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
Mr. I'm Not Really
Sure What 1 Want
Constant change Of heart; says
one thing on a call but has a
completely different opinion in
an email an hour later.
Get everything in writing once
an approach is decided upon;
reject major course-correction
after the fact.
Mr.
Emergency
e
Firm belief that he is the only
client you could possibly have
and therefore is deserving of 100
percent of your time.
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
- Mrs. 1 Care so Much
That It Hurts
Comes to the table with an
extremely specific approach with
little n)Orn 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.
Mr. What's
a Weekend?
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.
Don't be afraid to say no if what
they want will take too much Of a
toll on your staff
Mr./Mrs./Mrs./Mr.
Decision-by-
Committee
usually housed at large
corporations, this client does
everything by committee—even
deciding On minor wording Or
irrelevant aspects Of projects.
ce them to agree on a single
ct person responsible for a
majority of the relationship, even
if you are still dealing directly
With Others in the committee. This
Will allow for at least one compre•
hensjve view of the entire project.
(Hint: Say "No" A Lot More.)
KEY
Mr. Hey What's That
Over There, aka,
Mr. I Assumed This
Ylas Included
Insistence on getting a little bit
more out of your team each time
you talk; frequent requests to
expand the scope of the project.
Agree to do out-of-scope work
only at an added upfront cost.
Mrs. We Don't Have
a Deadline—Oh, Wait,
Yes We Do and It's
Tomorrow
Flightiness, often in terms Of
being out of the corporate loop.
Agree on a timeline as soon as
possible, and remain confident in
rejecting requests that will
endanger deadlines Or projects
for other clients.
Ms. I Don't Know
What 1 Want,
But I Know It Isn't That
4
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.
This moving target has potential
Cause a lot of heartache for
your team; it might be best to put
out the "no vacancy" sign for this
client.
Ms. 1 Hate That Color
for No Reason
Propensity for latching onto a
small feature, color, font, or word
in a project and bringing work to
a grinding halt as a result.
Dorft ask their favorite color, ask
What they want to accomplish
Display your expertise by
recommending options that
achieve those goals. If they're still
unhappy, consider dumping them.
Ms. Lurker
Disappearing for weeks Or
months at a time, then suddenly
bombarding you with requests
that need to be done
immediately.
The best way to block a sneak
ck is to be prepared; set the
me expectations for all clients.
If your process takes three weeks
for everyone else, it Will take
three weeks for her, too.
Identifying 'ns
are and feeding
tructions
Mr. Needed
This Done Yesterday
General lack Of awareness Of
the space-time continuum: belief
that simply having ideas means
work is completed.
Stra ightf0 rward— if they
pect the impossible, educate
them to reality.
Mr. I Don't Really Care;
Just Do Whatever
You ant
Completely hands-off approach,
lack of key information even
when pressed for it.
Take advantage of the freedom
•this client provides, but always
require client buy-in at critical
stages to head off major
re work i
Mr. Will This Cost
Extra, aka,
Mr. I Emptied My
Bank Account for This
penny-pinching, bean counting,
whatever you want to call it, this
client is extremely concerned
about the budget—to the letter.
ree upfront on the scope of the
ject—if they can't pony up
more cash for extras they want,
you just can't do it.
Mrs. Won't This
Take Five Minutes?
A belief that she can do what
you do in a much shorter time
frame than is possible.
As this person is clearly detached
from reality, tell her why what
she wants wo'ft take just five
minutes
Mrs. What You Did Was
Great, But We Now
Want Something
Completely Different
Dream client—until you deliver
the finished project and they
realize they want to goin a
different direction entirely.
Make it clear that additional
may apply if What she is
asking for is far beyond the scope
of the original price quote
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 STAFF.
SOURCES:
freelanceswitch.com/clients/12-breeds-of-cbent-and-how-to-work-with-them/
sixrevisions.com/project-management/tips-client-demand5/
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