How to Reduce Client Friction in Freelance Projects

Skills get you hired. Communication gets you re-hired. You can be excellent at your legal skills, but if you lack effective communication, your boat will sink — a lesson I learnt the hard way. Because one thing clients appreciate more than anything else is: 👉 “Being kept in the loop.” Example: You get hired on Tuesday. You promise to deliver by Sunday. By Saturday, 70% of the work is already done. Don’t stay silent until the deadline. Instead, drop a quick update: “I’m finalising the last stretch and will share the complete draft tomorrow.” Even better — once 50% of the work is done, send it across for feedback before you move forward. This one habit does three powerful things: ✔️ Gives clients clarity on progress ✔️ Builds real trust ✔️ Increases retention and repeat work In freelancing, communication isn’t a soft skill; it’s a business strategy. And if you want to build long-term client relationships, start here.

The biggest mistake I've made with clients is not establishing proper communication channels. → Lack of communication results in lack of clarity. → Lack of clarity results in lack of speed. It’s akin to driving a car in the fog vs driving in clear daylight. In the fog you drive slow due to decreased vision. You’re less confident moving forward. Once the fog clears you speed up as visibility increases and with it your confidence. Removing project blockers is like escaping the fog. Project fog happens because of a lack of communication. — The most successful designer/client projects I’ve done had the strongest communication. I performed the best when: ✅ I joined their team slack ✅ I joined their team project management tool ✅ I joined their weekly planning The projects where I struggled the most: ❌ All communication happened via email ❌ No shared project management view ❌ There was no schedule for planning next steps As I’ve started to own this role as a freelancer since my layoff, I’ve had to learn a few things. I’ve made some mistakes and disappointed a few people. I feel badly about that. It’s been a challenging career adjustment. But I also now feel more confident moving forward. I am better equipped to handle the adjustment with my elevated awareness of the pitfalls. I hope sharing these tips helps other designers exploring the world of client work.

Here’s the mistake that I made as a beginner that cost me more than $10,000 Getting clients, closing them, and getting them results. These are all essential pillars that freelancers & businesses know. But a key factor that is often missed: Communication. I lost a client worth $10k because of miscommunication. And here are 3 things, you should learn from it: 1- Connect your client at least 4 times a month Keeping that communication flow intact, helps you understand and relate to their pain points. 2- Reiterate your scope of work This is important because both of you need to be aligned on it. This sets the client’s expectations in a correct manner. 3- Communicate both your wins & mistakes to your client Wins are of course something that is shared, but your mistakes should also be discussed. So that you can show how you’re going to improve the next time. After we fixed these, we increased our retainership by 80%. Do you have similar learnings? Let’s talk👇🏻