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| My little gift to you ... |
Your ultimate goal in a service industry is to provide value for your customers. If you make yourself more valuable than the next guy, clients will come back. Giving something extra not only adds value, but it also communicates that you care about your clients and are invested in their needs.
I'm going to cover two common ways that I give a little something extra in the context of editing clients (as opposed to writing clients):
- Provide a bit of coaching
- Find a small way to go beyond the scope of the work
Most writers make the same mistakes over and over and simply taking the time to provide a bit of coaching can really make you stand out. As with any feedback, you need to be careful with its delivery. A few things to avoid ...
Be careful not to bombard them. If the client is consistently making eight different mistakes, pick two to share with them. No one wants to read a long list of things they did wrong from a stranger. Plus, it's not likely they can even take in eight corrections and be expected to really improve on them. Pick two, explain them well, and move on.
Be careful how you word it. Again, you don't want to upset anyone. In general, avoid any sentence that starts with "You," because it could come across as an accusation. Here's an option for wording:
"I noticed a couple things that pop up in your writing and
wanted to explain why I changed them the way that I did."
Be specific. People are most likely to understand your suggestion and actually learn from it if you provide a specific example from their writing. Copy and paste the applicable sentence from the document you edited, then show what you changed and why.
Going Beyond
Ever heard the phrase, "under promise and over deliver"? It's truly a great way to keep clients happy. Finding yourself on the wrong side of what was expected can really rub someone the wrong way, even if you did a great job. Doing a little extra can help keep you on the right side of expectations.
I tend to find these opportunities without looking for them. For example, say I've been tasked with proofreading a document (and am only being paid a proofreading rate), but then I find an opportunity to completely reword a couple sentences in a way that I really think adds value. Most likely the writer in me will want to make these changes anyway.
Some things to consider here ... if a client only asks you to proofread, he may really only want you to proofread. Be careful with new clients. If you want to err on the side of caution, you can include only true proofreading in the document, but then suggest the reword as a comment in the document or in an email. This gives the client the option of using your suggestion, but still gives him a proofread version of the original just in case.
Okay, obvious perk to going beyond is that you're likely to have a happy client. Less obvious perk is that you're showing your client what you can do beyond proofreading. Next time maybe she will hire you for true editing. So you've just solidified a new client and also laid the groundwork for an increased rate ... just by doing something your itchy little writer fingers probably enjoyed anyway.
That's it for today! Any thoughts on these ways to give a little extra? Have you tried other tactics? Let me know below!
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