On the "Theatre" of Freelance Writing

I had a long phone conversation with a client the other day. We were discussing our approach for an upcoming project and some revisions from a previous project. At the end of the conversation, the client said something that made me think.

He owned his own business and had clients of his own. He said the conversation we were having was priming him to love the writing I sent—it was the same way he operated with his own clients. And we had an interesting discussion about the “theatre” of freelancing. And this made me think…how much of my client interaction process is for my own benefit, and how much is to reassure or “prime” the client?

If everything were done just for my benefit alone, I would do pretty much everything via email for some projects--and keep it to a single phone interview for others. I wouldn’t need to have long talks in most cases. Everything I didn’t need would be trimmed in the interest of time.

But that’s not really providing the most effective service possible. In my resume writing practice, for example, I interview clients by phone. It would be much more efficient for me to have everyone fill out a questionnaire and send it over. If I ask the questions the right way, stress in the beginning how important it is to be thorough, and ask for corroborating documents such as old resumes, I get all the info I need. But the client wants to feel like they’re getting a document that reflects “them.” And some people won’t feel that way if they don’t have a chat. I’ve learned that most clients will be much happier with the final product if they feel like you’ve gotten to know them—and they’ve become invested in the process.

What’s your feeling on the theatre of freelance writing? What do you do in your process that’s more for your clients’ benefit than your own?