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a6d9d3ed
Community Member

Dealing with Low Budget Clients

Hi everyone, I wish you all are doing great. I now have a little bit of grip on my English but not enough so please forgive any mistakes.

 

I'm thankful to this upwork community and have no words to show respect for those who are solving problems here.

 

I have a client, very humble and kind. I love working with such clients but her rates are very low. I'm not very good at saying "No" to such nice clients. We have a very complex relationship. We talk like friends but have a very complex friendly relationship. I don't know how to say "No" to her. Can you help me out?
May be some suggestions. I sometimes do work on a very low budget if clients are good. Same case here but now I need money so I want you to guide me if you can.

Thank you for reading this post. Waiting for your response badly. I have not replied to her yet. Thanks again. Love you guys.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

The client is using one of the most "insidious" secret tricks in business: being a genuinely nice person who you LIKE working for.

 

There is no rule against clients doing this. The client may not even be doing it on purpose. But it works!

 

I imagine that this is one of the unspoken secrets of freelancing... and I bet if you talked to most successful freelancers... they would admit to having some clients who are able to get preferential treatment when it comes to scheduling, contract arrangements and even rates, because the freelancers like them.

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8 REPLIES 8
martina_plaschka
Community Member


Abdullah A wrote:

Hi everyone, I wish you all are doing great. I now have a little bit of grip on my English but not enough so please forgive any mistakes.

 

I'm thankful to this upwork community and have no words to show respect for those who are solving problems here.

 

I have a client, very humble and kind. I love working with such clients but her rates are very low. I'm not very good at saying "No" to such nice clients. We have a very complex relationship. We talk like friends but have a very complex friendly relationship. I don't know how to say "No" to her. Can you help me out?
May be some suggestions. I sometimes do work on a very low budget if clients are good. Same case here but now I need money so I want you to guide me if you can.

Thank you for reading this post. Waiting for your response badly. I have not replied to her yet. Thanks again. Love you guys.


Nice clients are nicer than unfriendly ones, but you are still running a business.

Thank you. Your response to my question to some extent helps not to be double minded.

Hi Abdullah. I don't think you really need any help, because you already know the costs and benefits of your options. It's just a matter of making the decision, though it may not be a pleasant decision to make. I know, I don't like making such decisions either!

 

I too have a couple of old clients who I work for at a much lower rate than I charge to new clients. I feel somewhat obliged to keep my prices to them low, (a)  because I originally charged them a low price on a fixed price job, when I was new to Upwork and glad to get any job, and (b) because they are in less-affluent parts of the world. Plus, they're really nice people, I enjoy working for them and they give me great feedback. Fortunately for me, I'm not under pressure to increase my earnings (though that would be nice). If you're not in that fortunate position you may have to choose differently. It's up to you.

The client is using one of the most "insidious" secret tricks in business: being a genuinely nice person who you LIKE working for.

 

There is no rule against clients doing this. The client may not even be doing it on purpose. But it works!

 

I imagine that this is one of the unspoken secrets of freelancing... and I bet if you talked to most successful freelancers... they would admit to having some clients who are able to get preferential treatment when it comes to scheduling, contract arrangements and even rates, because the freelancers like them.

I agree with you Preston, thanks for stepping in and making me realize the truth. Now I think low budget clients who make you feel uncomfortable (because they are faking it) are not good ones but I have some clients which are good ones and even after low budget we do not irritate by them.

I like all of my regular clients very much, and they also have no problem paying me my asking rate. It doesn't have to be a choice between one thing or the other. 

 

If your client really is a nice person, they will understand that you need to earn a decent living. If not, then you should find other clients.

I liked the reply but I'm not a fan of straight forward saying "No" and I was seeking a better option because I'm also not a diplomatic answering person and know these things very little. Community member's replies are making me feel strong enough to make a decision also thinking to say no in a deplomatic way. Thanks for your response. This community is wonderful Heart

If you are not comfortable saying "no," then you don't need to say "no."

 

You never need to say "no."

 

There are always alternatives. Here are examples:

 

Client: Can you use Adobe Sassafrass to edit a B9 vector file?

Freelancer: Thank you for thinking of me for this, but that is not a service that I currently provide. There are other people who specialize in that kind of work. You would need to hire one of them.

 

Client: Can you work on my new project this week?

Freelancer: Thank you for asking, but I am not taking on new projects right now.

 

Client: Can you format the Tanlin file using Markedes specs for $50?
Freelancer: My current rate for formatting files using Markedes specs is $100 per file. Would you like to set up a contract for me to do that?

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