Freelancer etiquette guidance needed, please.

Post date: 2020-09-19 23:01:50
Views: 106
I'm a freelancer, and I appear to have lost a longtime client. Is there a non-nutty way to ask my client why? Details inside.

I am a "teapot quality control professional" and for more than 7 years I've been a freelancer, working on more than 250 projects. Many of my clients are repeats, and I get good feedback on my work. The nature of my work is such that 100% of it is done remotely, and I only occasionally meet my clients in person at teapot conferences. Many clients I've never actually met.

Jane Doe was among my first clients 7 years ago, and I worked on her very first teapot project and all her subsequent projects*, and watched as she grew her career and became a big deal in the teapot world. Now she's got a pretty major teapot career. (*She would occasionally do a tiny free bonus project for her fans, so small and casual that she did the quality control on her own, which is reasonable in our industry.)

I've been happy to work with her, and also extra flexible as during our last few projects she had problems on her end that affected our timelines. I've done rush work from time to time, and done extra work in other ways. On the last project, there was quite a bit of rush & extra, and while I didn't charge her an enormous amount, I did have to charge her more than the basic rate. She has many times expressed gratefulness and said "I'd pay you ten times as much because you do such a good job." There have also been a few projects where I didn't get to do the entire scope of my work because she finished projects so close to her own deadline that I only saw, for example, the teapot itself but not the lid or the handle because she wasn't finished with them yet.

Which brings us to now: I saw publicity for her next project which is about to release, and I have not worked on it. I would love to know why. Some scenarios I consider:
-- She's not happy with my work. Even if she never wants to book me again, I'd love to hear this feedback because I always want to improve my skills. If I'm dropping the ball somewhere, I'd like to know.
-- She's not happy with my rates. This is data I would like to know, though I probably wouldn't change my rates for her or anyone else.
-- There's something else about my work process that isn't working for her anymore. The fact that I can't even think of what it might be means necessarily that I'd want to know -- I want to be alerted to my blind spots.
-- She still wants to work with me but didn't for some reason on this one. Maybe this is part of it...but given that this current project is within a series of teapots I'd already worked on it doesn't really make logical sense for continuity.

So, should I ask her? If yes, how should I phrase it? I definitely don't want to appear angry or defensive. I am truly professionally curious. Or do I have to just chalk it up to freelance life and move along without asking?
Number of Comments
Please click Here to read the full story.
 
Other Top and Latest Questions:
requiem
I can't find the story
Can I limit first degree connections seeing past work experience?
Answered: [New theme] - POLARIS
Delicious in Dungeon: Stewed Cabbage/Orcs
Hazbin Hotel: Hello Rosie
Trustworthy way to send PDF as a FAX on a Mac?
When did my mono symptoms start? When might they end?
A follow up to my automated transcription question
Safest ticket marketplace in the UK?