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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Here’s today’s appropriate response to our autodialer (it rolls to voice mail when all lines are full).

Here’s the original:

hillbilly.mp3

Our company’s marketing campaign isn’t mine–you just get the benefits.

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