Good morning Nick

The answer to your question unfortunately is yes! However, here is the good news once you realize they are never going to appreciate your experience and direction it will be easier to advise them to work with someone else.

Compile data and have a frank discussion with them about the marketing plan they agreed to early on. Explain to them that you understand they have a limited budget and it may be difficult to continue servicing them at this level, they will get the picture. My recommendation to you is to make sure you have clear contracts for each client, use Quickbooks to match time worked against the contract to know what is profitable and what is not and never chase the money again! 

We all have learned this the hard way….Good luck!

Good advice guys, thanks.

@positiveim I have a couple of “challenging clients”, one which gives me referrals. What I’ve learned from her is that she really needs more education than the normal client. She likes to know every nuance of everything, even if she isn’t the one handling it.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that my client that doesn’t have enough money to get everything done that needs to be done is actually hurting my reputation. Other people in her industry are looking at her results, which are weak at best. They think it’s my fault, but they don’t see that I only have 5 hours a month to spend on this clients social media. I actually lost a client because of this. I told my potential client that my actual client only hired me for 5 hours, but it still didn’t matter. The funny thing is that they hired someone else, more industry related, and they haven’t seen the ROI they wanted from me and they haven’t fired him.

Before taking on any client, I would always ask “what are their objectives”… but, what people fail to ask (and I always made sure) was “what are their expectations”… because expectations is where the fan hits the sh@t.  Unrealistic expectations need to be dealt with before you start…  However, to answer the questions.  Yes.  To get rid of a client, I asked another company if they wanted them, the other company said yes, so I referred my client on to them.

Beware of customers who want to :

- partner with you (OMG!)
- get you to think for them! (OMG – if they cant figure out wth their business is all about, they are not going to be successful)

You’ve gotten great advice here.

Because of client mistakes I’ve made in the past (yes, I’ve fired several of them), I am smarter about screening them in the beginning. I know the warning signs, so I ask questions directly on those points. And when I get a questionable answer, I get really pointed with my follow up questions.

When I turn down work because of answers I get in the intro interview (and I do), I never tell them on the spot. I always tell everyone that I need a few days to review their situation and my schedule, and I’ll get back to them. When my answer is no, I follow up by saying that I don’t feel our goals and styles are lined up and I can’t give them the results they want. I never tell them that I feel the problem is with them. I say that under these conditions, I can’t deliver what they need and deserve.

Hope that helps.

A business associate told me that one high-maintenance client saps more of your time and energy than four “normal” clients. I found this to be true after spending sleepless nights, migraine days and upset stomachs trying everything I could think of to please an unpleasable client. We ended up having the “frank talk” as several of you suggested, and we cut ties.

Although I lost a bundle of money (my choice), the very next day we contracted with four new clients who more than covered the monetary loss, and these clients are an absolute delight to work with.

Needless to say, we’re doing a more thorough job of screening prospective clients now.

You asked Charlene specifically, but I’ll still chime in…

Warning signs include reluctance to talk to that person, resentment of any time you need to spend with them. If you feel like you’re going in the wrong direction, you probably are.

I just “fired” a client a few weeks ago. We had a straight-up discussion about the signs indicating their needs were different than the services I offered. I suggested a few things they should look for in the person that would fill this role better. When we got off the phone, I took a deeper breath than I had in weeks.

The stress just isn’t worth it, especially when you are in this business because you actually enjoy what you do!

Great question!

I haven’t had to do it myself, but I remember a boss who did. I worked for a local SEO company at the time.

Look at the cost/benefit of keeping the client. If you’re time is worth $50/hr and the client takes/sucks 10 hours per week, that’s $500 worth of work a week.

How much is the client paying? In the above scenario: @$500, you give them what they pay for.

Are they worth the time and headache? In every scenario: hard to determine, no dollar value

With SEO, it’s hard cause you keep having to re-educate the client over and over again on the same ‘issues’. Some of SEO is hard to grasp; especially if the clients have preconcieved ideas of what SEO is and how it works.

Good luck to those who are currently dealing with this! I do not envy your position.