Developing and maintaining client relationships may be one of the hardest parts of your job. How do you manage expectations, keep everyone in the loop, and get paid at the end of the day?

Within each client page in Moxie, you’ll be able to quickly see where you’re at with a project, so you know what to do next. If you're ready to try Moxie with your next client, this article will show you how from onboarding to reviews.

The discovery phase is an important early point of contact with any new client. Collecting this information up front will help you shape your proposal, set expectations, and set you up for long-term success.

Initiate the discovery process using a form embedded on your website or link on your social media or email.

Click on "Forms" in the left nav and then "Form builder." Drag and drop the widgets into your form and click to customize them with all the questions you need answer to for your awesome new client.

As you customize the questions, best practice is to give each field a unique name (it is internal, so be clear and not clever here). You can also opt to map fields to fill in sections of Moxie - like a client first name, email, or address.

Make sure you collect name and email information and map it appropriately so Moxie can create a client for you.

Your form can include open-ended text questions, as well as multiple choice questions to ask about their needs, their budget, and their timeline. You can also add in your own text to educate your client about what you can do and how you work.

In the form settings, choose a stage of your pipeline that you'd like all of your inquiries to be directed to. You can also create an email template that will automatically send to the email address entered in the form to let them know what to expect next.

Pro tip: Stage names can be customized to fit your process. Edit them under Sales pipeline >> Settings..

Once the form is ready, use the "Share" button to get an embed code for your website or direct link. After the client fills the form out, you’ll be able to use their answers to shape your early conversations and your proposal.

Great news! Your client has requested a quote, proposal, or contract. And you know which leads might be the right fit for your budget and skillset from the questions you asked in the form. This means you’re one step closer to landing the gig.

You'll get a notification that a new opportunity has been created and you can view it in your pipeline. Set up a quick meeting with your meeting scheduler via workflow automations so you can hear about the best prospects.

Click Workflow automations in the left nav to automate this process. Add a new workflow automation and name it (make it clear for yourself, not client-facing). The entry event will be the opportunity entering the stage that you set your form to be entered into.

Click and drag the "Decision" widget onto the field. You'll use this field to automate qualifying your lead. Click "Decision" on the field to set the conditions. Label it with the decision you'll be making then "Add condition." Choose "Form answers" from the dropdown.

The field id (unique id that I recommended above) is how you tell this decision which field to read. This example assumes I asked a multiple choice question in my form about a prospect's budget with options "less than $1000" and "greater than $1000." This is how I set up my decision conditions.

If yes, then I'd like to set up a meeting using an email template. If no, I will send an email from my template library that says we aren't quite the right fit at this time.

View every prospect and the automations that have been run in pipeline. Click on any prospect and then automation to see if they have been run through any automations.

You qualified your lead and have a full discovery form completed so you're ready to create an intentional written agreement for you and your prospect to work though.

What will you send this new client? A quote has a statement of the work you'll do - projects, tasks, or just text - and how much it will cost. A good proposal should describe in detail what problem your client is hiring you to solve, how you can solve it for them, and what the terms of your work are (like your pricing structure, for example). A proposal should also have a signature. A contract can have any of those things plus payment and legal terms.

It can also be a good idea to provide options. For example, you can offer an hourly rate or a project rate, and let the client choose which one they prefer. You can also offer multiple tiers of work, with various different offerings at each tier.

Add your prospect as a client by clicking their name in pipeline then activity and open their discovery form. Click "+ Create client" to add them as a client with all the info they added attached.

Click your new client and then the + to create a new agreement. Choose whether you want a quote, proposal, or contract. (Once you've got the hang of this, you can save agreements as a template so you don't have to create the same agreement over and over.)

Use any "+ Insert block" button to add a new content block, or click into existing content blocks to edit them. (You can also create project templates for projects that you use often.)

If you want to offer your client multiple packages to choose from, you can add in additional project blocks. When your client receives the form, they’ll be able to choose between the options when they sign. Or opt to allow them to choose multiple options.

You can also optionally include payment terms, contractual/legal language, and more. To learn more about sending agreements, take a look at this in-depth resource.

Once you’ve received a signed proposal or contract back, you can get to work with confidence. If you included a project block in your agreement, the information from the option they selected will appear in your projects, along with any deadlines and details from the agreement.

Once you’ve agreed on the work you’ll be doing and the price you’ll charge (and, ideally, signed a contract), it’s time to get to work. If you sent your agreement through Moxie, then your major tasks are already in that client’s projects tab in Moxie (toggle this in your settings). Take some time to add in personal milestones or more detailed deadlines.

In Moxie, each active client can have one or more projects, and each project will be broken down into a series of tasks. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you might have a client with a single project, and three tasks.

Client: Michelsons

Project: Wedding day photography

Tasks:

That project would look like this in your project list view:

💡 Pro tip: Moxie has a list view, kanban (board) view, and timeline (Gant) view. Use filters to see all your projects or select projects that you are focused on.

Break the full project down into tasks, and set deadlines for each one. Seeing each step in the process will help you stay on task and deliver your work on time. Keep in mind any other commitments or projects you’re working on, and avoid setting deadlines for multiple clients too close together.

You can do this and so much more with Moxie's project management tools. Learn more here.

Tracking your expenses as a freelancer isn’t the most glamorous part of your job, but it’s an important one. Whether you’re billing the client for expenses you’ve incurred or using them as a tax write off, good bookkeeping will make the process far less frustrating.

To make accounting easier, link your business bank account to Moxie. We’ll help you categorize and track your expenses, create financial reports, and bill clients for any reimbursable expenses. Go to your settings (from the cog in the lower left) > "Connected apps" and scroll to "Accounting" to connect to Plaid or Quickbooks Online to see all your expenses in Moxie.

You can also manually add expenses without a linked bank account. You can also add automatic recurring expenses for any subscriptions you may have.

When and how you bill your clients will depend on the terms you and the client agreed to. If you use a Moxie agreement, that information is added to your invoice automatically (double bonus points to you if you used integrated payments in your agreement to make one less step and less paperwork for you and your client). However your pricing structure is set up, you can manage it with Moxie!

When a client signs a contract created with Moxie, the project will automatically include your rate (whether you charge a flat fee, by the hour, retainer, or per item pricing). If you’ve manually added a project, add your rate to the fees section of the project details. Make sure to track your time with Moxie to make billing easier down the road.

💡 Pro tip: We recommend connecting your Moxie account with Stripe or PayPal to allow for easy online payment. Learn how to integrate with Stripe or PayPal.

Once you’re ready to send an invoice, navigate to the client you’re planning to invoice, then open their invoices tab. Use the + button to create a new invoice. Choose between a deposit (for future work) or standard payment (for work you’ve already completed). Click "Add a new line item" to add a product or service. You'll see a dropdown list of products and services you have created in the past. Click "Add hours or billable projects" to add your tracked projects or hours.

Within the invoice preview, you’ll be able to add or update contact information, apply discounts, add tax, and more. Once the invoice is ready, save it for later or send it.

Learn more about Moxie’s billing tools.

Congratulations! 🎉 You’ve completed this project, gotten yourself paid, and can bask in all your professional, independent glory.

But don’t leave that client in the rearview mirror just yet. Past clients can be a great way to build your network and source future projects, so take some time to reinforce the relationship you’ve built.

One great way to do this is by requesting feedback on your work. You can build a Moxie form (and use automations!) to ask what went well, and what could have gone better. If the feedback is positive, ask for permission to quote them in future proposals: sharing past positive feedback is a great way to build your credibility with potential clients. Send your form with an email template and get reviews in just a few clicks.

Depending on the type of work you do, this client might also be a source of future work, too! Let them know you’re open to future work, and reach out occasionally to see if they have any new projects you can help with.