9 Freelancer Tips to Help Your eCommerce Clients Thrive this Holiday Season

Here’s 9 freelancer tips to make sure that your clients are happy working with you during the holiday season.

For eCommerce clients, their busiest time of the year is from Black Friday through Christmas. It’s when most eCommerce companies do 4-5x their normal monthly sales and they are able to profit from their year of hard work.

To put the holiday season into perspective, read this article that outlines key stats you should know about the upcoming 2018 holiday shopping season.

Naturally, eCommerce clients are more on edge during this time of the year. It is after all their greatest chance to maximize their profits so they can continue to grow in the following year. With that in mind, it’s critical that you, as a freelancer of theirs, understands how to keep them happy during this time period.

From our experience going through many eCommerce busy seasons as both sellers and owners of FreeeUp, we’ve put together a list of 9 freelancer tips that you can hold dear to your heart this holiday season.

Save this article. Take a screenshot. Or copy and paste the tips onto a notepad on your laptop.

Keeping these freelancer tips close and top of mind will help you create better relationships with your clients this holiday season. It will set you up to continue working with the client next year. And if we know anything, it’s that if you can make it through a holiday season with an eCommerce client, their trust in you is going to go up significantly.

So, let’s dive into these freelancer tips…

Tip #1: Be proactive. Understand their holiday needs. 

Starting in the beginning of October, you should have already been reaching out to your eCommerce clients asking them what you can do to help them prep for the upcoming holiday season.

If you haven’t done it already, it’s not too late.

Get in touch with all the eCommerce clients you’ve had and reach out to see if there is any way you can help them get ready.

A simple outreach is all it takes. If they don’t respond, they may be too busy. But it could lead to more work for you and it could make the holidays even better for the client. They will certainly appreciate you for it.

Tip #2: Give proper notice about days off.

This should go without saying, but make sure that you send your eCommerce clients multiple emails about the days you plan to take off during the holiday season.

If you’re going to be off Thanksgiving, let them know. Same goes for Christmas and Christmas Eve.

Holiday shopping doesn’t stop for family get togethers, so make sure that you and your client are clear on your days off so that it doesn’t lead to issues when they may need you most.

Tip #3: Be clear about what hours you’re not available each day.

Similar to your days off, make sure that you send your eCommerce clients multiple emails about the times of the day when you will NOT be available.

It’s likely that you’ll be working for multiple clients during the holiday season. Organize your time for each day and let each client know when you won’t be available to work on their projects specifically.

Establishing this upfront will avoid any issues where the client is contacting you, you’re working for another client, and the first gets mad that you’re not responding and able to help.

Tip #4: Establish 2-3 open communication channels.

The more communication channels, the better. Skype, email, mobile phone, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, etc.

Meet with your eCommerce clients and make sure that they have multiple ways to get in touch with you if they need you urgently for something. There is nothing more frustrating that having an issue and being unable to solve it because you can’t get in touch with the right person.

Tip #5: Set up daily check-ins with updates.

During the holiday season, things are happening quickly.

Orders are coming in. Customers are emailing with questions and calling your customer phone line. Returns are being processed. Cancellations are happening. Tracking is being sent. Products are running out of stock.

Your eCommerce clients are going to be wrapped up in all of it and most likely be too overwhelmed to know exactly what’s going on with you.

To make their job easier, create a system where you check in with them daily (maybe on Skype, Slack, or another instant messenger) and you provide updates. Let them know you’re around if they need you and give them updates on what you’re working on.

Even if the client doesn’t see it each time, it keeps you on the same page. That’s critical during the holidays.

Tip #6: Ask how you can help further.

Things will undoubtedly get crazy at some point during the holiday season.

If you’re not working in daily operations and you finish the work that you were assigned, reach out to see if there are any other ways that you can help. It may be a godsend for some of your eCommerce clients to know that they have someone that can help with miscellaneous work as they get through the holiday season.

Tip #7: Respond quickly.

Can’t stress this freelancer tip enough.

When you’re working for your eCommerce clients, make sure to respond FAST.

For instant messages, within 5 minutes if you’re online and working for them. Otherwise, within a couple of hours. For emails, within 30 minutes if you’re online and working for them. Otherwise, within a few hours. If you get a phone call from a client, try to call them back as quickly as you can.

Your clients will be moving quickly and taking action fast so make sure you are ready to be on the same page.

Tip #8: Report issues clearly and quickly.

In the case that you run into an issue with your work, make sure to inform the client quickly and provide as much information as possible so that they can solve it fast.

Whether in an email or through an instant messaging app, break down what the issue was, who it’s impacting, why it happened, how you plan to solve it, and what you need from them to help.

Making it as simple as possible for your clients to solve issues as they come up will create less stress for them and will make it less impactful on the overall outcome of the holidays.

Tip #9: Stay healthy.

Last, but not least, do everything in your power to stay healthy.

Get proper rest. Eat healthy. Continue to work out as your schedule permits. Avoid sick cousins and family members.

Being healthy is key to making sure that you are able to get through the entire 30 day period when holiday shopping madness ensues. By staying healthy, you make sure that your eCommerce clients wont have to scramble to find someone to replace you midway through the busy season.

Conclusion

These 9 freelancer tips are key to your success with eCommerce clients during the holiday season.

They are also great tips to implement at any time during the year, but when eCommerce businesses are booming during the holidays, they are absolutely critical.

Start with one at a time and slowly get in touch with your clients to make sure that you are on the same page.

Any freelancer tips that I left out of this article? Let us know on Facebook!