GOOD WAYS to avoid BAD CLIENTS

After five years and almost one thousand projects, give it or take, I believe I have come up with a handful of more or less reliable signs that you're dealing with a bad client. I haven't reinvented the wheel, that's for sure. It's just like in that saying. Maybe I don't know what I want, but I certainly know what I don't want. The same goes here. Maybe I don't know how to find a good client, but I certainly know how to avoid a bad one. Also, I'm far from an ideal list. Sharing experiences regarding bad clients can help a lot. After all, we play in the same team. In addition, I strongly believe in Good Karma principle. Meaning, there's plenty of room and clients for everybody.

Deal with real people not with avatars

Again, there are no guarantees. However, by bitter experience taught me that clients hiding behind avatars and funny usernames should be treated with extra care. On the other hand, you have real people with real names. Usually, the owners of companies include their full name and surname, phone numbers, the address of the company, and similar. You see a photo of the real person, smiling or not, but that's not the point. I'm not implying that you won't have problems with these clients who don't have problems with transparency, but I'm saying you won't have the problems, associated with payments and reliability. You may end up in a disagreement, but at least you won't have to worry about being paid for your job. Ah, one more thing. Keep an eye on Skype. Warning signs. A client who refuses to talk and prefer to type. OK, if it is only once, but if the client avoids to talk, then ask yourself why. Also, if there's no Skype picture, you should be also extra careful. Avoiding to turn on camera from time to time is also a bad sign. I remember some guys I used to work with. They used to turn on Skype camera during the first call. So, I have to say, I haven't had a single problem with them.

Why so serious?

I personally have a huge problem with people in both private and professional life, who lack even the minimal ability to enjoy and share the positive sense of humor. I'm not saying that you should be best buddies with your clients, but at least, you should test your client's preferences when it comes to humor. I like to leave lucid jokes in emails or messages, just to see the reaction. Those clients playing tough and deadly serious all the time, usually have something to hide. Again, you should know where is the fine line you shouldn't cross. Otherwise, your client may think you are some kind of an entertainer rather than a reliable worker. This approach is something I borrowed from my personal life. I often had some serious discussions with my wife and even the disagreements. When we meet some people, I just feel very uncomfortable when they either don't like or miss to offer jokes. Most of these guys turn out to be not so reliable for long term friendships.

No working history - No trust

This is something specific and important for the world of freelancers. It's easy for a freelancer to notice a potential trouble when a client doesn't have a single reference. I always check the date a client created his account. Also, what is the number of total projects. What is the ratio of open and closed projects. What's the situation with the clients you may find outside freelance platforms? For example on LinkedIn? Well, discussing previous employer's working history can be a good way to get some idea what kind of a client you are dealing with.

Just had a bad day test

Here's a simple and a pretty much effective thing you can do as soon as you establish the first contact. Very often when being asked how was my day or a week, I start talking about a story that is both fictional and true one at the same time. As you might have guessed I borrow elements from here and there. I tell the current or the future client, depending on the stage of our current negotiations, how I just finished a business relationship with a client who was either difficult to work with, unreliable, unresponsive, not honoring his payments, and similar. Usually the stuff I'm worried or suspecting that I may experience with the new client. Then, I closely monitor the reaction. It is in our nature to support and defend our group we believe we belong to. In other words, if a fellow freelancer or colleague experiences a problem with his employer then you are more than likely to sympathize with him. I guess the same applies to employers. If a client defends other clients no matter what, then this kind of behavior should be treated as a warning sign. On the other side, if a client clearly wants to draw a line between these bad guys and himself, then you shouldn't worry too much. It's like you heard someone saying. I'm not like them. This has nothing to do with me.

Devil is in the details that often don't make any sense

Being on alert can be quite an exhausting activity. I know it and I totally understand it. You should worry about your job rather than to play hide and sick with your employer. So, this story only makes sense as a preventive measure. You need to identify a problematic client at the very beginning before you even begin with the work. However, this doesn't mean that you should be carefree all the time. Do your homework. Scan and test your client as much as you can before you decide whether or not you should work with him in the first place. Then, just relax and do your work. Don't be android paranoid all the time. At the same time, don't ignore your intuition. Be prepared to accept the unexpected. I read somewhere that you need your brains to work, but you also need your stomach to survive out there in the freelance wilderness. If I feel that something is wrong, it doesn't mean that is necessarily bad. However, this means that I should pay some extra attention and do my best to check the situation.

The basic presumption is that clients are bad rather than good

If you interpret this point quite literally then you are going to end up in a trouble of not being able to do a single job. Have you seen at least one post-apocalyptic TV show? Well, usually the hero and his group are some decent guys living and fighting in the tough world. They don't treat all survivors as the bad people, but they presume that all those guys out there aren't roaming around with good intentions. I approach every new client with a grain of salt. Then I wait and hope that he or she will prove me wrong. Hope we can agree that this is much better scenario compared with the situation where your basic presumption is that all clients are cool guys who won't do you harm under any circumstances.

Final thoughts

Trust me I did my very best to describe something that is very often quite an intuitive process for me. I told you already. There are no guarantees. I would also like to learn something new. I would like to hear from some warrior what could be the warning signs I'm not aware of. Finally, the most important thing to remember is that successful prevention is the key. Once you found yourself in the unhealthy working relationship then it is too late. Usually. The catch is to identify the problem before it becomes the problem for you. To say to a potential client, thank you but not thank you. I also realized that a bad client actually gives you two problems. The first time when he ruins your working opportunity with his project. The second time when you lose time, energy, and nerves you should have invested in your other client waiting in a line. So, it's a double damage.

If I helped at least one warrior avoid at least one bad client then I call this thread a success. If I learn or read about at least one new warning sign, I would also feel the same way. If some of you find this thread to be not as good as you expected it to be, I will understand. I would really like to come up with a list of warning signs that will work and protect me all the time with a guarantee. Yet, this is the real life we are talking about. So, keep your eyes open and share your bad experiences with all the good guys trying to find reliable clients just like you. Good luck and may only the good clients come your way.