8 Tips to Prepare for Your First Client Meeting

You've just gotten an invitation to chat with a dream client for the first time—congratulations! This first meeting is always exciting.

It's also a little nerve wracking.

First things first: take a breather. This potential client wants to learn more about working with you because they recognize your expertise. You’ve already made a good first impression through your Upwork profile—now it's time to see if working with them could be the right fit.

I've held a lot of calls with leads over the years, and these are the top 8 things I recommend you do for an effective first client meeting:

1. Decide if a call is the best next step

2. Do background research to build rapport

3. Prepare for your part of the interview

4. Establish a clear price and deliverables

5. Don't overpromise

6. Offer a clear follow-up plan

7. Watch out for scope creep

8. Be prepared to pass if you notice red flags

So, let’s dig in!

1. Decide if a call is the best next step

Let's start by assessing if setting up a call is really the best next step for you.

Once you're raking in the invites it's going to be hard to set up calls with every lead that connects with you on Upwork. At this point in my career I can get as many as 30 interview requests on Upwork every day. If each person wants to chat for an hour, that will eat up nearly my entire workweek!

Because of this, it's a good idea to get into the habit of Using Upwork Messages to prescreen your prospects from day 1. It's simple: you're going to send a message to each person who contacts you and ask them a few questions. Don't stress out too much over how to do this; just remember that each client is a person and talk to them as such.

You can use the message to figure out key details about the client’s needs. I like to ask the following:

• What's their project request or goal (if it wasn't clear from the invite or job posting)?
• When are they interested in beginning the work?

If I'm not clear on the project budget, I'll ask about that too.

While you're waiting for a response, click through to their Upwork profile and see if you can find out what their company name is. Some folks have this visible on their profile, while others don't. If not, don't be afraid to ask them the name of the company in a message! Look the business up online and see if they seem like the type of client you are interested in working with.

2. Do background research to build rapport

If everything checks out over direct message, go ahead and proceed with scheduling a call. I usually schedule 15 minutes on Zoom with each new prospective client. This is just enough time to get introduced, have a quick chat about the project, and go over next steps.

When scheduling a video call, make sure to give yourself a window of time both before and after the call. Don't jump on Zoom as soon as you accept the invitation!

Giving yourself a bit of a buffer before the call is useful as you can use this time to do your research on the client and the company.

I'll often check out the client's LinkedIn and social media profiles to get a better sense of who they are. I'm always on the lookout for things that can be a point of connection between myself and the client.

Perhaps they like cars—brilliant, I do too! Maybe they have the same type of dog I do, or we've been on holiday in a similar spot. These are all possible topics we can chat about.

That said, I wouldn't open my first call by asking them how they enjoyed their recent trip to Greece. I wait for these opportunities to come up organically in the conversation. And even if the topic doesn't arise, it still helps to give me a better idea of who the client is as a human.

3. Prepare for your part of the interview

In addition to doing your background research, you’ll want to take some time to work out a general process for this project. Base your planning off whatever you know now. You're not going to communicate all of this to the client right away, so it's OK if it changes down the line.

For example, if I know I'm going to be speaking with someone who needs help with ActiveCampaign, I'll jot down some information about how long I think it will take and how I'll approach the work. This gives me a baseline to use when chatting with the client. If I uncover additional needs during the call I'll make a note. This will help me rework my deliverables and estimate.

4. Establish a clear price and deliverables

Your initial proposal to a client through Upwork will be structured as an hourly rate by default. This is just how the system is set up—it makes things very straightforward.

However, you can absolutely work on a fixed rate contract if you prefer (and if the client agrees).

I use the first client call as a time to assess whether I would like to give a final estimate that is hourly or a fixed rate.

Let's say I've set up a call with a potential client who would like me to build a website for them. I may go into this call planning to offer a simple fixed rate project that has a set turnaround time.

If I start talking to the client and discover that they have additional, evolving needs or need more support from me in terms of guidance and education, I may decide to make my proposal hourly. This way the client gets what they need and I am compensated for my time—even if the project goes on a bit longer than I originally anticipated.

5. Don't overpromise

When talking with the client—or preparing your final estimate after the call—be mindful of accidentally overpromising. It can be easy to do this when you're first starting to work with clients. There are two ways this often happens:

1. You think you can deliver a client's request and then later realize it's outside of what you can do
2. You underestimate how long it will take you to complete a deliverable

The former simply happens sometimes, despite your best efforts. In that case, I find it's best to muster up courage and be honest with the client. They may be disappointed and leave some tough feedback, but at least you've been up front with them.

As for the latter, well, there have been times when I started a project and quickly realized it was going to take me longer than I thought. I once quoted a fellow $1,000 for what I thought would be a quick fixed-rate job—and it took me two months! I had to stick with the plan, though, and deliver what I promised.

On the other hand, there are times when I've earned $18,000 for a project that's done in a day. It's all a matter of balance. I've gotten much better at accurately estimating what I can deliver and in what time frame. You'll get the hang of this too.

Here's a tip: if you really aren't sure how long a project will take, propose an hourly contract with a range of hours. Rather than promising something will be done in exactly 10 hours, you could say that it will take between 10 and 15 hours. This way you have a buffer if unexpected variables arise, and the client won't be blindsided by an increase to the total project cost. If it so happens that you clock in at the lower end of your range, then the client will be delighted by your efficiency!

6. Offer a clear follow-up plan

You don't need to work all of these details out in your head on the call. It's perfectly fine to wrap up the meeting by letting the client know you will get back to them soon through Upwork with a written estimate.

Give the client a frame of reference as to when they can expect to hear from you again. While you don't want to drag this part of the process on too long, it's normal and expected to give yourself anywhere from a few hours to a day to sort out the final estimate. As you become more experienced with quoting and conducting client meetings, you'll find that you're able to wrap everything up faster.

7. Watch out for scope creep

There is another way a project can take much longer than you initially expected: scope creep.

"Scope creep" is a fun little term for when a client asks you to add more work or deliverables onto an existing project. This may happen whether the project is hourly or flat rate with milestones.

If this happens, it isn't because the client is being sneaky and trying to get more work out of you for free. Remember that your client doesn't know a lot about what you do (that's why you're the expert) and they may not even be used to working with freelancers. You may need to gently guide them on best practices.

Clients often think "oh, it's just one quick thing"—and you may too. Many times these "quick things" snowball into more involved work, though, so I recommend you develop a scope statement and set expectations from your very first meeting with a client.

I make a point to clearly outline what is and is not included with a project while chatting with a potential client. I reiterate these points in my final written estimate and deliver it via Upwork. It's logged along with all my other client communications and is easy to reference if need be.

If one of my clients would like to add additional deliverables to a project, I let them know that we can do so as part of a new contract (for hourly work) or milestone (for fixed rate projects). This way I get paid on time for work completed while maintaining a strong working relationship with my client.

Of course there may be times that a client asks for something so far out of your scope that you can't help them. Or you may not want to work with the client any more. As long as you deliver on what was originally promised, you're under no obligation to continue working with someone.

8. Be prepared to pass if you notice red flags

If you're anything like me, you're probably spending a lot of time before your first call thinking about how you can impress the client. You want them to decide to work with you!

However, never forget that while the client may be deciding if they want to work with you, you're also deciding if you want to work with them. There's no shame in deciding that a client isn't the right fit for you.

Over time, you'll begin to develop a list of "red flags" that let you know someone isn't your ideal client. These are the ones I recommend you look out for right away:

• Potential clients that send their email and phone number right away in the interview request: red flag. The same goes for clients that want you to contact them via WhatsApp or another platform. There's no reason they can't chat with you through Upwork Messages—I send these types of potential clients straight into the bin.
• People who reach out and say they're doing research for a project that will take place in a few months: red flag. There's no reason for you to spend time chatting with potential clients who aren't ready to do work now.
• Prospective clients that push for a much longer initial call than I propose: also a red flag. In this case, I may decide to offer a paid consultation or decline to move forward with a quick chat. Your time is valuable, and setting time limits on your calls with potential clients is reasonable.
• Anyone that suggests an "alternative" form of payment, such as a car or a trip: really big red flag! Good clients are ready to pay your rates, on time, in real currency, and through the Upwork platform.

You may also find that a client is perfectly nice but the work isn't something you are interested in or comfortable with. Whatever the reason, if you aren't interested in proceeding with a contract, it's OK to say so. This is respectful of the prospective client’s time as well—and most people will appreciate that.

Next steps

Now that you’re ready for your first client meeting, it’s time to get started! Just log into your Upwork account and schedule a time for a Zoom call right in Upwork Messages.

Remember to keep making strategic decisions, giving yourself time to prepare, and recognizing those red flags—before long, you’ll be a seasoned pro at client meetings.