During your career as a copywriter, it's possible, and likely, that you will come across some challenging clients. Now, we’re not speaking poorly of these clients. If you pay for a product or service, you too, expect it to be exactly as you wish.

Instead of feeling out of your depth and struggling to meet your client's demands, turn these clients into your biggest fans in just four easy ways. 

1. Interest

Challenging clients can quickly become the easiest clients you have on your books, depending on how much interest you feed into their project. They are determined to create something magical and have trusted you to help them bring their vision to life.

Taking an interest in your client's needs wants, preferences, and visions for the project that you will work hand-in-hand on will only help you with content planning, creation and perfecting! 

This includes understanding what your client wants to produce from your transaction and really putting this into action. Ask your client questions, be present in the transaction and don’t just be another purchase for their project. 

Welcoming their project into your workload with optimism and open arms will start you off in the right direction, but keeping up this interest in the direction the project is going at every meeting, between every email, and every feedback interaction will show them you care about the output. 

2. Communication

Following on from showing a high level of interest in your client's vision, which will allow you to have a healthy rapport, communication is one of the most vital aspects of making a good impression on your clients. Here are a few ways to take your communication skills to the next level.

Your client wants to feel heard, involved and appreciated.

Ask for meetings, brainstorming sessions and other communication routes to benefit your project.

Act on every aspect of feedback your client provides; thank them for their input and go above and beyond to understand precisely what they want to edit about your writing. Feedback isn’t something negative that you need to be ashamed of. Instead, it is a stepping stone in creating the perfect copy.

3. Commitment

To become your client's favourite and the only copywriter they let in on their projects, you must be committed to your work. 

We already know you are committed, and all copywriters are, but showing this through professionalism and flexibility is the best way to let your client know this. 

As you research, write and communicate together with your client, you will cross obstacles and conflicts in ideas. Using these to build on your relationship and project will only increase your commitment to the finished copy. 

Show your commitment, and satisfy your client by presenting yourself with honesty, responsibility and integrity in your writing.

4. Delivery 

Four components will secure your challenging clients for future projects, and over time you will create a strong rapport that leads to significant pieces of copy. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Clear Expectations 

The first step in any successful client-business relationship building is clear expectations. This includes the expectations of both the client and yourself. As a copywriter, you need a certain balance of freedom and guidelines support; your client’s expectations will help create this balance.

But you must set your expectations too! Tell your client what you need from them so the product you deliver is up to their standards on the first try. 

This open and transparent exchange of expectations will inform your client of your seriousness about the project.

2. Goals 

Goals are the stepping stones of a project and how to communicate the copywriting process to your client effectively. Letting them in on this inner processing of your thoughts, decisions, and progress keeps them in the loop so they never feel excluded from their project.

This inclusivity is something that all clients want and something that a challenging client often requests. Providing it from the beginning will impress them.

3. Timelines 

Time handling and honesty surrounding progress are vital in the copywriting business. Quality writing takes time, and clients can be more understanding than you first think.

Bringing their project to life in the best possible way is more important than deadlines to a client, so creating a transparent and sharable timeline, whether that be in a shared spreadsheet or weekly meetings to discuss where the project is, is a great way to stay connected during your time working together.

Your honesty and desire to produce great content for the client will make them your biggest fan!

4. Quality 

Producing excellent quality content is the ultimate way of making a client happy with your service, and this goes without saying. 

Summary

Using online tools can be a great way to boost the quality of your writing. With tools such as Answer the Public, AlsoAsked, and Ubersuggest, you can always ensure your content is well-researched and planned and ticks all the right boxes for your target audience! 

From keyword research and geo-specific ‘People also Ask’ questions to content ideas, these tools will amplify your content to the next level.

Find out more on our Managing Challenging Clients page at the Author’s Pad.