‘Revision’ – this is one of the most frustrating things to handle by anyone. As a freelancer, more often, you would face a situation where in your client would ask you to do a revision. Do you think revisions are unavoidable? Well, you can avoid or at least decrease the number of revisions asked by effectively communicating with your freelance clients.

Communication is the most important factor in freelancing no matter with whom you are working with. You need to make your communication as effective as possible in order to avoid revisions and other misunderstandings that may arise during your contract. So, how to communicate effectively with your freelance clients? Know how here…

Why is Effective Communication Critical?

Firstly, effective communication would save your time largely thereby making you work more and more efficiently. In simple terms, effective communication would enable you to make more money in the longer run. Secondly, this would help in creating happy clients which in turn might turn into a long-term relationship. Also remember, happier clients are the good sources for word-of-mouth references.

Choose the Most Comfortable Method to Communicate:

Not everyone will be same in the way they communication. Some people would be good at talking and some people would be good at writing. So, always stick to your comfortable way to communicate with your clients. Sometimes, your clients might want talk to you on phone. It’s not necessary that you need to abide by their offers. If you can’t speak clearly, then put to them your difficulty and start communicating through e-mail or message boards. Personally, I like communicating through e-mails and wherever possible, I would connect to my clients through e-mails only. Like this, you must first determine which method is most comfortable for you and stick to it.

Get the Instructions in Written Formats:

Although you are capable of communicating effectively via phone or video calling, you must make sure to get all the project instructions in written formats too. In order to make sure that the discussion with your clients was effective and clear, I would advise you to send an e-mail summarizing everything you spoke verbally at the end of your phone conversation and get confirmation from your client about your understanding. While doing so, make sure to start your work only after receiving an affirmative answer from your client about what he/she wants.

Always Communicate Professionally:

Though you are not working for an organization in freelancing, you cannot think that way you communicate can contain personal touches. It’s not so. From the very first communication till the end of your contract, you need to maintain the professional communication with your freelance clients. Sometimes, you might have to work with a client who is well-known to you personally. But, at the end, it’s all about projects, payments, and other business-related issues. Therefore, it’s important that you communicate more professionally.

Always Ask Questions to Clarify:

It’s natural for each and every one of us to get doubts during the projects or while communicating with the clients. When such situations arise, don’t fear to put forward the doubts to your clients. This is critical because a project can be called as successful only if you could deliver the client’s expectations, get paid, and get a positive feedback from him/her. Without clarity in your work, this can’t be achieved. Also, clarifying then and there would decrease the number of revisions or eliminate them completely. Furthermore, you can avoid the rejection from your clients. Rejections can be dangerous for your freelance career, as it would destroy your reputation that you earned by working hard. Therefore, clarify your doubts at the first step before continuing your work.