7 Deadly Sins of Email Communication with Clients

Not following up 

Many freelancers will send a project proposal to a client and then sit back and wait. Waiting a couple of days or even up to a week is okay, but we can’t automatically assume that the client has read the email or even received it correctly. Follow-up emails don’t have to be complicated, long, or awkward. Even a quick “just checking back in on this” kind of message will do the trick. The goal is to bump your message to the top of their inbox. 

Using an unbranded email address (@gmail.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com etc) 

This one is a small step but quite a significant one. Not only do you look more professional when you use your own domain for your email address, you also take advantage of extra branding opportunities. The client has a quick little reminder of who they’re working with by having to literally type your brand name.

Shying away from cold emails 

Cold emailing is simply the art of emailing people “out of the blue” to try and strike up a conversation that will lead to more business. Of course, cold emailing is a form of betting – you have to send many emails before to get enough positive responses to make an impact. However, it’s a great way to turn strangers into clients and thus make more people aware of your business for the future even if they don’t want to hire immediately. 

Sending robot-like messages

At the same time, if you are cold-emailing important clients try not to take all the personality out of your message. Even when sending a lot of emails, you can personalize your messages to make the best impression possible. A simple and easy change would be instead of a generic greeting, consider how much more impactful an email is when the recipient’s first name is in the salutation. 

Using subject lines that are unappealing or boring 

To avoid boredom or getting lost in your clients’ inboxes, be extra clear with your subject lines as to what you offer and what the discussion is about.

Keeping all messages in one single thread 

Having 30+ messages in one thread can be frustrating when you are looking back for information. Try to start a new email thread whenever you are addressing something new with a client be in font style, pay, a graph of deadline dates etc. On top of that, creating fresh new threads adds finality to a previous conversation. If you have clients that seem to send you endless revisions or updates, this may be the solution for you. 

Not having an email marketing strategy at all 

As a freelancer, generating leads should be one of your absolute top priorities. The more leads you get each month, the more your business will grow. The key is to simply have a strategy you’re operating from. Test email marketing hypotheses, try new things, pay attention to what works and do more of what’s bringing results.