What Hoops Will You Jump Through for Your Clients?
Posted December 2, 2011 in Freelance Stories, Managing Clients
We freelancers go to great lengths to keep our clients happy. After all, we want to be known for providing excellent customer service. So we usually do our best to meet client requests–even that means jumping through some hoops to keep the client satisfied.
However, some customer requests are just plain unreasonable. This post describes some “hoops” that aren’t worth jumping through–even to make a client happy.
Unreasonable Client Demands Before a Project
Often, unreasonable requests from clients begin before the project even starts. Sometimes, they begin before the client even officially hires the freelancer. Here are three examples:
- Asking for free samples–While it’s not unreasonable to want to see an example of a client’s finished work, under most circumstances the freelancer’s portfolio should be sufficient. Unfortunately, a few troublesome clients want more. They’ll ask a freelancer to create a sample without offering to pay for the sample work. In nearly all cases, this winds up being a bad deal for the freelancer. If you think about it, a website owner who asks 100 applicants (not an unreasonable number in today’s economy) to each create a writing “sample article” without pay may receive dozens of articles at no cost.
- Scheduling endless interviews–While requesting one interview, or even two interviews, is a reasonable client request–scheduling four or five interviews in an effort to find the best freelance candidate is not reasonable. For one thing, interviews take a freelancer’s time. And for freelancers, time is money. It’s certainly understandable to want to learn more about potential candidates, especially if the client will be investing a lot of money in a project. However, the client also has the responsibility to filter out as many possible freelancers up front so that the number of interviews needed can be minimized.
- Asking for a low introductory rate–You’ve probably heard this one. I know that I have. A “client” approaches and asks if you’ll take on his or her project at a low rate–with the promise of future work from that same client that pays more. Sadly, this promise of additional work rarely materializes. The freelancer who agrees to this arrangement usually finds themselves working a single project at well below their market rate.
If you’re asked to jump through any of these hoops, your best option is usually to just say “no.” Remember, clients who are unreasonable before you are hired are not likely to suddenly become more reasonable once they’ve selected you.
Unreasonable Client Demands During a Project
Sometimes, unreasonable client demands don’t materialize until after a freelancer signs a contract with a client. Here are some examples of unreasonable demands that occur during a freelancing project:
- Asking for endless revisions–While it’s customary to make minor revisions to keep a customer happy, endless revisions are unreasonable. A client who demands revision after revision–even to the point of changing the scope of the project–is being unfair. Worse yet, multiple demands for a revision can delay billing, which often means that the freelancer doesn’t get paid when they expected to get paid.
- Demanding the freelancer be continuously available–The majority of clients don’t pay enough for a freelancer to dedicate 100% of their time to the client’s project. This means that most freelancers juggle several projects in order to make ends meet. However, some clients act as though their project is the only one the freelancer is working on. They may call multiple times each day for status reports, make sudden rush demands, or become upset if a freelancer doesn’t answer an email instantly.
- Not holding up their part of the bargain–The flip side of the client who wants a continuously available freelancer is the client who is never around themselves. They don’t return drafts on time. They don’t answer questions or provide information as agreed upon. They can’t be reached by phone or email for days at a time.
The best way to avoid some of these unreasonable situations is to make sure that you have a well-written contract with your client before you begin work. The contract should specify how many revisions and meetings you’ll be responsible for as well as list deadlines for both freelancer and client.
Unreasonable Client Demands After a Project
Even after a project ends, some clients are still making unreasonable demands. Here are some examples of that:
- Asking for additional time to pay the freelancer–Let’s face it, freelancers have to eat too. A client who doesn’t pay on time as agreed upon negatively impacts the freelancer’s cash flow. It also takes the freelancer’s time, since they must now make extra efforts to try and collect the money that is due them. From my perspective, a client should not hire a freelancer unless they have the money to pay the freelancer in hand.
- Complaining about work even though it met the requirements–Some people just can’t be pleased–and that goes for some clients too. No matter what you do, they aren’t going to be happy with it. In this situation, minimizing the client’s unhappiness is sometimes the best a freelancer can do.
Your Turn
When you find yourself jumping through hoops for an unreasonable client, remember you can choose not to work with them.
Have I left out any unreasonable client demands? Have you ever dealt with an unreasonable client? Share your answers in the comments. (Please don’t use specific company or individual names–be creative.)
Image by agiamba
Related posts:
- Jump-Starting Freelancing Productivity: 9 Reasons Why and 5 Reasons How Working Smarter Works
- Top 5 Problems Clients Have with Freelancers–Solved!
- Clients Are Not Demons From Hell
- Two Special Words that Will Make Your Clients See You Differently
- What To Say To Your Low-Balling Clients
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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18 Comments
chris
December 2nd, 2011 at 6:18 pmI loved this article…so so true that’s all I can ad.
Just 2 solid facts:Freelancers are not personal designers,web designers and we got to leave too.
People nowadays being so rude&outragesly demanding!they just think once they paid you they own you.
John Soares
December 2nd, 2011 at 8:49 pmLaura, my most common problem with my writing clients is slow communication. It doesn’t happen that often, but sometimes it prevents me from moving forward with a project, which can then lead to me having difficulty meeting the deadline.
Thankfully, I’ve had very little experience with the other hoops you discuss.
incentive plans
December 3rd, 2011 at 3:56 amI totally agree with you Laura,
Those asking for a low introductory rate definitely ask for a returning client’s rebate as well. Sometimes they pretend that it’s because of him the freelancer get to eat, so we should eat less ;)
Mark
December 3rd, 2011 at 4:48 amSo true. Especially the endless revisions issue has bit me many times. Clients will often ask you to ‘change this one little thing’ which in reality usually means they want some major part of the project to be changed.
Lisa
December 3rd, 2011 at 6:51 amI have seen this in many industries with sales. Even if you are shopping at a store you may see this at a cash register. Sometimes the stores can give in and other times not or they would be out of business in no time.
Laura Spencer
December 3rd, 2011 at 10:08 amGreat comments!
Chris–I agree that people are becoming somewhat more demanding and are often less courteous. But, this can go both ways. While clients are becoming less courteous, so are freelancers. One way to stand out is to be polite–but this doesn’t mean you have to give in to unreasonable demands.
John Soares, I’ve seen this happen too. Sometimes the client just gets too busy and doesn’t take the time to respond. In a worst case scenario, a client’s lack of response could indicate that they’ve lost interest in the project.
Mark–I’ve learned that it’s important to discuss the number of revisions up front. The truth is most of my clients don’t ask for even a single round of revisions–but when I’ve gotten a serial “reviser” (which is rare) for a client and I didn’t expect to make five or six rounds of revisions it can really cut into profits.
Lisa, Well, some sales people work on commission and most meet a quota to keep their jobs. They are sometimes willing to cut into their commission to make a sale This is particularly true of big ticket items.
DesignFacet
December 3rd, 2011 at 2:05 pmI am always courteous to my clients and with all of them have a good working relationship. I usually if confronted by a prospect that does not present themselves in a professional manner, I then choose to not work with them.
poch
December 3rd, 2011 at 10:54 pmBingo. The problems that I’m going though right now are mentioned on this useful article. At least I’m assured now that someone like you knows, Laura.
Laura
December 4th, 2011 at 3:13 pmI totally agree with you, I think every freelance can be identify with this article. As a freelance I know unfortunately veeery well every point you’ve described. We must have patience!! :)
Morgan & Me Creative
December 4th, 2011 at 11:26 pmSpot on with the traits of what we like to call…a ‘nightmare’ client. Sometimes its hard to avoid, they only start to show their true colours after agreeing to go ahead with the project. I guess in every basket, there’s always a couple of bad eggs.
Take it with a pinch of salt though, truth of life ;)
colorado springs criminal
December 6th, 2011 at 5:45 amFor me unreasonable clients are criminals. Its just like they are out shopping. They don’t ask big stores for samples and discounts but always haggle for a price reduction at the local fruit stand. Most of them who ask to do specific samples instead of looking at the portfolio are the ones who only require a free sample done, which is criminal.
Dan
December 6th, 2011 at 11:34 amCurrent one i’ve just hit is the design is completely outside spec compared to the brief i estimated for, then when tell the client it going to be more money they become upset.
Martin E
December 6th, 2011 at 2:19 pmHaving a contract is important. I guess it comes down to whether or not I am being fairly compensated for my time!
Gemma
January 27th, 2012 at 10:28 pmI agree these clients can be hard to deal with, but we have the power of choice. We can choose how to respond and deal with these situations. So I think being polite but firm, reasonable and rational is key.
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