Freelancers: How to NOT Lose a Client When a She/He Kindly Says, "I'd Like You to Send Me All of My Design Projects"

I received one of these dreaded, "I want my files" email from a client I hadn't heard in a while. It irks me when folks who haven't communicated with me in a while decide to figuratively show up at my doorstep and ask for things (more on that later though).

The client is asking me for all of his marketing materials so he can probably go somewhere else to have them either worked on or printed – it’s tough to guess:

"Hi Jeremy,
Long time no talk. How's your wife and family doing, I hope you guys are all doing awesome. I have missed talking with you. Are you still in the graphic business? I am writing to you with hope that you still have a file of my brochure, flyer, and business card. I need it them, please send it to me when you get a chance."

MY RESPONSE:
"Hi Wally,
Good to hear from you! Of course I am still in the design industry; in fact [tell them here the improvements, upgrades, etc... that you've been doing in regards to your business].

If you’re feeling the pinch of the market now or a way to bring sales in a little easier, why don’t we plan a time to meet up or teleconference and discuss how things are going for you and how I can best support where you're going. Would you be open to that idea?"

Okay, What Just Happened? What Did He Really Do and What Did I Do?
Notice how Wally uses the "friendly" technique at the beginning of the email to soften me up a little it. This was done most likely to help ensure he gets what he wants (the files), rather than really wanting to know how my wife and family are. It's a lot like asking folks, "Hey how ya doing?" when you really aren't that interested.

Instead letting my negative emotions show I take the stance of helping him out a different way than he’s asked. I refocus the conversation on supporting him rather than just providing the files. I refocused the conversation on being a consultant and how help him grow his business rather than an order-taker.

Of course this will turn out to be a non-effective move if he just wants his stuff to go to some cheap place - he's still going to ask for the files. But notice by how I’ve responded to him I am almost forcing him to say that he wants nothing more from me than the items I designed. People don't like to feel greedy or that they are using, abusing someone else, so my response was an effective one.

In closing, I should point out that I don't have all of the pieces to the puzzle to understand what Wally's doing or why he's doing it, so it's important not to assume he just wants to cut me out of the loop. In looking at my response you'll notice that I do assume something - I assume he'll still want to work with me and is looking for help now. I see this as an opportunity to suggest helping a client rather than getting mad, packing up their things and telling them to get out.

You never know what people are thinking, so try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

PS - It turns out he needed the files for some legal issue, so he actually kept me on as his designer.

Comments

[ben]

I know this is a late comment but...

While nearly all of your responses to the other examples are spot on, I feel this response would have totally turned me off. Based on it alone (not accounting for your rapport with the client, quality of work) you may have lost my business after this.

Instead of complying with his request (I assume he has the rights to have the design), it sounded standoffish, as though you were hesitating to return his design, that he had no choice but to sit down with you before getting the design he paid for. It simply sounds as though he needs more printed.

I may be in the minority but I can't stand having someone make everything a sales pitch, especially so out of the blue. Hate it with a passion, actually.

By the way, thanks for this amazing blog! I found it today and it's a great read. Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom.

[Jeremy Tuber]

Thanks for your insights Ben. It doesn’t surprise me that a few folks might not go along with this piece of advice – it’s risky and it’s definitely an attempt to keep a client that might otherwise be walking out the door.

That said, with the tough economic landscape that we have today, I don’t know if there are a lot of freelancers that can afford to run the risk of clients walking out on them – especially if it might be over a small miscommunication or misunderstanding.

It costs roughly 9X more to find a new client than to keep an old, so while I agree that this wouldn’t be my favorite aspect of freelancing (it does feel “salesish”), I will inquire about the situation and look to offer my help to the client. The Great One, Wayne Gretsky said it best, “You don’t score on 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

In any case, you bring up some legitimate points…I guess you’d have to consider:

Would you just give them the files, say nothing and just hope they stay with you as a client or would you address the situation?

If you decided the later, what might you say to the client?

If you decided the former and you do lose the client because you gave them the files and said nothing, would it bother you?

Let me know what you think; you may have a better approach than I’ve outlined :)