Successfully handling client objections is an essential part of running a freelancing business. However, when faced with a prospect or client objection for the first time, many freelancers don’t know what to do. Even worse, they may take the objection personally.

Facing an objection from a prospective client doesn’t have to mean that you’ve lost their business. Instead, it can be the launching point for a discussion that leaves of both you feeling better about doing business with each other.

In this post, I’ll discuss seven common prospective client objections. I’ll also invite you to share client objections that you’ve faced and to explain how you’ve handled them.

You Don’t Have Enough Experience

This can be a challenging objection to overcome if you are just starting out. Take this as a challenge to show them why you are qualified. If you are a student, tell them what you accomplished as a student. For example, “I was top in my design class at college.” You can also refer them to your portfolio or professional samples. (If you don’t have a portfolio or professional samples.

Your Fees Are Too High

Your first task is to discover whether your fees are a little too high or a lot too high. If prospective client feels your fees are a little too high, you can work with the prospect to show them why you are worth the extra investment. If the prospect feels your fees are a lot too high, then they are probably not a true prospect for you. You can decide whether you want educate them about the value of your work, or you can just let them go elsewhere. Just don’t waste a whole lot of time on someone who is unlikely to buy.

You Are Too Old

While age discrimination is illegal in the United States, this objection crops up anyway. Fortunately, it’s easily dealt with if you’ve been keeping your skills up-to-date. List some recent courses or projects that you’ve completed that show that your expertise in the latest developments in your field. Refer this prospect to your latest samples.

I Can Do This Myself

Many prospective clients say this and it may indeed be true–in theory. Your prospective client very well might have the skills to do the project that they are assigning to you. In reality, however, the prospect probably doesn’t have the time to do the work. That’s why they need you. Point out that by using your services, they are freeing themselves up so that they can devote more time to what they really want to be doing.

You Don’t Have Specific Expertise

A very common objection that prospects make is that, while you have experience, it isn’t specific to their project. They might phrase such an objection like this, “we were really looking for someone who has experience designing websites for nonprofits.” If you feel that you can do the job,