How to Properly Work With International Clients (For Freelancers)
My Experience
When I started a freelance mixing and mastering business a few years ago, I was not at all expecting for it to garnish customers from all over the world. I expected customers in my local base and country of course, but it expanded far beyond that in the span of a year. One of the most amazing features of internet commerce (as I came to find out) is the sheer fact that your customers can come from anywhere, as long as they have internet access.
In prior years, mixing and mastering a song for a client in the United Arab Emirates one day and working a song for a client in China the next would have meant jet-lag, a hefty airline ticket bill, and an impossible schedule. That is, if something like that could even happen. Most customers in a multitude of countries worldwide wouldn’t have the connections to meet a mixing and mastering engineer, and most certainly not an engineer from across the world. However, in this day and age, the ability to collaborate and create music is much more accessible to everyone than ever before. From my home studio I can communicate with numerous countries, use translation software to speak diverse languages, and create music that shapes the world for those all over the world. Thought, it should be noted that with this new ability comes a greater responsibility to interact professionally with a diversity of people.
In this post, I’m going to give tips to all you freelancers who read that and thought “Yes! I want to do that, I want to create meaningful projects for people all over the world.” I’m going to outline how I approach projects with international customers, and the etiquette tips I use to foster long lasting relationships. As of today, I have interacted with 700+ customers in 50+ countries (27% of the world), so every tip I have is something I have learned through real-life business interactions with many diverse customers. I am absolutely blessed to have had the opportunity to make music for so many individuals all over the world, and I hope my tips can lead to others sharing their talents with the world.
A map illustrating the national origins of customers with which I have conducted business. World domination isn’t just for supervillains anymore am I right?
TIP 1: Be Aware of Your Language
In my experience, individuals that are insecure in their skills tend to be the ones to use confusing technical jargon when they describe their services. They want to throw out terms people don’t know, so the other individual assumes they’re an expert because they’ve never heard of what they’re saying. I see it all the time in the fields of audio engineering and programming. A musician asks about what an engineer can do to mix and master their song, and an engineer rattles off a dictionary of technical terms the musician doesn’t even understand to come off as someone well-versed in the tech field.
This practice is a bad habit even in undertaking local projects, but it especially hurts you in international commerce. In actuality, experts in any field are the ones who can describe what they’re doing in a way a Kindergartner could understand perfectly. You are doing technical work, but you should be able to explain what you’re doing at the core in a simple way, using simple language that doesn’t confuse anyone. The goal is never to confuse your customer or hide behind long-winded technical explanations, it is to explain your work in a way that makes them confident you’re doing the work that aligns with their goal.
This is especially important with international business, because most really technical language doesn’t translate well. The more complex a sentence is, the more likely a translation software is going to butcher it and convey something you don’t mean to convey. Practice explaining your services in simple language that can be easily translated. Also, if you’re doing a programming service for a client, be aware that most coding languages are heavily based off English. If your client doesn’t speak English, that is definitely going to affect how you explain your code. Stick to explaining the features of what you’ve done, and how to use it, not the code they may not understand. There are also some interesting Github projects programmers have made that are intended to translate your English-based code, try implementing. If you’re coding for international clients often, you should also be looking into coding workshops that are intended on discussing the international nature of code. Attend one to develop your skills more and learn about what other programmers have done to code for a multitude of countries. Many LinkedIn groups and Slack channels also include programmers from all over the world, so ask them for their advice. If you do this, be sure to offer them value in return, don’t just take.
Finally, be aware of slang. In the United States, when we are mixing and mastering, we call individual files to a song the “stems.” Put that straight into a translation software and try to use the same word in another language, it’s going to reference the stems of a plant. You need to be aware of what parts of your language are just slang, known only to the United States, and avoid always avoid slang when talking to international customers. Jokes also don’t translate well, so be mindful of that and don’t put them in a position where they’re liable to feel confused, confusion often leads to frustration.
TIP 2: Be Aware of your Tone
When you start a conversation with an international client, the default tone you should use when the conversation begins is polite. Remember everything you’ve ever learned about good manners, and apply it to the conversation. However, do be aware that good manners means something different in every country and culture. I learned the awkward way that being too polite can bother certain customers in different cultures, because they have been taught someone who is over-polite is disingenuous. Perhaps in their culture they just prefer blunt facts that are not dressed up with the extra language we believe we need to use to be polite.
That led to formulating an approach I still use today: your first sentence is polite as can be, and then after they respond once or twice you should imitate the customer’s tone. Pay attention to how they interact, and try to mirror that. If they’re very complimentary, compliment them as well. If they are straight to the point, you should also be direct.
I also advise everyone who is interacting with customers from all over the world to be thick skinned. A customer from another country might interact with you in a way you might think is impolite, but in their country, that’s how everyone interacts. Don’t assume they’re disrespecting you or be unprofessional with someone because you think they’re being rude to you, because most of the time, they’re not. Be understanding of different tones and different ways of interacting, because your way is not the only way that people can convey respect in business communication.
TIP 3: Be Aware of your Customer’s Time Zone
Most websites that connect tech freelancers with customers can show you on what time zone your customer is in on the user’s profile. In the chat window on the popular freelance website Fiverr, you can clearly see a potential customer’s time zone underneath their username.
Something akin to this will be under the name of each user.
When you start working with a new client, this is something you need to take note of immediately. The buyer may contact you and ask for a project to be done by noon, and you need to convert that to a due date in your time zone, because often buyers are not as aware of the time zone differences, they are just aware of their deadlines. Don’t ever assume they’ll convert a deadline to your time zone, that’s on you. If given a deadline, the first question you need to ask is if that deadline is in their time zone, and then convert accordingly.
Also, I find it important that your first interaction with a customer should be at a time that is appropriate for their time zone. Don’t send your Australian customer an introduction message at 3 AM their time. Stay up a little later if you have to, set an alarm, schedule a message or email, and find a way to introduce yourself during their daytime. An easy rule I follow is: If I find it inappropriate to contact my boss at that time of night, then it is inappropriate to send a message a customer at that time. Additionally, if you schedule an email, do be sure to let them know that the message was sent on a delay to be considerate of their time, so they don’t fire back a response and assume you’re awake and ready to respond. The little explanation will show them you had the forethought to be courteous, and they will wait for your next response.
All of these rules about appropriate timing apply heavily to the first message you send to a client, however in the first interaction, you should seek to answer these questions so you can properly the interact for the rest of the project.
Is it okay to leave you a message late at night (your time) if I am at work on your project at a different time in my area?
Some customers want you to send them every single thought/question/file you have while you’re at work on their project no matter the time. They’ll get to it when they wake up and can respond, but it won’t wake them up and will not offend them. However, some do not want to be disturbed during a set period of time, and knowing that period of time gives you a boundary to respect in which you will not send them any project information.
What is the best time to reach you? I am in time zone XYZ, and I noticed you are in time zone ABC.
Make them aware of the time zone difference in case they are not, and arrange a set time that is not awful for both of your time zones in which you can reliably answer some questions about the project in real time. You are the seller so you should be more flexible about scheduling and staying up/accommodating their schedule, but don’t put yourself in a situation where you’re talking to someone at 4 AM every night if that’s not sustainable for you. Be clear about what you can handle and what is available in your schedule. Staying up one night to meet versus becoming nocturnal for one customer are important distinctions.
Also, sometimes a time doesn’t end up working out for both of you. In this case, discuss the best time to send emails/schedule emails to arrive to the customer that give them as much information as possible. If you can’t communicate in a chat based way or on a call because you two are never online at the same time, your correspondence should be incredibly thorough so when they are online and read it, they have minimal questions to fire off to you for you to see when you get online.
Tip 4: Have International Payment Options Available and Be Aware of Currency Differences
If you’re freelancing through a platform like Fiverr, Fiverr handles all the work for you in terms of currency conversion and receiving the money from anywhere. However if you are negotiating with a foreign customer outside of a platform like that, you should be aware of conversion rates and the fees associated with receiving money from someone outside of the United States.
Banks can incur huge processing fees on international checks so I typically use the platform PayPal for international business. I have used PayPal a long time and they usually protect you in the event someone disputes a transaction (all you usually have to do is send them record the transaction did occur and record of delivered work to end the dispute). However, TransferWise is being touted as a cheaper alternative to PayPal regarding fees assessed, and options like Google Pay and Square are just as viable for accepting payments from international customers.
In addition, when you settle on a price, you should always write USD or use the dollar sign symbol when you send an amount. A sentence like “40 for the whole project” is likely to get misconstrued in currency conversions and the customer could drastically overpay you or underpay you. Be clear from the beginning to avoid these kinds of situations, because realizing later on in the transaction that they’ve underpaid and asking for more money can come off to some customers like you’re being underhanded and just trying to get more money from them. If a customer overpays you and finds out, they’re also likely to never work with you again and are likely to tell others they were charged unfairly by you, resulting in even more lost potential revenue. If you found out someone overpaid you, immediately refund them and explain in full that it was a conversion issue. If a customer underpaid you, typically it is best to point out the currency exchange led to a miscommunication, but take the loss in the transaction that has already started instead of asking for more money mid-transaction. It was your mistake and you need to finish this project. However, make it clear to them future projects will be priced differently to the correct conversion. They will likely thank you for the one time discount and be back.
Tip 5: Be Aware of the Line Between Personal And Professional Topics
If you’ve been in a business a while, you already know some topics are absolutely off limits to discuss with customers in any setting, not just when dealing with international clients. The average freelancer should already be in the habit of not discussing personal or controversial topics such as religion, politics, lifestyle, etc. and this is all the more important in international business.
I for one always like to research a little about the culture of every country I do business within, but realistically, no one is not going to understand the nuances of a country’s culture in a Google search or any amount of Googling. Mentioning something like religion could be incredibly taboo in their culture, so it’s best to avoid topics like that. Don’t make any assumptions about what will and won’t offend them. You can follow their lead if they bring a topic like this up naturally on their own, in my experience many musicians from Latin America often want to talk about how their Christianity plays a part in their music. However, don’t be rude about their beliefs if they share them and you don’t believe the same. Just offer polite comments and thank them for sharing, but don’t tell them you don’t agree, keep that to yourself. If you do share that belief you can share that you do and discuss that, but it’s best not to keep the topic on something that could turn controversial for too long.
Most of us are already aware not to bring up religion/politics, but where most of us struggle is in the casual comments said off-handedly that we may not realize contain personal information you shouldn’t mention to your clients. Saying something akin to you can’t get on a meeting because the girlfriend you live with wants to go hiking in the morning is too much information. You don’t know if living with your girlfriend is a cultural faux pas for them. People across the world are putting together a picture of you in their minds based on limited information, so don’t give them any personal information that could cause them to think negatively about your lifestyle and how you conduct yourself. Any number of personal topics could offend a culture you don’t know well, so it’s best to keep the conversation strictly business.
Also, if your social media is full of your controversial opinions, don’t share that social media profile with a customer, and make sure the name on your social media is different than the name you are offering them in this business transaction. People Google you more than you know. Or better yet, if you’re serious about your business, make your social media professional promotion for yourself, something you don’t mind a customer finding.
You may ask customers questions about their country and show a genuine interest in where they’re from, but be smart about it. Ask something like “What is the music scene like in China?” or “Do you like living in your city? What’s the best part of the city?” These show an interest, but don’t delve into controversial topics. Don’t ask about their country’s politics and DON’T ASK ABOUT ANY RECENT WARS OR TRAGIC EVENTS. If you’re curious, Google it. Don’t ask your customers, I’m begging you. It sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised. I’ve been told horror stories of freelancers who did broach these absolutely off-limit topics.
Tip 6: Immerse Yourself in Diversity
This tip is a little loaded, but I personally believe for someone to be successful in international business, their day to day life should be filled with diversity. Seek out people with different lives, cultures, and experiences from your own and expand your circles with these individuals. If you only ever interact with one demographic, that’s going to be evident in how you conduct yourself with other diverse cultures because your knowledge is going to be so limited. Most likely, your only knowledges of these other cultures will be from media or prejudice, and the way to combat that is getting out there and meeting real people and unlearning any stereotypes you may have.
Every single skill in the workplace is something that should be learned and practiced, and welcoming diversity is a skill that is no different. By having a diverse network around you, you’re constantly learning about new cultures and learning the commonalities between you and others. You’ll learn how to connect with people on those commonalities, and appreciate what makes each of you different. If you’re doing this every day, appreciating diversity and interacting with all people becomes as natural as riding a bike, and you’ll be surprised how much easier it becomes to interact with new people on a daily basis!
To Wrap Up…
To be successful internationally, you need be intentional in how you interact with your customers, and be considerate of their culture and time. Follow these tips, and I guarantee you’ll be on your way to more satisfied longstanding customers all over the world. Leave a comment if you have a thought. If you have a suggestion or want me to write more on this topic, feel free to contact me through the LinkTree on my profile. Now get out there and get your work moving around the world!
My Fiverr Platform if anyone is interested or has mixing/mastering needs.
