If you manage more than one or two client accounts, you may worry about client satisfaction while juggling stringent deadlines and expectations.
Effective client management is the key to delivering most efficiently for a happier client relationship.
To help website developers and designers succeed, GoDaddy has recently launched the free Hub by GoDaddy Pro. It is a project, website, and client management platform that can help you:
- Communicate with clients regularly
- Monitor project progress
- Perform bulk updates
Let's learn what it takes to keep clients happy, thereby expanding your small business over time.
How to win your clients and retain them
Do you know that acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer?
A stunning first impression goes a long way toward winning new clients and creating long-lasting relations.
You must win the trust of your clients and nurture your relationship.
Here are a few ways to help you successfully manage clients accounts.
1. Establishing two-way communication
If you want to win their trust, be honest and transparent in all your communications with the client. Ask questions relevant to your project and be responsive about project deliverables and their timelines.
Good communication is the key to a long, profitable client relationship. Building trust and healthy relationships starts with the first client meeting.
2. Setting the expectations right
During the initial discussions, try to dig more about the client's expectations, needs, objectives, standards, and delivery.
If you want to keep your clients happy, break down the entire project into small tasks.
Set a deadline to track the progress for each of those tasks.
One of the most common roadblocks to a happy client relationship is over-promising and under-delivering. So, be realistic in what you promise.
3. Making it a collaborative project
Your project is the brainchild of many stakeholders, including you and your client. Hence, respect your client’s vision and be open to their feedback and criticism.
Consider the recommendations made by your clients, showing them that you value their vision and are ready to improve your ideas and solutions.
Related: 10 top freelancing websites in India
5 common challenges while working with multiple clients
Here are some common challenges which all of us face as freelancers.
1. Poor planning
If you manage multiple client accounts, it is common to lose track of minor details and priorities. I know it sounds boring, but planning alone can improve your productivity.
Prioritize your tasks and track them with time management apps. You can also try using sticky notes on your desk. Or just use the project management functionality included in the Hub from GoDaddy Pro.
2. Conflicting deadlines
Conflicting deadlines is the most common nightmare of a freelancer, and you have to face it more often while dealing with multiple clients.
In case you're struggling with unrealistic deadlines,
Be honest with clients about your projects and availability.
It’s always better to request some time extension than to make incomplete and late submissions.
3. Affecting personal life and health
Avoid setting impossible goals for yourself and then giving up your sleep and personal time to meet those unrealistic goals.
You don't need to stretch yourself beyond limits or create chaos in your life to achieve the impossible. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bounded (SMART).
You can read more about how to set goals that will help your business grow here.
4. Multi-tasking
Handling multiple clients means multi-tasking and working in different areas of website development at the same time. Therefore, track your tasks and assign them the time accordingly.
Do the most challenging tasks at the time of the day when you're more productive.
5. Working alone
There can be times when you cannot deliver alone. For those rainy days, you need to have a backup of other freelancers.
If you are handling a big project, collaborate with fellow freelancers and form a team.
Related: How recurring revenue can support your web development business
How to juggle multiple projects like a pro
A key part of managing client accounts is being able to juggle multiple projects simultaneously. Here are some hacks that will surely help you get organized and productive while managing multiple clients and projects.
1. Manage them well
If you are handling multiple clients, you don't want to lose track of deadlines. Start using a project monitoring system to keep a proper track record of important details and dates. You can use a project management tool — like the one included in the Hub from GoDaddy Pro — to get a better view of your deliverables and timelines.
2. Break your projects into smaller tasks
When you get a new project:
- Break it into smaller tasks
- Set deadlines for each one
- Label them as important or urgent
- Divide your resources accordingly
It will help you to complete your work on time.
3. Remove anything that holds up progress
Remove the bottlenecks or blockers during project implementation to achieve your desired timelines.
The most common holdup in website development and design is waiting for the client to purchase the domain, hosting, or professional email. To make the matter worse, the client sometimes mistakenly buys the wrong product that further stretches the timelines.
The Hub by GoDaddy Pro - Best tool for client and project management
GoDaddy understands the challenges of client management and offers comprehensive functionality in the Hub by GoDaddy Pro to manage multiple clients with ease.
In the Hub, you can browse the client section by clicking the ‘Clients’ tab on the left-hand side of the navigation pane. Here, you can create a new client account by entering their details.
Within the Hub, you can:
- Request access for account delegation so that you can easily log in to the client’s account without the need for sharing login credentials.
- Make required purchases on their behalf or send them a cart filled with relevant products for purchase — without viewing their payment details.
Managing multiple projects
Most successful freelancers use project management tools to meet the stringent deadlines of the projects. The primary role of these tools is to help in planning and monitoring the progress of the project.
With the Hub, there’s no need for separate project management software.
You can add a new project in the 'Projects' section of the Hub with an estimated due date and assign tasks associated with the project. You can also divide the project into various phases — from planning to design, QA and launch. Each phase has its own designated tasks with their completion timelines.
The easy way to manage many client accounts
Maintaining a good client relationship throughout the project is necessary for the success of any freelancer. Communication is key; however, to keep those clients coming back for years to come, you must deliver on your promised delivery dates. The Hub by GoDaddy Pro can surely help you do all this and more.
