@kc_kreative  Thanks for sharing Kristy!  I will be “paying it forward” and sharing it myself!  I especially liked the suggestions to make sure everything is “in writing”!

@kimkline @dianebianchi Glad you liked it. Share away!

Hello All.

Yes – yes, and yes — if you’ve been around the web for very long at all offering services, you HAVE run across many of the types mentioned, multiple times. 

My very least favorite is the “Mr-Mrs-Mrs-Mr Decision by Committee.”  I have always said (in writing, right up front) that I will deal with one (or on occasion two reps.) – usually “A” person designated to bring items from the committee to me for inclusion or further discussion outside the scope of the project. It does not matter how many folks there are – in one real instance, 12 on a committee to approve design, design changes, colors, fonts, etc. who could NEVER all agree. And a majority consensus never happened, even once. Ugh.

I currently have a “Ms. and Mr. Lurker.”  Don’t answer emails; simply will not agree to do any one thing in any given time slot – but expect instant replies from me when they DO decide that something needs to be done NOW.  And of course, this is not the first time for that one either. 

Sorry – got off on a jag there!  Very good infographic! Thanks.

Eileen

@kc_kreative

A lot of my clients in the past have been professionals – like doctors, counselors, lawyers, therapists, authors, etc.  

When a client has no idea what they want/need it is actually much easier to work out a program for them as they come to the table with no preconceived ideas of what to expect. Of course, there is always the “my sister in laws cousin has built a website and says…blah, blah, blah…”  — I really hate that!  Don’t you? 

We should swap stories (without revealing names/companies of course) ! 

Eileen

@amyhallbiz I like your description!

I try to set the boundary nice and early. If people want to create hassle I will walk away from the deal. Strangely enough, on the two occasions I’ve done this it has been a trigger for the client to realise that they have been a bit challenging and they come back to earth. Life is too short to stress over difficult clients.

@kc_kreative I think I have had year with nearly everyone of these in it. LOL. It has result in doing a little spring cleaning in our business client portfolio. By that I mean we have fired on purpose a few of our clients and tightened our terms and conditions.

There are a couple of lessons we have learned along the way:

1. Never under charge – always ask for your worth, if the client says its too much, stand your ground. For a designer it has to be no pay! no work! not the other way around or you get egg on you face. 
2. Terms and conditions – always state clearly what you will be doing, what is expect of the client and what is expected of you.
3. Do everything in phases – instead of doing the whole project and getting thrown out at the end, establish check point along the way. This has 2 benefits… First the client will not be surprised at the end result…second they will probably like the end result too.
4. Be brave and firm - if a client seems like they are going to be too much trouble then that is probably true. Women have great intuition for picking them out. My business partner can often spot a trouble client and warn me, 9 times out of 10 she is right. If they are too much trouble don’t take them on, rather gather clients around you that you enjoy working with. It makes your work fun not drudgery

@kc_kreative Sometimes I think we just have to let the bad ones go.  I recently had a client that was not cooperative and I felt like I was a babysitter.  I sat down and looked at how much time and frustration was involved and it became apparent very quickly how much doing business with this guy was costing me.

Don’t be afraid to let them go.  There are too many folks out there that are a joy to work with!