Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / How Freelancers Can Build a Client Scorecard to Raise Rates
Transcript
- Lucas: You know that client who pays on time, never gives you headaches, and actually seems to value what you do? And then there's the other one — the one who haggles every invoice and somehow still expects overnight turnaround. Luna: Oh, I think every freelancer has at least one of each. The question is, how do you systematically figure out which is which — and then what do you do about it? Lucas: Right. So today I want to walk through a tool that I've seen work really well — it's a client scorecard. You assign numeric scores to each client across a few key dimensions, and then you use those scores to decide who to keep, who to let go, and — importantly — who to raise rates with. Luna: And this is the kind of thing that if we've helped you think through a career move or decision, listener support is what keeps these episodes ad-free. A couple of dollars a month genuinely makes a difference — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small thing that adds up. So, the scorecard I like has three factors: revenue, enjoyment, and strategic value. You score each on a scale of one to five, then weight them however makes sense for your business. Luna: What's the difference between enjoyment and strategic value? They sound like they could overlap. Lucas: Good question. Enjoyment is about the day-to-day: do you like working with this person? Do they respect your time? Is the work interesting? Strategic value is more about what the client does for your trajectory — do they give you referrals? Do they have a brand that looks good on your portfolio? Are they in a growing industry? Luna: So a client could be a low payer but high strategic value because they're a well-known name. That makes sense. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the weighting comes in. If referrals are your main growth driver, you might weight strategic value at 50 percent. If cash flow is tight, you weight revenue higher. The point is, you decide. Luna: I can see how this would help with the emotional side too. It's easy to keep a client just because you've known them forever, even if they're dragging you down. Lucas: That's the whole point. The scorecard removes the gut feeling and replaces it with a number. Let me give you a real example. I worked with a freelance graphic designer — let's call her Sarah. She had eight clients, and she was constantly stressed, undercharging, and working weekends. Luna: Sounds like a lot of freelancers I know. Lucas: So we sat down and scored each client. Revenue was straightforward — who paid the most. Enjoyment she scored based on how she felt before a meeting with them. Strategic value she scored based on whether they referred her or had a strong reputation. Once she averaged the scores, two clients came out below a three. Luna: What did she do with them? Lucas: She fired one — a small retail chain that was always late on payments and never gave creative freedom. The other, she decided to keep but only on her terms. She raised her rate by 30 percent for new projects, and surprisingly, they didn't blink. They valued her work more than she thought. Luna: And the higher-scored clients? Did she raise rates with them too? Lucas: Some of them. She used the scorecard to identify her top three clients — the ones who scored above 4.5. Then she scheduled a call with each and said something like, 'I've been reviewing my pricing, and because of the value I'm delivering and the demand for my time, I'm adjusting my rates. For you, I'm only increasing by 15 percent because I value our partnership.' Luna: That's a smart framing. It's not 'I'm raising rates because I need more money,' it's 'I'm aligning my pricing with the value I provide.' Lucas: Exactly. And because she had the data, she felt confident. She wasn't guessing. She knew that even if she lost one of those clients, she'd be fine because the scores told her which relationships were worth investing in. Luna: What about the subjectivity? If I'm scoring my own clients, I might unconsciously inflate the score of a client I like personally but who actually doesn't pay well. Lucas: That's a fair concern. One way to counter it is to score twice — once quickly by instinct, then a week later after you've tracked actual data. How many emails did they send? How often did they pay late? Did they refer anyone? The second score is usually more accurate. Luna: So you're essentially building a habit of client portfolio review. Like an annual checkup. Lucas: Exactly. I recommend doing it every six months. Markets change, clients change, your own preferences change. That client who was a five on strategic value two years ago might be a three now if their industry is shrinking. Luna: And what about new clients? Should you score them before you even sign the contract? Lucas: Absolutely. You can do a pre-score based on your early conversations. How responsive are they? Do they respect your rate? Are they in a growing field? If a potential client scores below a three before you start, you might want to think twice — or at least set very clear boundaries from the beginning. Luna: It's like a dating filter. You don't want to invest months into a relationship that's going to drain you. Lucas: Right. And the beauty of the scorecard is that it's completely customizable. You could add a fourth factor — like 'learning potential' if you're early in your career and want to build skills. Or 'network access' if you're in a field where who you know matters a lot. Luna: So the key takeaway: stop making client decisions based on gut feelings or sunk cost. Use a simple, repeatable scorecard, and let the numbers guide your pricing and portfolio. Lucas: And if you do it consistently, you'll find that your average client quality goes up, your stress goes down, and your rates naturally rise because you're serving clients who actually value what you do. That's the goal.