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Wed 28 Apr, 2004 05:16 am
Has anyone deliberately put off a horrible client? Or, if you are in the position to do so, fire one? Luckily, most of my clientele are great, but once in a while someone comes along who is not only difficult, but clearly doesn't understand what I do. I have indeed put some of these people off on purpose, and couldn't give a crap if they never give me any business. In early days, I took EVERY job, no matter how bad. Now, I just don't have the patience or the inclination to do that, not to mention I can't stand the haggling over price that often takes place with these people.
When I was contracting I had certain customers who wanted to waste my time without adequate compensation. I had to let them go out of self preservation.
In a sense, I'm a contractor myself, edgar, of a different colour. I have had to do the same.
I once had a conversation with an accountant. He said that he figured that 5% of his clients gave him 90% of his aggravation. He sent out a letter to the 5%, stating that he would no longer be able to work for them. He told me that his life has been much happier, and more satisfying since he made that move!
For me, the worst are people who are given gift certificates from well-meaning but misguided family members. Sometimes it seems that all they are thinking is "hey, free dinner."
I've had a few 'rotten apples';
one 'gentleman' invited me to do a design for an addition, and when i came to go over the prelimnary plans with him, he first told his wife to "shut up!" a couple of times, and then told her to leave the room. I opted to follow his wife's lead; ialso left the room, and the house, and did not return.
and i have a current 'customer' who sent me a drawing from his contractor, then called me a few days later to ask if i had "any ideas".
I informed him that i charge for design (surprise!!!), and he said he would discuss the terms with his partner, and get back to me.
Then this morning i here from the manufacturer that he has made an appointment to go there to look at samples, and, i'm sure, to try to wangle a free design out of them!
Another bugbear for me are clients who ask: "Well, if we buy the food, do we get a discount?"
someone once said to me --- "this job would be great if it wasn't for the clients"
Cliets like ------------------
Those who moan about the costs
Time the job takes
Fail to keep appointments
Fail to give a complete brief of what they want.
Want a silk purse made out of a pigs ear
I used to think the best part of a job was typing out the invoice
mmmm then there are those who say 'well how long did it take to do?' of a painting as though it shouldn't cost anywhere near as much - they forget the years of study to get to the standard you are at, the materials, time, gallery commisssion, travel etc etc etc
same with good cooking I assume - it isn't just about the cost of ingredients, it's about your skill and talent and hard work over the years to achieve that standard
Absolutely Vivien, and it is my greatest joy to serve clients who really and truly understand that concept, and enjoy it at the proper level.
I love that you asked this question. I am currently dealing with a horrible client. I have two clients, big companies, that I deal with. Funny as some one noted that the small client causes the biggest headaches and that is my case. The large one that we make the most money from is great. The one where we only make a small amount causes me the most headaches. They are very unreasonable. As a deal with more than one person from this company, I do plan on meeting with the higher up guy who is more reasonable about how to handle certain issues in the future. Unfortunately I am not in the position to fire one. We are in the process of firing one client as they have not been paying us. I guess that is the difference between having your own business and working for a large company.
Phoenix32890 wrote:I once had a conversation with an accountant. He said that he figured that 5% of his clients gave him 90% of his aggravation. He sent out a letter to the 5%, stating that he would no longer be able to work for them. He told me that his life has been much happier, and more satisfying since he made that move!
I was thinking the 80/20 rule usually works better - man the beaner didn't know about Pareto's Principle - send him back to bean school :wink:
Quote:The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many(80 percent) are trivial. In Pareto's case it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran's initial work he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems. Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world.
You know 20 percent of you stock takes up 80 percent of your warehouse space and that 80 percent of your stock comes from 20 percent of your suppliers. Also 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your sales staff. 20 percent of your staff will cause 80 percent of your problems, but another 20 percent of your staff will provide 80 percent of your production. It works both ways. In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth.
a little confused on the "fire the client" concept.
i always thought the client, the one paying for goods/services, does the hiring/firing...
thanks
I was pretty sure that lawyers could fire clients.
I've had clients who didn't know what they wanted 'until they saw it', couldn't give me any direction, couldn't even tell me what their favorite color is, and I'd design for them, do ten, fifeteen, twenty thumbnails until finally it became clear that this guessing game was a big waste of my time and they were more than likely getting off on the whole power thing above all else. So, I suggested that they find someone else who has a better handle on what they're looking for and made my exit. I lost money but I also got them out of my hair.
the engineering biz has been slow since the enron fiasco.
we're basically at the client's mercy -- beggars can't be choosers -- and they know it... one thing we try to do is get repeat work from the same client regardless of how poorly they treat us, so the bridge-burning is kept to a minimum.
Oh, been there. Did some illustrations for a person who had NO IDEA what she wanted, though she thought she did. No visual sense at all. The pay was good enough that I just put up with it and tried again, and again, and again. (It was not just taste, it was physical impossibilities -- she wanted a scientifically acccurate line drawing of a face, showing the inner ear -- that ends up behind the eye, but she wanted to show his eyes [both] -- so either it had to be scientifically inaccurate, or way weird, or not what she wanted... ARGH!)
eoe ------ I've had clients like that. They'd bring in a pile of crap video tapes shot by a novice and expect you to work miracles with it. Poor focus, jerky panning & juddery zooms. If you are honest and tell them it's a pig's ear they get all moody and you aren't giving it 100% effort.
linkat,,, you are right about the big companies and payment. They have an established system in place & as long as you follow it correctly, the money turns up on the expected date
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