The Art of Business: Coping with the Client from Hell
There’s no getting around it. At some point in your career you’ll be dragged through an ordeal so tortuous that you’ll question your sanity, career choice, and self worth. It will test the limits of your patience and force you to plumb hitherto unknown depths of frustration. And it’s all because of one difficult person often (charitably) referred to as a high-maintenance client.
You may have dealt with one already, a client who is self-absorbed, paranoid, passive-aggressive, relentless, and cruel. He (or she) has difficulty making up his mind, and when he does, watch out. He’ll change his mind again, making a more disastrous choice, only to blame you or others when things sour. When you save the day through tremendous effort and fast thinking, he steps in to take all the credit.
Spot the Clues
The best way to avoid the client from hell is learning how to spot them to begin with. Here are some common types:
- The Rebounder: You’re not the first to attack this project and the clues are subtle: a bad word about another creative designer, a half-finished project, a set of project guidelines that are scribbled upon beyond belief. Learn as much as you can about the project and client history before you sign on.
- The Do-It-Yourselfer: You know the type: “I could do this myself but I don’t have the time.” If he thinks he can do it himself, he thinks he can do it better than you. Danger ahead.
- The Pay-You-Later: If a client starts talking about deffered payment right from the start, get ready for that long and arduous relationship. You’re in the business of providing services, not assuming project risks. Clients who ask you to defer billing or wait until funding is in place don’t appreciate you and your services, and their attitude will spill over into other aspects of your relationship.
- The Handshaker: If they don’t want it in writing, run like crazy. These guys can and will use a nebulous agreement to their advantage later, either by “assuming” the contract includes extra work, or redefining the project as time passes.
Take a Deep Breath
Even if you’re vigilant, you’ll probably be fooled at some point. So how do you deal with a monstrosity such as this? Here are a few suggestions:
- Live with it: As the saying goes, this too will pass. Soon the client from hell will be somebody else’s client but for now he’s yours, so grit your teeth, deploy all your skills of forbearance, and simply endure until the contract is up. If it helps, circle the last day of the job or use some other such device to signify when the job will be complete, and then mark the days off your calendar until you reach the glorious end. With every abhorrent client there are lessons to be learned about human nature, your intuition, and the “early warning signs.” Use the experience for its lessons, to help you avoid difficult clients in the future.
- Find a quick exit: If you’ve contracted the job in stages, look to the next milestone and pull out then. You may have to renegotiate, but a quick break up, despite the consequences, may be better than a dragged out divorce later. Be polite but firm, making sure not to leave the client in the lurch. Give them plenty of time of help them find an alternative source of talent. You don’t want to give them any more reason to bad-mouth you.
- Say goodbye: It’s your life, your business, your sanity. Walk away if you will, just be prepared to suffer the consequences, including compensation for the time you have already invested in the project. Undoubtedly, your unhappy ex-client will use his exceptional talents to turn your name into mud. If you work in a narrow niche, be ready for a blow or two to your reputation. Hopefully everyone will know who’s who in this battle and you won’t suffer badly. Before you do say goodbye, however, be certain of a few things. Be sure there’s absolutely no way to fix the situation by the methods listed below or other creative ways. Second, take a deep, excruciating look at yourself to see if the problem or prejudice lies within.
- Restructure your contract: If your letter of agreement or contract is well written, you’ve included provisions that allow you to charge extra for extra work. Now’s the time to slip the contract under the client’s nose and let him know that the meter is running for every unnecessary telephone call, request, or other ill use of your time. Money talks, and it may be the best leverage you have. If you have such provisions in your contract, renegotiate on the spot with new terms that protect you. Just be ready to walk if the client refuses to abide by the new terms.
- Encourage better behavior: If you have children, you know it’s best to pick your battles carefully and win them through motivation rather than force. If you narrow it down, even the most egregious client is guilty of just a select number of offenses, be it incessant telephone calling, perpetual meddling, or micromanaging. Find the one behavior that hurts the most and work like the dickens with the client to change it. Does the client call twenty times a day? Tell your contact you’ll have to bill for additional hours or, better yet, wait a day or two before returning calls. Does the client ask for extra work? Decline until the requests become reasonable.
Hooking up with the client from hell is a bad, bad thing, but it’s not the worst. The worst is no clients at all, so even if you have a doozy on your hands, remember that it’s better than repeating “do you want fries with that?” all day. Hey, it’s not much but with a client from hell, every little bit helps.
This article was last modified on December 14, 2022
This article was first published on September 24, 2001
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