February 16, 2010Is Your Client Costing You Money?
Posted by Marla Tabaka at 4:00 PMWe've all done it...hung on to the client who makes unreasonable demands on our time and resources. We may hang on out of the fear of letting go of the revenue, or we may believe that the impossible client is going to change, so why not wait it out?
This is the client who often pays late or argues about the amount of the invoice. This client calls or emails more frequently than the rest and demands that you have an answer for him on the spot. She expects last minute changes and somehow has a direct line of communication to your stomach because it%u2019s always tied in knots when her number shows up on caller ID. This is the client who pays the least but expects as much, or more, than your top-paying clients. And just when you think you%u2019ve had enough and it%u2019s time to do something about it, this client%u2019s radar goes off and he says something really nice and tells you how much he appreciates you!
Listen up freelancers and startup entrepreneurs. All clients are not the same. Yes, I've said it. Having a bad client in the bunch is actually unfair to the rest of your well deserving clients, and knowing how to address problem clients is critical to your success.
Maria Tabaka covers how to go about diplomatically setting the rules so you can do you best work. And it's definitely a skill you have to learn to apply judiciously, if you want to do good business here in Washington DC.
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