Extra attention for your client

You are independent and finally have so many clients that you can make ends meet. Done and done? Not so. Don't forget that you also need to maintain the relationship with your clients, because you would like to get new orders next year as well.

How do you handle that now? “In any case, you don't have to arrive with chocolates or coffee,” says Leo Kits of ZZP-Nederland. “That is not necessary. What you do need to do is give extra attention to your clients. So not only have a contact moment at the starting and finishing point, but also evaluate in between how things are going. That's how you show your commitment.”

Evaluation moments

“Those interim evaluation moments are important. Paying attention to your client the moment you win the assignment is not enough. Also ask your client in between how he thinks it's going and whether you're handling it the way he likes it. By doing so, you show the client that he is important to you. Of course, not every self-employed person can do this; some have too many clients for that. But if you have two or three clients a year, you should definitely do this.”

Long-term relations

Josien van Breda-Hoekstra is a policy advisor at FNV Zelfstandigen. She too indicates that maintaining your relationships with clients is “incredibly important. “Often long-term relationships are established with a client, where you are asked back at regular intervals. New assignments can also arise again from your client's network. So that relationship and maintaining it is vital to your business.”

Advice

Kits also gives self-employed entrepreneurs some advice. “Don't work outside your own field. Many independent professionals take on all the assignments they can, just to get enough work. But that only cuts yourself in half. If you take on an assignment that you can't actually do, you'll spend a lot of time or do a bad job. And then you lose the client immediately. My advice is: know what you can do and find clients for it. After all, it is easier to keep up your relationships than to look for new clients.”

Van Breda-Hoekstra advises that you must have and keep two positives. “Your expertise and your fresh perspective. That's how you distinguish yourself and can add value. That way you build a good relationship with your client. You can also be critical in a positive way and share your knowledge. What you should especially not do is not keep agreements made or lose your positive attitude.”