How to ask client’s for more work in an email

To grow your business, you may want to try earning more work from your current clients. This approach can help you make more money without relying solely on marketing and recruiting. Asking for more work may seem scary, but it can be as simple as sending your client a well-crafted email. 

This guide offers tips on how to ask a client for more work in an email, including: 

• Introducing the proposition 
• Understanding your client’s desires
• Recommending services 
• Offering incentives  

To ask a client for more work in an email, you need to know how to introduce the topic in a way that doesn’t encourage the client to say no immediately. 

While you write, use clear, friendly, and professional language. Also, attempt to keep the email both detailed and brief, likely about three paragraphs. At this length, the client won’t feel overwhelmed by the content.  

Instead of starting the email with a request, consider easing into the topic. In the first paragraph, ask how clients are doing. Then, thank them for your past or recent business with them. Write that you enjoyed working with them and hope they were satisfied by the result. 

You may also want to ask for feedback to show you work to improve yourself with each job.  Overall, following up on clients and attempting to build long term relationships can remind them of your business and show you care. 

If you want to win more work with this email, you’ll need to understand clients’ desires. To understand clients better, consider who they are, what challenges they face, and their needs and pain points. Then, research them or their business to see what more you could offer. 

If you can predict what the client needs, it will help you convince them to give you more work rather than asking them what work they want. The email will come off as less of a plea for money and more as a helpful recommendation.

Also, think about what this client purchased from you previously. Is there something else that can complement this purchase? For example, if you’re a social media marketer, you may have updated a small business’s Facebook page. But, if you notice the client could grow an audience on Twitter, you may also want to offer a Twitter content plan.  

In the second paragraph of the email, don’t just ask clients for more work. Instead, establish a sales pitch to suggest what kind of work they might need. If you offer specific products or services, it’s easier to say yes. You may also want to request a meeting to discuss more opportunities. By making your request as detailed as possible and ensuring each word counts, you can do the work for your clients. 

For example, say a graphic designer created a business’s logo with great feedback. That designer might suggest ordering new marketing materials designed with that logo and remind the company that they can trust the work. 

As you outline what work you could do for your clients, consider how it would help them in the long run. If you explain why investing in your business can benefit them, you may win them over. For example, more updated marketing materials can lead to greater outreach and more customers. 

Be sure your request is realistic and helpful. You are anticipating the client’s desires and suggesting work that they may need to be done eventually anyway. If a client purchased a product from you, you wouldn’t suggest a repurchase of the same product. Instead, you would offer something that complements or expands upon that product. 

Still, try not to sound pushy or forceful as you request more work. Rather, use firm and alluring language. Instead of writing phrases like ‘you must,’ focus on ones like ‘I can’ or ‘This will’. Remember that you help your client as much as they help you at the end of the day.

Another part of knowing how to ask a client for more work in an email is drawing the client in. Once you outline how you can help your clients, use the third paragraph to convince them to act on your request right away. In psychology, incentive theory suggests that people are more likely to act on something if you offer them a valuable reward. So, a discount or rewards program could motivate clients to give you more work. 

Incentives will push clients to act quickly instead of putting off requests for another time. For example, you could offer 15% off if a client orders from you within the next week. This third step to your email will show clients that you know what they need, and you’ll help them get a good deal. 

You may also want to end your email with a call to action (CTA) to urge clients to follow through quickly. The CTA uses action language with an accessible link, leading to your website or prompting clients to respond to your email. Either way, it offers an easy and efficient way for them to give you an answer. Overall, you can start earning more work from existing clients with this three-step email approach. 

Once you know how to ask a client for more work in an email, you can start bringing in more money for your business. But, financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward!