When a client pushes back on scope, stalls on price, or goes quiet mid-project, your instinct is to…
Respond, defend, or even stay quiet and do the extra work at a loss.
(I’ve been there, and I know in the moment staying quiet feels easier than starting a conversation that might go badly.)
But 99% of the time what the client is saying on the surface isn’t the real problem….
Their pushback is fear in disguise.
(And when you go quiet and hope it passes, it just resurfaces later, usually at a worse moment.)
Your job as the strategic partner (the pro they pay you to be) is to respond to what's actually underneath…
And in my experience, the best way to do this is by bringing the conversation back to their goal.
Instead of jumping to assumptions, lowering your rate, or overexplaining when they say “this seems like a lot for what it is…”, you redirect the conversation.
Always bring those concerns back to their goals and getting them those desired outcomes.
Then you can get to the core of what they’re actually worried about, which is almost always something you can address.
But only if you know what it is.
This is why the freelancers who are best at retaining clients and closing projects are really good at noticing when a conversation has drifted away from the thing that actually matters to the client, and directing the conversation back there every single time.
Moving the convo back to their goal gives you both somewhere to go.
You’ll work it out from there 😉
Best,
Jamie
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