5 mistakes that make you lose your potential customers

There are so many similarities in business practice between different creative fields, that I continually receive great advice from brilliant people in completely different professions from mine. I'm a huge fan of their great blog for writers and also read a lot of their new articles on how to reach potential customers, with each of them making a lot of sense and inspired me to write a post more specific to my industry. Just like for writers, repeat business is good business for editors. In fact, I've personally worked for a handful of repeat clients over the past few years. They love what I do for them, I love them for loving what I do and paying me what I believe my work is worth - a win-win situation for everyone. However, there are also a lot of photo retouchers (and photographers) out there who don't get a lot of repeat business for various reasons such as customer dissatisfaction,... so they lose many potential customers and lose a lot of revenue. Here are the mistakes that you need to avoid in the process of working;

Failure to complete on time

Failure to meet deadlines is at the top of the list for clients to deal with. No matter who you are working for - private or commercial clients - you must deliver on time. Missed deadlines are frustrating and can result in consequences and money loss for your customers. Needless to say, you won't be rehired by a client you've let down. not happy If you're unorganized and aren't good at meeting deadlines, make sure to build a safety net when setting them up. If a project lasts a week, tell the client 10 days just to be safe. That way, if you get the job done within a week, you can present the project sooner than agreed - much better if you don't promise and deliver too much. And if you're behind schedule, you should still meet the deadline because you already have some ability to make adjustments.

Infrequent or poor communication

Everyone loves to be informed especially when it comes to business and money. Your customers want to know exactly what's going on. It's very simple to send a quick email to update your client on where you are on the project's progress. Even if you do it every few days, your efforts will be appreciated. If you realize that you may not meet the deadline a few days before the job is completed - email your client right away, don't wait until the day they expect you to send the final result. . Once your client is notified, they can change project priorities and ask you to complete specific images first and extend deadlines for images that may not be as urgent. You may not think it's necessary to update the client, but if you receive an email asking you to update, you definitely need to respond within a reasonable time frame. There's no reason not to respond to your customers' emails. Because that's really unprofessional and customers don't appreciate your work.

Work with many errors, poor quality products

It goes without saying, that you should keep the job requirements up to date. Pay full attention to the client's brief and additional requirements when accepting assignments. Needless to say, you have to give your best when editing for clients. No matter how busy you are, how tired you are or how insignificant this customer may seem to you - anything you put out can make or break your reputation. If you work in a superficial manner with small clients, it can also cost you your reputation. In my freelance work, I always send low-resolution previews of fully edited images to clients for review and approval. I always start with the most natural level of beauty correction and the majority of my clients appreciate a realistic look. They're quick to approve and move on - just for that reason, any work you send to your clients should be ready to publish, whether you consider it a final version or just a preview . Always remember to ask your customers where the images will be used (web or print), the maximum size or file size they need, and the file format they prefer for products to be delivered. This way you can fine-tune the format, size and resolution of the final part and ensure the best output quality for the images you send to your clients.

Not ready for customer modification requests

It's a fact of life that as a creative professional, sooner or later you will have to make modifications to the client's wishes. Don't be slow to respond to revision requests, and don't try to dispute every final revision with the client. It is normal for your client to have their own view of the images you are editing for them. That's what they're paying you for, and if you're angry and defensive about their modification requests - that's a surefire way to lose customers forever. The customer is always right, so where possible you should make all corrections promptly and professionally. However, when you, as a hired professional, believe that the modifications requested could actually compromise the quality of the final image or damage the reputation of the client due to Now that there are a lot of people who don't believe in Photoshop growing, feel free to share your concerns. Explain in detail why you don't think it's a good idea to soften the skin further or remove the natural skin folds on the neck or whatever the client wants you to do. Show them some visual examples if possible, so they can understand exactly what you're trying to tell them and appreciate your consideration and concern. If you do this, of course your customers will come back to use your services!

Financial problems

Unlike writers, revisionists almost never ask or receive a bonus after completing a task. In practice, we often charge less than we should, but you should make sure you're not charging less than you would pay to keep your business afloat if you were a full-time freelancer. time. No matter how much we want to pay less for the services we need, for many people cheap almost always means "no value" or "poor quality", so don't try to beat it. opponents by placing low bets. Calculate the time and effort the project requires and give your client a fair quote based on your rates. If they can't afford it, they're probably not your customers. But either way, one thing that you should avoid doing at all costs is to charge your customers much more than you would have charged after the job was done. That is a very unprofessional way of doing business and will definitely ruin your relationship with your customers. Such shady business tactics are generally not considered a good business practice. Don't pay your client a huge bill after you've finished the project, unless that's what you quoted; or your client has requested a lot of additional work and you have informed them of the additional charges. Now that you know how a retoucher can alienate and frustrate customers, you can ensure that you avoid these mistakes and get through them, as your repeat business. you boom!