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Client's Taking Advantage of You?

by Ehanson
14 replies
For those who do consulting work on the side or full time, have you ever ran into a bad client?

I currently have a client who's jerking me around, nitpicking about the price and is being vague about what he want's. I'm ready to say enough is enough and let him go, but don't want to ruin my reputation. I'm getting the idea he want's everything for basically free.

This hasn't happened to me before with clients and I'm wondering how to handle it. How did you handle it? Here's a video to illustrate my point.
#advantage #client #taking
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Brock
    There was a thread on here yesterday covering that exact topic.

    I believe it was titled something like 'have you ever had to fire a client'

    It was pretty good read, you should check it out.
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  • Profile picture of the author newbim
    There's a really good book - kaizen marketing system that says all about the different types of clients - it is definately worth a look at - turning away his client could do wonders for your self confidence too - you can actually turn clients away! It makes you become more sought-after and valuable - more elite. Personally, I can't see a bad side to it - if people ask you about it, you can turn it around and almost qualify them to become clients of yours.

    That's my opinion - take it or leave it, I just think that turning away a client wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

    Good luck with it though.
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  • Profile picture of the author duncanb
    Yeah i have had plenty of clients/people whom i do business with whom act like this.

    These sort of people will bring no value to your business in the long run and will just drain your resources.

    They have no loyalty to you so will probably switch to another cheaper company in the future if they get the chance, so in my opinion i would drop clients like this if you are not stuck for revenue.

    Also everyones heard of the 80/20 rule of course.
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  • Profile picture of the author RebeccaL
    Originally Posted by Ehanson View Post

    For those who do consulting work on the side or full time, have you ever ran into a bad client?

    I think the question is "have you ever NOT ran into a bad client?"
    It is a pretty common pet peeve amongst those providing services and consulting to clients
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  • Profile picture of the author matts5150
    Absolutely, when I used to do consulting full time, I'd "fire" around 20% of my clients per year, the ones that complained, hard to work with, called me late at night, etc. Be carefull though, I fired one company a few years ago and the lady came to my house yellling and cursing about how sorry I was. I wasn't home and my wife had to call the cops on her so she'd leave. I still see her periodically driving by my house when looking at the security dvr sometimes... and before that I had one guy that I fired kept leaving messages on my cell that he was going to come "get me" whatever that means lol
    Just be aware that some clients that it personal, almost kinda like when breaking up with that psycho girlfiriend back in college.
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  • Profile picture of the author money2k
    This is always a tough situation. You just sometimes have to be straight with the customer. Be professional, but firm.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
      Mh, yes, had some of those too. And I actually fire them relatively quickly now.

      I found the same rule applies:
      The 'cheaper' the clients you target, the more problems you have.

      That's one of the reasons, why having a contract is important.

      If you work with professional businesses these problems go away, or at least these businesses are aware that they have to pay for every work delivered, and that a project gets more expensive when they change it along the way.

      Ralf
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  • Profile picture of the author Jagged
    Did you spell out in detail what you were to do for the money he was to pay you? This does not have to be a formal contract...an email will do just fine, as long as your "scope of work" is defined....
    It's much easier to refer to this when issues like your arise.

    I have only fired 2 clients to date, but have had finacial or "scope of work "run in's like yours with a few more. By me referring to our agreement (which was only a detailed email), they was able to see that they were out of line......definately a case of "give them an inch & they will take a mile". They need to learn that an inch costs money & the only way to educate them is for you to stand your ground.
    Usually they see the light, but if they do not understand this....show them the door.

    Also, if you have a way to show them the value of your service, such as if by what your doing, you will create $50,000 in additional sales for them....it's easier to justify your compensation....if they are getting the $50,000 extra in sales but still nit-picking on dollars, their mentality most likely will not be swayed......politely cut ties with the client....Issue a refund if necessary.

    Any good business-person would jump at the chance to exchange $50,000 for a $5,000 payout.

    BTW, Ralf was right in saying that the 'cheaper' the clients you target, the more problems you have....the 2 clients I have fired so far were 2 of my "cheapest paying" clients....expecting the moon on a budget.

    Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author HigherPrThanGod
      Time is money. I know it's cliche' but when dealing with "those kind of customers" it's incredibly true.

      You have to turn the tables on them.

      Explain to them that for every second they waste trying to get you down on your price one of their competitors is willing to pay for it because they know what value is.

      You don't care if they get mad. You just want them to PAY you for what your work is worth or go away. Then once you get them on the defensive, suggest your not sure it'll workout with them anyway.

      I was in sales and signed someone up on a multi-thousand dollar deal. It was hard enough to get them on the deal - I should've known. This was in lead generation - a CRAP market. Within a day we refunded them almost everything and fired them because they kept calling with HOURLY updates on the quality of the leads (not their sales reps, right? lol)

      You have to decide if you can afford to weed out the undesirables.
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      • Profile picture of the author DaveHughes
        Originally Posted by HigherPrThanGod View Post

        You don't care if they get mad. You just want them to PAY you for what your work is worth or go away.

        I was in sales and signed someone up on a multi-thousand dollar deal. It was hard enough to get them on the deal - I should've known.

        You have to decide if you can afford to weed out the undesirables.
        ^ this, with a story and a caveat...this is all my opinion, based on my experience both in freelance work and 25 years of working with small local businesses in my day job. Your mileage may (and probably will) vary.

        I've done various types of consulting and freelance work in my career, and I have learned one invariable rule: The less they spend, the more of a pain they will be. However, the hardest thing to realize is the first sentence up there..."You don't care if they get mad."

        It's hard to really internalize for some that your job is not to make them happy in that way. Everyone has a "The customer is always right" mindset, and as a result we tend to lean toward trying to make them happy without considering if what they're asking is reasonable.

        After you've done it for a while, you learn to recognize these clients right up front and avoid them for the most part.

        The thing to remember about providing services like this is that you're not trying to "sell" them. You explain how you can benefit the client, show why you're the one that can best provide that benefit, and then shut up. If they can see the value, great! If not...don't try to convince them. If you talk them into it, they will be a "problem" client.

        Not "might"...WILL.

        Does this mean you walk in and say "Here's what I do. Do you want it or not?" Of course not; you have to have some salesmanship to get their attention. What you don't want to do is high-pressure them into becoming your client. At that point, even if they signed up, they're already on the defensive and looking for a reason to justify that they were right all along.

        If you have any experience in the business world, it's hard to shift your train of thought over to "I am better off without some people as a client." That sounds wrong, doesn't it?

        I used the old "sales pitch" to land a client once (to redo their website; something I don't do anymore...I'm a writer); it lasted one month before I used the "cancellation clause" in the contract to dump them. Continuous demands (I mean five to ten calls per day, every day), changing requirements and a bad attitude that it wasn't already done the first afternoon (coupled with a refusal to pay the first month's fee because "You're not done yet; I could have been done already.") led me to pull the plug. I've never "sales pitched" since then.

        I tell them how I can benefit them, what I can do to give them that benefit, and then shut up. If they can't see it for themselves, think it's much too highly priced or don't think it's an important benefit, I smile and walk away.

        And sometimes...they'll call me months later, having decided I might be able to help them. Go figure. :rolleyes:

        I do have one addition to the quote that started this post:

        You have to decide if you can afford to weed out the undesirables.
        In my opinion, that's wrong. It should read:

        You have to decide if you can afford to not weed out the undesirables.
        Just remember...there is no "perfect client"; that's a mythical creature. Every client will have problems that come with them; however, there's a difference between the normal daily problems of doing business and putting up with a soul-draining problem child of a client just for the fee.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheProdigy
    The more a client is paying, the longer I will put up with him, but in the end you opened your own business to avoid frustrations right?

    Get rid of the frustrations.
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  • Profile picture of the author JacobNeldson
    A few years ago, this sort of thing used to happen to me so many times (call it a lack of experience on my part). Among other things, I do site designs, and I had a client who wanted a suspicious number of samples. The situation escalated quite a bit more than I would've liked.

    Anyways, from then on out, I make sure I have everything in writing. I'm as specific as humanly possible about EXACTLY what the client will be getting and when. Especially when it comes to revisions, as an anal client can keep requesting them in perpetuity. If they badmouth you, just be ready to have all your proof lined up to knock them down.

    Bleh, the client is definitely not always right!
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanstreet
    I've had this issue many times. The solution is really simple. But it is also one of the hardest things you will ever do in this job.

    Tell someone NO.

    They position themselves at a (perceived) vantage point, (they have the money) and some think that will make all disagreements void because they will win. The golden rule, right?

    Wrong.

    You need to make sure they are getting exactly what they asked for.

    In situations where clients are asking for more than you are offering, consider value adding a service.

    "Of course we can do that, it is only a small incremental charge on top of your current price, and like you said, it is a 'must-have'. I will go ahead and add that on your invoice for you."

    When all else fails, just make sure that "NO" is in your vocabulary when needed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dmitryguru
    Your in a tough situation I would ask him to be more vague and tell him strait up if he is being too annoying
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