Would you prefer new clients or just make money from your existing clients?

idealmike Level X³

August 6, 2016, 4:17 pm

11

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Would you prefer new clients or just make money from your existing clients?

When you're freelancing, it's all about have a good client base of regular/repeat clients that make regular/repeat purchases. I and many successful freelancers will tell you that it's absolutely essential to having these clients as they are/will be your main bread and butter!

And that's great if they are making regular purchases from you. That is all part of building a residual income stream and is why you need to provide every one of your clients (both new and old) an excellent first class rate service.

But you might have to put in a bit more leg work with new clients. You may have to tip toe around them and put some effort into helping them and answering their questions etc. Which all takes up your time and energy and there's no guarantee they will buy.

But that's not the case with your regular old clients. You know them. They know you. You may even be on first name terms. You know what they want. And they know what to expect. So it's a bit easier from that perspective.

So knowing this, which would you prefer?

To get more clients or to just work for your regular clients only?

If so which and why? Or do you just prefer both?

To have regular clients and to get new clients too?

You probably will do anyway but which do you prefer to work for?

For your regular clients, or for any new clients you get and why?

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Everett

I would prefer to do both.

Old Clients
Old clients are already aware of how you function on the marketplace. They are aware that you are a serious seller, and would willing to assist for whatever issues the buyer may have. They trust you to get work done within a reasonable amount of time.

New Clients
New clients are unaware of how you function, how long it takes to get an order done. And they are unsure just how serious you are.

I would rather have both because it creates a nice balance. You don't want the same old buyer buying from you, and never get new clients, that is horrible for business. What if the old clients decide they don't want to order from you any longer? You'll have no choice but to seek out new clients.

10 years ago

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Lynne

I always loved the familiarity of existing clients when I had my online business. of course there were a few that I knew really well and I knew would always mess me around with every order. This was sort of a mixed blessing because although I knew I was about to be messed around I was able to mentally prepare myself for the run around.

New clients always mean the possibility of a return customer, of making more money each month... but it is like opening a lucky packet. You can put all that work in and not know what the customer is going to be like when you do the work for them. You don't know if they are going to be an easy customer or a royal pain in the ass.

And yes you often put in a load of work when potential customers contact you and you just don't know if they will be using your services or not no matter how many questions you have answered. This can take up a massive amount of time.

I believe for any business to keep growing and expanding you need both new and existing customers. Don't forget that some of your existing customers will also leave for various reasons so you will need to add new ones to replace them. Losing a big customer can really hit a small business hard.

10 years ago

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Webguy2024

I would have to say I always want both new and returning or existing clients. The only caveat that would be ideal for me is to have managed and consistent growth. That being said nothing lasts forever and this means active clients. Clients drop off for a variety of reasons and you can never rest on your laurels and should always be trying to increase sales. As a business you always need an influx of new clients to stabilize the bottom line. I am wondering how many people track the actual's for their business. Example: Having a database of 5000 total customers to date over the total number of current active buyers in a set time frame.

10 years ago

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ajlancer

Hi idealmike thanks for your question. Yes I agree return client always very helpful to be a successful freelancer or earning some certain money. I like to work for both client return and new. Yes no double about that, I like or fell more comfort to do work for return clients. But new client never the less. I always expect new clients too. I have many old clients and they regularly purchase from me. But, each and every day I got many new clients who really purchase my some big service. So, finally I think both need for growing freelance business. Both new and old need for making much money.

Regards by Ajlancer

10 years ago

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MasterA

This is a good question. I always prefer getting new clients as well as working for old ones. The thing is that old clients may one day decide to stop giving you work for whatever reason. Maybe it is because they don’t need a freelancer anymore or they want to try someone new. Either way, you will need new clients to make sure you can get a good enough income and of course, we always want to expand our business. I actually prefer working with new clients because they provide a new perspective and always want something different which helps me develop new skills when working with new people. Also, I will be able to build more loyal customers by getting new clients as you can get more repeat customers only if you bring in new clients. It is important to keep your current clients but it is even more important to bring in new clients because there is no way to guarantee that old clients will purchase your service again.

10 years ago

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Cristian

Since I also have a 9 to 5 job my daily time for freelancing is fairly limited.
This is why I follow my priorities. I always serve the old clients first because I want to keep having a strong business relationship with them, they usually pay better compared with newer clients and the long-term partnership ensures stability and a constant flux of new orders.

So if the old clients cover all of my allocated freelance time, I do my best to deliver and I don't accept new clients, I even stop looking for them and even stop all or some of my services, even here on SEOclerks.

The only way I accept new clients is if my old clients stop giving me a sufficient work-flow to cover all of my freelance time. I usually choose them by the best rates and outsource the ones with lower rates.

Overall I prefer working with my old-time clients. For both financial and personal reasons.

10 years ago

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vinaya

I will always prefer to have new clients as long as they are paying more. However, if the new client pays as much as my existing clients, I will choose to stay with my old clients. I will choose new clients if I don't have sufficient jobs from old clients. While choosing new clients, I will consider how much they are paying and how easy is the job. I also look into work volume. If the new client will be giving me a lot of work, I will go with a new client.

9 years ago

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augusta

I think if one can get the two people, then the better because you'll be making money both ways.I will prefer my existing customers anyway because the intricacies days are over and we now working in agreement and it will make the work move smoothly without the initial hassles.

9 years ago

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Corzhens

When I started my retailing business, I tried to learn from the existing entrepreneurs in the field of ready-to-wear retail. First thing I learned is the prospecting which is the activity to look for new clients. It is not an easy task because it is like finding a needle in the haystack. Compare a prospective client with an old or existing client, there’s a big difference, right? But you will be stagnating if you depend only on your existing clients so it is imperative for growth that you also need new clients.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Like all freelancers, I prefer having new clients as well as retaining old clients. There's no sense in not getting new clients. Because time will come that old clients will stop ordering so it's best to always have new ones to take its place.

7 years ago

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