Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: skills

  • What Should You Do If You Make a Mistake at Work?

    What Should You Do If You Make a Mistake at Work?

    Yes, I confess. I did a bad thing: I made a mistake at work. Well, not a big one. If you work long enough, the statistics aren’t in your favor because sooner or later, you’ll make a mistake. The important thing is how you deal with it. My mindset on dealing with mistakes is one positive change I’ve made in my life.

    Daily writing prompt
    Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
    View all responses

    Mistakes are unavoidable. For perfectionists, a mistake can be a terrible blight on your goal to have a perfect track record.

    Mistakes happen, even if you are detail-oriented and careful. You may have called a client the wrong name or damaged your company’s reputation. After a mistake has been made, no matter how big or small, it’s how you deal with the mistake that matters.

    Here are some steps to follow to minimize the impact of a mistake and keep your job (or help you to find a new one).

    Step 1: Acknowledge the Mistake

    Whether you make a typing error that resulted in an important package being sent to the wrong planet or printed a thousand copies of the wrong file, the first step is to acknowledge what happened. 

    Everyone makes a mistake at some point in their career, and the best thing about making one is the confirmation that you are human. All humans are prone to errors. You say, “Oops” (or swear, depending on your preference), and start the recovery process.

    Decide who to notify about the error, whether it is your boss, coworker, or customer, and tell them what has happened. The next critical part is damage control. 

    Who does the mistake affect? Just yourself and one other person, or an assembly line of people? What must you say to each person? Is it enough to tell them about the error, or is there something you must do to put things back on track for each person?

    Step 2: Analyze the Problem and Your Performance

    After deciding who must be notified about the mistake, tell them what you will do to rectify the error. Will you need to issue an apology to a customer? Do you need to fulfill a product order a second time? 

    How soon can you fix the mistake? Provide a timeline for each step and when you’ll have the issue resolved.

    Those are the immediate steps that you need to take as soon as you realize that you’ve made an error.

    You may also need to do some damage control to patch up relationships. For example, you forgot to complete your part of a project, so your coworker is angry with you. You could offer to help that coworker with their project.

    Step 3: Process Your Feelings

    You may be feeling frustration, embarrassment, or fear about what you’ve done. People may think you’re stupid or incompetent. 

    When you realize you’ve made a mistake, you may be frustrated if the problem can’t be fixed right away, and other people need to be brought in to fix your issue. (And then even more people know what you did wrong. You’re getting famous–but not the way you wanted to be known.)

    It is embarrassing when other people are made aware of what you’ve done wrong. If only we could make things disappear with the snap of our fingers! 

    In extreme cases, you may be fearful of losing your job because you’ve previously been warned not to make the same mistake, or the error is a costly one, resulting in the company losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    First, process your feelings. Acknowledge what you’re feeling and what is causing you to feel that way. 

    Second, practice self-care. Do activities that will take your mind off what you’ve done wrong and regain your confidence. Watch a movie, spend time with friends, go for a run, or any number of activities that you enjoy.

    Constantly dwelling on your negative feelings won’t improve the situation.

    Step 4: Formulate a Plan to Prevent Future Mistakes

    Analyze what went wrong and figure out how you can prevent the mistake from happening again. Could you create a checklist to follow? For example, if you made an error with a customer order, your checklist could include confirming the address and rechecking the customer’s name.

    Ask for constructive feedback. What do your supervisor/coworkers/customers think you could do better? Is there any advice that you can take from the incident to improve how you do things in the future?

    Taking initiative will show people that you’re trying your best to fix the mistake and prevent it from happening again.

    Step 5: Focus on the Future: Mistakes Aren’t the End

    If you are making the same type of mistake over and over again, analyze how you can improve yourself. Is there a skill you can work on? For example, if you are careless, how can you train yourself to be more precise? If you are disorganized, how can you be more organized with your schedule so you aren’t rushing to complete tasks close to the deadline?

    In addition to improving soft skills, such as organization, what hard skills can you improve on to prevent mistakes? For example, if your error was the result of a lack of familiarity with a computer program or platform, can you take a course to improve your knowledge?

    If your mistake was severe enough that you lost your job, you can still take steps to move on. How will you address the question (if it comes up) about why you left your last job? Instead of saying you were fired, you can simply say the job ended. Tell your next employer what you learned from the experience and the steps you’re taking to ensure a similar issue doesn’t happen again.

    Always focus on self improvement. 

    Key Takeaways

    As the saying goes, mistakes happen. As soon as you realize that you made a mistake, take the initiative to acknowledge the error and find a solution. Mistakes are embarrassing, so take the time to process your emotions, take time for self care, and formulate a plan to prevent similar errors from happening again.

    Do what you can to avoid making errors. Mistakes are unavoidable; it’s how you deal with them that matters.

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  • How to Listen Better: Effective Communication

    How to Listen Better: Effective Communication

    Repost

    Effective communication is an important skill at the workplace. Our ability to advance in our careers, build a business, or develop relationships depends on how we articulate words.

    Here are some amazing insights into our listening skills. Take a moment to think about what these insights mean to you and how they impact your life.

    • How much are you truly listening to the words that you hear? We hear about 20,000 to 30,000 words a day and listen at a rate of 125 to 250 words a minute. However, we think at a speed of 1,000 to 3,000 words a minute. That means we are filling in the gaps if we don’t hear all the information we expect the speaker to convey. What could that mean about our potential for misunderstandings or jumping to conclusions?
    • Do we remember everything that we hear? Most tests conclude that we only remember about 25% of what we hear. The majority of the time we are listening, we are distracted. Immediately after listening to someone speak, we remember 50% of what that person said, but we will remember only around 25% two days later.
    • What is active listening? Active listening involves more than just nodding while you listen to the other person speak. When we listen actively, we give the speaker our full attention and ask for clarification if needed or more details. Also, we restate what the other person said to show we were listening. 
    • What is a tip for being a great listener? Great listeners know how to follow up on conversations by recalling facts and starting a conversation with openers such as “How is X doing?” or “I remember that you said you were….” They are open-minded about what they will hear and will not have preconceived ideas about what the speaker is about to say.
    • How does positioning affect the conversation? Getting the right conversation environment changes the conversation dynamic. For example, a dialogue with one person behind a desk and the other person standing up will have a different tone than two people sitting next to each other. Similarly, one person speaking while the other is looking down periodically at their phone will also have a different dynamic than two people talking face to face with appropriate eye contact.
    • Importance of listening at work: People with effective listening skills build strong relationships at the workplace. They can build rapport with customers by developing relationships and showing an interest in their needs. Workers who are good listeners understand their work assignments and create trust with their team. Managers improve morale and productivity by listening to their employees and building trust.
    • How do you develop listening skills? Focus on being curious when you listen. Don’t just listen to respond. Use proper eye contact and body language and listen to learn something new.

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  • How Attention to Detail Increases Your Income

    How Attention to Detail Increases Your Income

    Repost

    Remember how satisfying it was to solve a mystery just by replaying the details in your mind? Where are your missing keys? Did your sweetheart lie to you? Where did you see that statistic that you could use in your report? Paying attention to details has many benefits.

    Being detail-oriented is a valuable workplace skill: Detectives analyze clues to solve a case. Medical professionals keep a close eye on details so patients get the correct dose of medication. Accountants check their numbers: a payment of $100,000 and a payment of $1,000,000 is just the difference of one zero, with very different results.

    From these examples, it’s clear that paying attention to detail is a vital skill to emphasize in resumes and skills assessments. Detail-oriented people have more workplace autonomy because employers can trust them to keep a business’s reputation.

    Attention to detail, or being detail-oriented, is valuable in the workplace. There are several ways to sharpen or improve your attention to detail skills.

    What does detail-oriented mean?

    If you are detail oriented, you are thorough, observant, and notice small details. For example, your coworker schedules a meeting for Monday, March 6th. You check the calendar and notice that March 6 is a Sunday, so you ask your coworker to update the meeting information.

    Precision is an important skill for any job, but small errors can have minor to major consequences depending on the job. 

    Book editors fix mistakes such as incorrect page references. Not catching this error can result in a minor inconvenience for the reader. An incorrectly typed line of computer code can result in the program not working for the user. A mistake on an invoice could mean an incorrect payment. Marking the left leg and not the right leg for surgery can have disastrous consequences.

    An employer trusts that a worker with close attention to detail will be accurate and careful, and not likely to make mistakes. That worker won’t need to be constantly monitored, and their work checked and rechecked. 

    Detailed-oriented people work effectively and accurately on each task. Their meticulousness will save the company embarrassment from careless errors that may harm its reputation or finances.

    Is attention to detail a skill?

    People list “attention to detail” as a skill on their resume or describe themselves as detail oriented during interviews. However, unlike other skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, attention to detail is rarely tested as part of the interview process.

    Attention to detail, as mentioned already, affects a worker’s independence. A thorough and accurate worker is more likely to be given additional responsibility and more likely to be promoted. Employers trust that a detail oriented employee is careful to do each task correctly the first time. 

    Paying attention to detail also has social impacts at work. This skill improves customer and coworker relationships. A coworker who remembers the name of your kids, asks about the restaurant you decided to check out on Saturday, or wonders if your sprained ankle has improved is someone you’re more likely to remember and like.

    Similarly, the ability to remember small details improves customer relations and increases the likelihood of getting the customer’s business. Customers like to be remembered. It’s a great feeling, for example, to walk into a business and say you’ll get “the usual” and the staff knows exactly what you’re looking for.

    Does attention to detail increase your income?

    Those who are highly detail oriented are more likely to be in supervisory positions or have jobs with independence. These workers have shown that they are conscientious when doing their work. They can be trusted to check other people’s work and manage projects to complete them correctly and on time.

    Attention to detail can help you get a high-paying career, particularly for jobs in which accuracy and human lives are at stake. Here are some jobs in which attention to detail is extremely crucial:

    • Anesthesiologist assistants
    • Family medicine physicians
    • Proofreaders and copy markers
    • Prosthodontists
    • Urologists
    • Archivists
    • Camera operators, television, video and film
    • Computer programmers
    • Court reporters and simultaneous captioners
    • Cytogenetic technologists
    • Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
    • Nuclear Power Reactor Operators
    • Obstetricians and Gynecologists
    • Optometrists
    • Physician Assistants
    • Skincare Specialists 
    • Watch and clock repairers

    The income range for some of these detail oriented jobs ranges from $70,000 to $187,000 (averaged income for each career). If you thrive on the details, there are jobs in which your sharp focus is highly valued.

    How to pay attention to detail at work

    Like any skill, you can improve attention to detail over time, starting with short exercises and repeated habits.

    Fun exercises you can try at home to improve your attention to detail skills include: 

    • Listening to ocean sounds or jungle sounds and paying close attention to the range of sounds that you hear
    • Studying a pair of compare/contrast pictures and listing the particular differences between the two pictures
    • Looking at a diagram and deciding whether it is the top, side, or bottom view of an object
    • Studying a picture or series of images, numbers, or letters to memorize patterns
    • Complete crossword puzzles
    • Count using a specific pattern, such as multiples of five, or looking at a page of text and counting every second word without the aid of your finger on the page

    While at work, create habits that encourage you to become detail oriented:

    • Organize your desk and your emails. When you are organized, you can track deadlines and files better, and you’re less likely to forget to answer an email.
    • Write to-do lists. These lists will help you remember all the tasks you need to complete before their deadlines. You can also keep not-to-do lists, such as cutting down on TV time and spending more time on reading, exercise, or skills improvement. 
    • Create checklists. If you notice that you frequently make mistakes when writing emails, keep a checklist that you must complete before you send the email. For example, remind yourself to check the spelling of the recipient of your message and check a word you constantly misspell. You can also keep a checklist for procedures to make sure you complete all the steps before you hand off your part of a project.
    • Practice active listening. When you are the listener, don’t just stare into space until the speaker finishes. Nod or say, “um hm” or “yes” to show you are listening. Summarize or repeat what the speaker said to demonstrate that you heard the details.
    • Take notes. When you’re at a meeting, jot down important details about your tasks. During the meeting, take notes to keep you focused on details. After the meeting, these notes can become your checklist for what you must do.

    Key Takeaways

    Attention to detail is a valuable skill. People who are detail-oriented are trusted with more responsibilities on the job because they complete tasks accurately and thoroughly. A careless mistake can cost a company their reputation and a person their job. Careers in which attention to detail can mean life or death are lucrative. You can become more detail-oriented by creating habits at work that focus your attention on details. 

    How detail-oriented are you? The next time you enter a room, take a look around for a few minutes, then close your eyes and try to remember as many details about the room as you can!

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  • AI Testing Job Skills Testing vs the Job Interview

    AI Testing Job Skills Testing vs the Job Interview

    Repost

    Communication skills are, without a doubt, vital for any job and any career. Effective written or spoken communication is necessary for sending and receiving messages in person, by phone, email, or communication platforms. Communication must also be adjusted for your audience, whether you speak with a co-worker, customer, or supervisor.

    Traditionally, employers evaluate a future employee’s communication skills based on the content of their resume, their writing skills in their application, and how they communicate during their interview.

    From this assessment, employers determine how suitable the candidate’s communication skills are for their future job. If their assessment is correct, they will have a suitable candidate. If their assessment is wrong, they will have wasted valuable time and resources.

    The communication skills required to ace the interview process are not necessarily the same as those needed for the future employee’s job. How we communicate with potential employers is not the same as with customers or supervisors.

    One solution is to test a candidate’s communication skills by recreating communication scenarios that are similar to what the future employee will encounter on the job. These scenarios can be duplicated through computerized assessments.

    How effective are assessments at determining a candidate’s communication skills? It depends on the skills you are testing and how closely the tests mimic actual work situations.

    Testing a Candidate’s Strengths and Weaknesses

    Communication skills are one of many soft skills that are transferrable across occupations and industries. Soft skills include leadership, creativity, problem solving, and time management.

    Communication skills are more than listening and speaking. They include observation, empathy, and non-verbal communication.

    How well can a candidate convey an urgent message to their team? How well can they use technology to understand a customer’s issue and communicate an appropriate solution?

    In addition to the job interview, we can ask a candidate to complete a standardized communication test online or complete a language assessment. However, these tests might not evaluate how well the candidate pays attention to detail, shows empathy, or demonstrates active listening.

    A skills assessment created for the types of scenarios that a candidate will face on the job will more accurately test their strengths and weaknesses.

    Will the candidate be managing teams and multiple projects? An AI test scenario could be a recording of a team member calling in to say he cannot meet the deadline because of a family emergency. In the recording, he summarizes what he has completed and what still needs to be done.

    As part of the test, the candidate records their response on the phone call. Do they show empathy in their response? Do they show active listening skills when they repeat the details of what needs to be assigned to another team member? How clearly do they articulate their message if the test requires a timed response?

    This is just one example of using AI assessments to determine how a candidate will communicate in a workplace situation.

    Test for Specific Types of Communication

    To decide what types of communication to include in an assessment, an employer first needs a clear and detailed description of the future employee’s job. What will be their responsibilities on a day-to-day basis? Who will they interact with? What problems will they need to solve?

    When the employer has created this description, the next step is to determine what communication skills are needed to perform those tasks.

    Some skills that employers often test for include:

    • Active listening: Showing the speaker that the listener is involved by nodding, paraphrasing what was said, or asking questions that show the listener heard what was said.
    • Comprehension skills: Understanding and responding to straightforward or complex workplace problems.
    • Language proficiency: Articulating clearly and efficiently the speaker’s message to the audience.
    • Problem solving: Providing a solution in a clear, concise manner with minimal or no errors.
    • Social skills: Dealing with customers or co-workers, particularly if there has been a misunderstanding or the other person is emotionally distressed over an issue.
    • Adaptability: Handling new situations that were not taught in training or haven’t previously occurred at the workplace.

    After deciding what types of communication skills to test for, the next step is to create a test that can accurately assess a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses for these skills.

    Why Use an AI Communication Skills Test?

    AI software has greatly improved over time. Assessments provide a more accurate evaluation of the candidate’s communication skills, allowing recruiters and employers to assess a candidate’s suitability for a specific role.

    These tests can be completed as part of the interview process at the employer’s office or at the candidate’s home after logging into the testing system.

    As technology continues to advance, companies have changed how they operate. More people can work from home, meaning companies have become more global. One company can hire employees from multiple cities and even other countries.

    The benefit is without the limitation of location, companies can hire the candidate with the best skill set for the role, regardless of where the candidate lives. However, communication skills become even more crucial with remote teams if employees no longer meet in person.

    With these changes to companies, communication skills become even more vital. How will the candidate handle problem solving when working at home? How will they use the technology to communicate by email, phone, or communication apps to solve a customer’s issue or work with team members they have never met?

    With AI communication testing, the employer can re-create scenarios that occur with their customers. The candidate will complete a typical scenario they will encounter by phone or email on the job.

    Their answer is then recorded and evaluated. Unlike standard testing, with AI assessments, more than one answer is possible. The candidate might not know the correct answer to a question because they are unfamiliar with the company policy or procedure. However, the employer can review how the candidate responded and evaluate only the clarity of the answer.  

    These communication assessments can evaluate many types of verbal and written communication scenarios between employees and the customers, co-workers, and supervisors.

    These customer/employee interactions and employee/co-worker interactions cannot be evaluated in an interview. However, they can be recreated in an AI communications assessment.

    Key Takeaways

    Communication skills are one of many soft skills vital to one’s ability to perform well on the job. Communication is in many forms: on the phone, by email, through messaging apps, and is more than listening to words and responding. It includes our use of language, empathizing with the speaker, how well we problem solve, and our active listening skills.

    When searching for the right candidate for the job, employers need to evaluate the candidate for communication skills, but an accurate assessment isn’t necessarily possible during an interview. An AI assessment recreates typical scenarios that the candidate will encounter when working with customers and their team while on the job.

    These more accurate assessments of a candidate’s skill set will result in better hires and a more efficient hiring process.

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  • How to Negotiate and Secure a Retainer Fee with a Client

    How to Negotiate and Secure a Retainer Fee with a Client

    Repost from 2022

    Are you a freelancer or contractor constantly looking for new projects or clients? Do you have a roller-coaster income that changes from month to month?

    If your answer is yes, then consider negotiating for a monthly retainer. A retainer contract is an agreement between a freelancer and their client for ongoing, monthly services for a set fee. The client pays monthly for your services in advance.

    The benefit to the freelancer is consistent, guaranteed income. The benefit to the client is secured services with someone they can depend on.

    The client prefers to work with a freelancer or contractor with the needed skills, but finding a freelancer-client relationship that is the right fit takes time.

    Freelancers with a high-demand skillset and sharp negotiation skills know how to negotiate and secure retainer agreements with their ideal clients.

    Benefits of Retainers for Freelancers

    A tremendous benefit of a retainer fee is a guaranteed, steady income. Freelancers who work project after project face a lot of unpredictability with cash flow and budgeting.

    They need to negotiate a 25 percent or 50 percent downpayment at the start of a project and remember to request a final payment when a project is incomplete. When working with new clients on projects, they also deal with unpredictability. Bad clients might not pay on time or at all, citing bad freelancer work as an excuse to withhold their pay.

    With a retainer, the freelancer’s monthly income is stable. Instead of constantly searching for new clients and projects, you have more time and energy to dedicate to your retainer contracts. You aren’t frequently checking your bank account to ensure you have enough funds for unexpected expenses.

    Retainer contracts are similar to the steady income of having a job.

    Just how steady is a retainer fee income? If you have just three retainer clients, one paying you $3000 a month for services, another paying $2500, and a third paying $1500, you would have an income of $7000 at the start of each month.

    When you can focus your energy on providing quality services to ongoing clients, you can also build your reputation and take on more retainer work… if you have the time.

    Benefits for Clients Who Are on a Retainer

    Just like how freelancers enjoy the stability of a steady income, clients prefer the stability of reliable, high-quality services. It takes time for freelancers and clients to build rapport and find the perfect fit. A client likes to do things a certain way and prefers to find someone who understands their brand and their approach to projects.

    To close a client on signing a retainer agreement with you, you need to be clear about what benefits you are providing them. These benefits should match what they are looking for.

    They may need marketing services, website maintenance, content writing, or graphic design, to name just a few examples. They will expect their services to be delivered on time and at their desired quality.

    They anticipate you to be available for a specific number of hours per week or per month and dedicate your time to their projects and meeting their business goals.

    Unlike a per-project client, a retainer client won’t need to wait weeks or months until a highly skilled freelancer can work on a project with them.

    Another benefit you can offer a retainer client is extra value services, such as a few bonus hours of meetings, a report, free consultations, or a discount on a smaller, one-time project.

    When Should You Negotiate a Retainer with a Client?

    A client with an ongoing need for your services is a great candidate for a retainer agreement. For example, retainer clients may require services such as cold calling, daily social media engagement, or regular administrative assistance.

    You may have started with one project with the client and decided you both work well together. They value your work and see a need for you to continue providing services at a fixed budget on a monthly basis.

    You may have liked working with the client on the project:  they pay on time, are clear with expectations, and don’t micromanage your every decision. The logical next step is to propose a retainer fee for steady, ongoing work with this ideal client.

    On the other hand, proposing a retainer agreement with a new client can intimidate freelancers. You haven’t built any rapport with a new client. They haven’t seen your skills at work, and you don’t know if they would be a dream or hell to work with. Should you even suggest starting with a long-term partnership?

    One way to begin working with a new client is a short term project. For example, you build their website. Upon completing the project, you propose a retainer fee to assist with website maintenance and future IT issues.

    Another way is to find retainer clients through referrals. A new client recommended by one of your clients would be more likely to trust you before working with you. Similarly, you would be more likely to trust a new client if a client referred them to you.

    That referral will help you close a retainer agreement with a new client from day one.

    Why Should Clients Pre-Pay Before Seeing Results?

    From the freelancer’s point of view, clients who pre-pay are serious clients. You know they aren’t going to ask you to provide your services,  then disappear without paying. Also, if they pre-pay, you know they are invested in the results.

    However, before you pocket that pre-payment, you must convince them of your value. To do that, you first need to establish rapport with the new client and make them confident that you have the skills they are looking for.

    Have a portfolio of past work and a list of testimonials or references to show the client. Your portfolio should have examples of the skills they need.

    Be clear about what services and value you will provide, from monthly deliverables to monthly results. Show that you understand their pain points and how you will solve those challenges for them.

    Explain that a pre-payment is needed to reserve your time for them because you’re currently taking on new clients and have limited availability in your schedule.

    Common Objections to Monthly Retainers

    A new client may object to starting with a retainer agreement for many reasons. Find out what is holding them back.

    Are they unable to pay the price you are asking for? Are they concerned about your skills because they haven’t worked with you before? Or are they worried that you won’t deliver the results they want?

    If the concern is price, work with their budget and decide what you can offer them for that price. Some freelancers offer services at various pricing tiers. You can add more value to your services at the price point you agree on. For example, adding some hours of free consultation or additional services.

    If the concern is your skills and the results, suggest a paid trial period. At this point in the discussion, you’ve already shared with them samples of your past work and testimonials from clients. They’ve seen your skills, and you can negotiate your value for your price.

    Emphasize that with a retainer, a set number of hours each month of your time is dedicated to providing services to that specific client. They will have peace of mind if they need work completed on time.

    Steps to Follow to Close Your Client on a Retainer Agreement

    Closing a current or new client on a monthly payment model can be done in person or online. It may be easier to close a client in person because you can build rapport and trust first. However, with the global economy and remote work, it’s also possible to close a client in another city.

    First, introduce the idea of a retainer agreement at your in-person or virtual meeting. This can also be done over the phone but with fewer visual cues. (Some people find it easier to judge a client’s reactions based on facial expression and body language, not just verbal cues.)

    Then, clarify the details by email and written contract. Some points to cover:

    • Meet with the person who will make the final decision on the retainer agreement details.
    • Discuss what they think your expected deliverables, volume of work, and expected results will be. What are the client’s goals? Be prepared to discuss the value of having a retainer agreement.
    • Confirm what monthly services you will offer and suggest additional services that you may provide.
    • Discuss your flat monthly fee for these services. If you have a package of services that you offer at tiers, share these offers. For example, Tier 1 is $1000 for x, y, z services, and Tier 2 is $2000 a month for x, y, z, and a.
    • Explain how a retainer agreement works and include the benefits of having a retainer agreement.
    • Follow up with an email proposal with your rates and retainer options. Include any add-on services. Set a date for the follow up on your proposal. Then formalize a retainer contract for yourself and your client to sign.

    How to Keep Your Retained Clients Happy

    Managing expectations keeps both clients and freelancers happy. When you’re working on the details for your retainer agreement, clarify what you expect from each other.

    For yourself: What day of the month do you expect to receive your monthly retainer? What is the specific amount you’ll be paid? How will you be paid? For example, through an app, etransfer, or third party service?

    For your client: What deliverables will they receive? What results will they see? If they aren’t detail-oriented and don’t track results, you can keep track of that data for them. Report on your progress and results. Have you met the monthly goals set out in your contract?

    Keeping a record of what you’ve accomplished for your client demonstrates your accountability. It’s also effective when you need to raise your rates because you can show that you are worth the value you deliver.

    Also, your happy client is more likely to provide testimonials and refer other clients to you. Negotiating retainers with a referral is much easier than a cold lead who knows little about your skills and value.

    Key Takeaways

    Negotiating a monthly retainer agreement is the best payment model for a steady income for freelancers and contractors.

    You benefit from regular cash flow, so you can focus on providing value to your clients instead of constantly looking for new projects and clients.

    Clients prefer to work long-term with someone they trust who provides the value and skills they need to meet their business objectives.

    You can negotiate a retainer agreement with an existing client after the end of a project. Or you can negotiate a retainer agreement with a new client on a trial basis.

    Continue to provide value and reliable service to your retained clients. Keep them updated on your progress and results. In the long term, you will have a reliable income and your clients will have the value and skills they can trust.

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