Dealing with difficult…
There are difficult clients, difficult suppliers, and of course we can ourselves be difficult and not even know it. Often being difficult is more a function of poor communication rather than conflicting personalities. Misunderstandings arising from poorly worded emails, lack of understanding regarding a process or medium, or unrealistic expectations create difficult situations and so – instead of blaming the other guy – look for the root cause and work to educate, communicate and partner with your clients and suppliers to put them at ease abut you and the project.
There are a few situations that can be difficult to deal with and must be handled carefully:
1) Demands for a quote with no parametres. Not able or willing to discuss their project or vision in order for you to hone in on a budget or cost. The simple but telling “How much for a website?” is as vague as “how much for a piece of string?” Both questions need some specific criteria to answer.
Instead of arguing or getting frustrated with this approach, educate your clients on what is involved in their project and have a series of questions ready to go over with them – pull the details you need out of that conversation. Often a client is not actually being difficult – they just need help organising their ideas, needs, wants and budgets.
2) “I need you to produce 3 designs, then I’ll decide if I will hire you.” Professionally I never work for spec (eg. for free in return for the promise of future work). Your time has value – if a client is not sure of your qualifications have a professional portfolio presentation ready for them or create a business pitch, discuss your challenges and solutions fostering more confidence in your abilities.
Stick to this rule, never undervalue your work, even at the creative stages. Set an opt-out clause and minimum charge for your consulting time. Stand behind your experience and don’t back down. Newer artists are often pressured to work for free but once you undervalue yourself the client will never pay full value or respect your work.
Protect Your Creative
I’ve actually had designs handed over by a client for me to produce with the originating artist’s slug still on it. I called the designer to discuss their vision and they accused me of stealing their art. That was a situation I did not want to get into the middle of and so declined the project. The lesson here is that besides valuing your time, value your creative remembering that no matter how many ideas you may present, the client “buys” only one of them – the other presented and rejected ideas should remain your property. See my tutorial on Protecting Your Creative for some helpful tips.
3) Refusal to sign anything. We’d all like to trust people and 99% of the time that trust if rewarded. But it is better to be consistent and ask all your clients to at least sign a letter of understanding. Clearly describe what you are doing, when the client expects it to be done, ownership and usage limitations, and how much you’ve agreed on for payment. If the project is larger, create a payment schedule. You can also offer the client an “out”.
But if the client refuses to sign even a basic letter (not full of legal jargon) by saying “I never sign anything”, that’s a red flag. Trust me.
4) A promise of future work. This is a big one. The carrot dangled in front of the supplier’s face in return for freebies, discounts or adhering to difficult deadlines. In my experience, underpaid work now stays underpaid later. In general, I say don’t go there. Obvious exceptions may be a charitable job for an established and respected client but that’s up to you.
5) Overwhelming your time to the exclusion of all other clients. I have seen this a lot, when a client demands ALL your time to the point where you have no time for other clients – and you let them do that to you – then you have already lost. It is not necessarily a step towards success. You cannot survive with one client, and often they will start demanding you lower your prices because they give you so much work, eroding your income. The other danger is that alienating your other clients as this happens kills your referral network.
Finally, when the work from your demanding client dries up – and it will – you will have nothing to fall back on. The solution is to treat this demanding situation professionally and become this client’s premiere supplier with your service and professionalism but staff up in order to handle the increased work flow to keep your pre-existing client base happy.
My advice in developing a good client base:
- Educate your clients to give you the information you need to help them manage their budgets and expectations.
- Be consistent with your paperwork and commit all understandings with your client to writing.
- Value your work and your time. Be professional and stay more organised than your client – making you invaluable to them.
- Maintain a diverse client base and multiple streams of income.
- Be a good client to your suppliers and treat them as partners in your mutual success.
Every difficult situation has an out – even if that out is to simply walk away. But if you can diffuse the situation and impress the client you have a greater chance of long term success. Good luck.
David
