if we have to chase down documents, etc, etc, we charge more than if we don’t.  Making this explicit can help everyone get the deadline done faster.
• Check in:  Schedule Check ins on your calendar periodically, and don’t accept reschedules.   Have a mutual commitment to one another.
• Stay far far ahead of deadlines: This is way more important than you think–really.   If you stay out in front, then there no issues in that regard.

This is preventive.  When momentum is lost, what then:

• Regroup ASAP.  Reschedule milestones and deadlines ASAP.
• Try to abbreviate the remaining workdays till project delivery & focus on the ‘lost sheep.’
• Have a ‘back on track’ plan written in advance for the major stuff you do frequently.
• Deliver SOMETHING the day you recognize momentum is gone, daddy, gone…a milestone, anything.  Stop other projects till the last sheep is in the fold.

I think that’s it for now.

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