A Field Guide to Challenging Clients

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CLIENTS EVERY FIRM HAS THAT ONE CLIENT-THE ONE WHO MONOPOLIZES YOUR TIME, FRUSTRATES THE ENTIRE STAFF, AND MAKES UNREASONABLE DEMANDS. BUT THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. RIGHT? HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU'VE GOT ONE OF THESE CHALLENGES ON YOUR HANDS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM. (Hint: Say “No" A Lot More.) KEY identifying characteristics Care and feeding instructions Mr. I'm Not Really Sure What I Want Mr. Hey What's That Over There, aka, Mr. I Assumed This Was Included ye Mr. I Needed This Done Yesterday eeee Constant change of heart; says one thing on a call but has a completely different opinion in an email an hour later. Insistence on getting a little bit more out of your team each time you talk; frequent requests to expand the scope of the project. General lack of awareness of the space-time continuum; belief that simply having ideas means work is completed. Get everything in writing once an approach is decided upon; reject major course-correction after the fact. Agree to do out-of-scope work only at an added upfront cost. Be straightforward-if they expect the impossible, educate them to reality. Mr. Everything's an Emergency * Mrs. We Don't Have a Deadline-Oh, Wait, Yes We Do and It's Tomorrow Mr. I Don't Really Care; Just Do Whatever You Want eese Firm belief that he is the only client you could possibly have and therefore is deserving of 100 percent of your time. Completely hands-off approach, lack of key information even when pressed for it. Flightiness, often in terms of being out of the corporate loop. Establish clear time tables and meet all deadlines so you can show the client everything is on track. Remind them that you do have other clients. Agree on a timeline as soon as possible, and remain confident in rejecting requests that will endanger deadlines or projects for other clients. Take advantage of the freedom this client provides, but always require client buy-in at critical stages to head off major reworking. Mrs. I Care So Much That It Hurts Ms. I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It Isn't That Mr. Will This Cost Extra, aka, Mr. I Emptied My Bank Account for This Comes to the table with an extremely specific approach with little room for your ideas, so much so that you begin to wonder why she hired you at all. Be clear on what she is trying to accomplish, but don't be afraid to frankly tell them when their approach won't work. Penny-pinching, bean counting, whatever you want to call it, this client is extremely concerned about the budget-to the letter. This client may not know what she wants, but she certainly knows what she doesn't want-and it's probably everything you're proposing. Agree upfront on the scope of the project-if they can't pony up more cash for extras they want, you just can't do it. This moving target has potential to cause a lot of heartache for your team; it might be best to put out the "no vacancy" sign for this client. Mr. What's a Weekend? Ms. I Hate That Color for No Reason Mrs. Won't This Take Five Minutes? Propensity for latching onto a small feature, color, font, or word in a project and bringing work to a grinding halt as a result. Sending emails at 3 a.m. every day; scheduling meetings for after business hours; wondering why you didn't complete that project on Christmas Day. A belief that she can do what you do in a much shorter time frame than is possible. Don't ask their favorite color, ask Don't be afraid to say no if what they want will take too much of a toll on your staff. what they want to accomplish. Display your expertise by recommending options that achieve those goals, If they're still unhappy, consider dumping them. As this person is clearly detached from reality, tell her why what she wants won't take just five minutes. Mr./Mrs./Mrs./Mr. Decision-by- Committee Ms. Lurker Mrs. What You Did Was Great, But We Now Want Something Completely Different Usually housed at large corporations, this client does everything by committee-even deciding on minor wording or irrelevant aspects of projects. Force them to agree on a single contact person responsible for a majority of the relationship, even if you are still dealing directly with others in the committee. This Disappearing for weeks or months at a time, then suddenly bombarding you with requests that need to be done Dream client-until you deliver the finished project and they realize they want to go in a different direction entirely. immediately. The best way to block a sneak attack is to be prepared; set the same expectations for all clients. If your process takes three weeks for everyone else, it will take three weeks for her, too. Make it clear that additional costs may apply if what she is asking for is far beyond the scope of the original price quote. will allow for at least one compre- hensive view of the entire project. IT'S TOUGH TO PLEASE EVERYONE, BUT IF YOU KNOW THE TYPES OF PERSONALITIES YOU'RE WORKING WITH, YOU'LL BE BETTER PREPARED TO HAVE A HAPPY CLIENT.AND STAFF. SOURCES: PRESENTED BY freelanceswitch.com/clients/12-breeds-of-client-and-how-to-work-with-them/ ciplex sixrevisions.com/project-management/tips-client-demands/ A FIELD GUIDE TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CLIENTS EVERY FIRM HAS THAT ONE CLIENT-THE ONE WHO MONOPOLIZES YOUR TIME, FRUSTRATES THE ENTIRE STAFF, AND MAKES UNREASONABLE DEMANDS. BUT THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. RIGHT? HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU'VE GOT ONE OF THESE CHALLENGES ON YOUR HANDS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM. (Hint: Say “No" A Lot More.) KEY identifying characteristics Care and feeding instructions Mr. I'm Not Really Sure What I Want Mr. Hey What's That Over There, aka, Mr. I Assumed This Was Included ye Mr. I Needed This Done Yesterday eeee Constant change of heart; says one thing on a call but has a completely different opinion in an email an hour later. Insistence on getting a little bit more out of your team each time you talk; frequent requests to expand the scope of the project. General lack of awareness of the space-time continuum; belief that simply having ideas means work is completed. Get everything in writing once an approach is decided upon; reject major course-correction after the fact. Agree to do out-of-scope work only at an added upfront cost. Be straightforward-if they expect the impossible, educate them to reality. Mr. Everything's an Emergency * Mrs. We Don't Have a Deadline-Oh, Wait, Yes We Do and It's Tomorrow Mr. I Don't Really Care; Just Do Whatever You Want eese Firm belief that he is the only client you could possibly have and therefore is deserving of 100 percent of your time. Completely hands-off approach, lack of key information even when pressed for it. Flightiness, often in terms of being out of the corporate loop. Establish clear time tables and meet all deadlines so you can show the client everything is on track. Remind them that you do have other clients. Agree on a timeline as soon as possible, and remain confident in rejecting requests that will endanger deadlines or projects for other clients. Take advantage of the freedom this client provides, but always require client buy-in at critical stages to head off major reworking. Mrs. I Care So Much That It Hurts Ms. I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It Isn't That Mr. Will This Cost Extra, aka, Mr. I Emptied My Bank Account for This Comes to the table with an extremely specific approach with little room for your ideas, so much so that you begin to wonder why she hired you at all. Be clear on what she is trying to accomplish, but don't be afraid to frankly tell them when their approach won't work. Penny-pinching, bean counting, whatever you want to call it, this client is extremely concerned about the budget-to the letter. This client may not know what she wants, but she certainly knows what she doesn't want-and it's probably everything you're proposing. Agree upfront on the scope of the project-if they can't pony up more cash for extras they want, you just can't do it. This moving target has potential to cause a lot of heartache for your team; it might be best to put out the "no vacancy" sign for this client. Mr. What's a Weekend? Ms. I Hate That Color for No Reason Mrs. Won't This Take Five Minutes? Propensity for latching onto a small feature, color, font, or word in a project and bringing work to a grinding halt as a result. Sending emails at 3 a.m. every day; scheduling meetings for after business hours; wondering why you didn't complete that project on Christmas Day. A belief that she can do what you do in a much shorter time frame than is possible. Don't ask their favorite color, ask Don't be afraid to say no if what they want will take too much of a toll on your staff. what they want to accomplish. Display your expertise by recommending options that achieve those goals, If they're still unhappy, consider dumping them. As this person is clearly detached from reality, tell her why what she wants won't take just five minutes. Mr./Mrs./Mrs./Mr. Decision-by- Committee Ms. Lurker Mrs. What You Did Was Great, But We Now Want Something Completely Different Usually housed at large corporations, this client does everything by committee-even deciding on minor wording or irrelevant aspects of projects. Force them to agree on a single contact person responsible for a majority of the relationship, even if you are still dealing directly with others in the committee. This Disappearing for weeks or months at a time, then suddenly bombarding you with requests that need to be done Dream client-until you deliver the finished project and they realize they want to go in a different direction entirely. immediately. The best way to block a sneak attack is to be prepared; set the same expectations for all clients. If your process takes three weeks for everyone else, it will take three weeks for her, too. Make it clear that additional costs may apply if what she is asking for is far beyond the scope of the original price quote. will allow for at least one compre- hensive view of the entire project. IT'S TOUGH TO PLEASE EVERYONE, BUT IF YOU KNOW THE TYPES OF PERSONALITIES YOU'RE WORKING WITH, YOU'LL BE BETTER PREPARED TO HAVE A HAPPY CLIENT.AND STAFF. SOURCES: PRESENTED BY freelanceswitch.com/clients/12-breeds-of-client-and-how-to-work-with-them/ ciplex sixrevisions.com/project-management/tips-client-demands/