Five early warning signs of a difficult client

Posted by: Carl Smith on Wednesday September 5, 2007

If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink then you know we should always trust our gut instincts. He shows that our first impression of a situation is almost always right. But . . . then we second guess ourselves and make the same mistakes we always do.

Well here for the first time ever, I am writing down five early warning signs of a difficult client. Hopefully this can act as a road map for myself and others so we can stop the madness of letting those naughty little clients through the door.

1) They were working with another group but couldn’t get what they needed from them.

This is always a great way to start a relationship. Tell me about your last relationship. Realize that there’s a chance the other group wasn’t good. But even then this client selected them. Inevitably they spent all their money with the other group as well.

2) They don’t have time to answer the client survey.

This is a clear sign that they either haven’t thought the project through or they don’t want to commit to anything. Often these prospects turn into clients who are indecisive or disappear for long periods of time. When they do come back, they are often on fire to get everything finished in a week.

3) They want to talk more about the cool, hip design than the content and user experience.

These prospects are always dangerous because they can be fun. They want you to “push the limits” and “go crazy.” But ultimately if you’re true to building a user-centric experience you have to look at everything from the user’s perspective. That doesn’t mean it can’t be cool and hip, but it has to be cool and hip to the user. A lot of these projects never get completed because someone pulls in the reigns on the renegade marketing director.

4) They want you to have some skin in the game.

“If you can help us now while we’re getting started with our awesome idea, I’ll pay you based on the revenue we’re going to make.” or as Wimpy would say, “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

Play the lotto, your odds are better of getting your money back.

5) They want to get started right away, but can’t pay the deposit for 30 days.

This is another one that is seductive. It’s easy to walk away from the smaller clients, we tell them to come back when they’re ready. But bigger companies have departments and systems and it takes them time to get things processed, blah blah blah. Surely (insert Fortune 500 company name here) isn’t going to screw us. Take your chances on this one if the project and client are worth it to you. But make sure your rent is covered. Once you’ve committed any amount of time the urge is to keep working. We once waited 8 months for a very reputable client to pay us. A lot of these projects get canceled before they get completed.

So there are five signs that we’ve seen again and again. Sad to say we’ve fallen into the trap more than once.

But maybe, just maybe, now that I’ve written about them I’ll really listen to that little voice in my head. He’s always right.

Filed under: Business, Interweb

Rhea Drysdale

09.06.07 at 1:55pm

Great list! I’ve experienced several of those in the past whether I was in-house or doing freelance work. It’s always nerve-wracking when a relationship falls apart, so these are some super helpful tips on weeding out the bad seeds.

Rhea

09.06.07 at 3:24pm

Conversation about the article here:
http://sphinn.com/story/4836

Jane

09.06.07 at 3:26pm

Very good advice. I especially like the warning against the “we’ll pay you later” tactic. I’m sure countless consultants, contractors etc have been burned by this one.

Jim

09.06.07 at 6:08pm

I just had a client who tried the we’ll-pay-you-for-your-marketing-efforts-if-we-get-an-ROI-in-a-month. Asked for a contract and they declined. Reading the above comments it sounds all too familiar.

CVOS man

09.06.07 at 8:44pm

And lets not forget the people who say: Well I’ve read a lot about SEO and I know what we need to do, all we need is someone to adjust our meta tags.

Carl Smith

09.07.07 at 7:53am

CVOS, I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, it’s bigger than just SEO. Anyone who says “I know what to do I just need someone to do it” is a dangerous prospect because they rarely will let you use your expertise and will always think your prices are too high. RUN!

Jim, good job asking for the contract or even a signed estimate. That definitely sends the unqualifieds scrambling.

Jane, I know they’ve gotten burned by it. Sadly those consultants are also some of the ones who come looking to partner and act just like the people who burned them. (Man I’m starting to sound cynical!)

I’m going to do a post next week on identifying good prospects, we’ve had a bunch of those too.

SEO Consultant

09.07.07 at 1:13pm

“They want you to have some skin in the game.”

Oiy vay!

Rich Brooks

09.07.07 at 3:00pm

Great list! Sometimes when cash flow is tight, it’s tough to say no to a client. However, saying “no” frees you up to say “yes” to a client who’s going to be good for you.

I’ve found that it’s important to be “true to yourself.” You have to have a method to building effective Web sites (or whatever you do) and stick to it. Clients who aren’t interested in doing it that way are often better suited to work with another developer.

If you do need to take the business, but the client can’t work in your manner for legitimate reasons, come up with a new method that you both can agree to.

Mike Myklin

09.07.07 at 6:49pm

#4 has made us quite a bit of money in the past few years but only because we insist that the client “have some skin in our game”, too. We always insist on a cash payment to go along with a percentage of sales for a period of time. Plus, we must be convinced that their business model is good, their product is good, and finally, that their customer service is good. Being able to sleep at night with a clear concience is priceless.

Carl Smith

09.07.07 at 9:24pm

Rich, cashflow is always king. There is nothing harder than saying no to work when you are broke and have nothing. While we took a few projects we shouldn’t have, we thought of it as financing our future. We always kept our eye on the next client. That said, when you take the wrong project you lose opportunity time. And if you have a decent stack of cash to sit on you have to be selective in who you work with.

Mike, first of all congrats. I love that they have to have skin in your game too. I think I’ll try that next time. If it was a hybrid, cash plus, I may think different. I haven’t had that one come across yet.

itispals

09.10.07 at 1:08am

Very True.
I would like to add one more point too.
“You do this web site for me, and you know i have lot of clients who would need web sites too. The interpretation is that you work for me either free or at the lowest price and you can make money from my clients”…
So watch out for these kind of clients too…

Carl Smith

09.10.07 at 5:26am

Excellent addition, and one that often works in combination with #4.

“If you do this for me, I can send you dozens of people who need free websites just like I did.”

SEO Consultant

09.10.07 at 6:19am

Had my first ever “Work for free and we’ll give you a cut of the profits!” last week.

They only wanted 4 days per month from myself.

I’ve read before to be wary of this kind of offer, so told the client I would require paying for my time.

Conversation died on the spot. Have heard nothing since.

This post has helped to confirm I made the right choice.

peter arkwright