Is it worth it, Lou?

It is sometimes necessary in business to make the decision to drop a frustrating client. Even in this critical economy, one of the most refreshing things a consultant can do is tell a client it is no longer possible to work with them - or make it impossible for them to continue with you. It could be for any number of reasons that you have to do this, but no money in the world is worth dealing with a client who does not appreciate you, is overly demanding, causes stress or - worst of all - does not pay what he or she owes you. So how do we know when it’s really time to set that client loose?
Retaining clients who are a drain and have a negative impact on your work will always make you less productive and less profitable. The biggest enemy of sustained growth and success is the belief that “I can’t afford to lose this client”. In truth, what you need to say to yourself is that there is no way you CAN afford to keep problematic clients. They create more work, more stress and cause you to burn out much quicker. In the long run, they will do very little to improve your career or lead to referrals. Our problem, however, is that we tend to stick with a client if we’ve been working with them for a while, simply because it’s safer, and it’s more difficult (not to mention a little scary) to find new clients. So we stay with bad clients for longer than we should.






The examples below should be a strong indicator that it’s time to let that difficult client GO.



Overly critical of your work: While there is no need to have thin skin and good honest constructive criticism is always helpful and educational, there are those clients who take it a step too far and complain about everything and anything. The client who is never happy and makes you doubt your skills with everything you do is the client you want to get rid of. If you can’t ever please them, why bother? You will produce better quality work and have a much more pleasant experience when you work with a client who sees value in what you do. More often than not they overly criticize in order to avoid making full payment of the services you have provided!



Emotionally unbalanced: While no one will doubt that we are all human (sometimes you have to wonder, though…) and people get emotional, angry and upset from time to time, there is a limit, a fine line when erratic behaviour gets in the way of a professional relationship. We have all had that one client, and I have had many, that you are not sure why they are not taking medication because they are all over the place, making it impossible to get straight answers and constructive feedback on your work. This interferes with your work and is a recipe for disaster.





Asking you to always go beyond the scope of work agreed: On occasion you may be asked for something extra that is fine and part of the consultant-client relationship. But if a client is always asking for you to do extra work and is never willing to pay you for your time and effort above and beyond the original scope of the project, then you should consider ceasing your work arrangement with them. It either means he is trying to cheat you or does not know how to budget and scope out projects. Obviously, neither is a good thing.

Asking for speculative work before they actually hire you: Clients will sometimes ask to “see what you can do”, in order to, as they say “to find out if you’re a good fit”. This is a huge warning sign. Make it your rule that you do not do free work for someone who is considering hiring you for a project. What you need to do is hold your cards close to you and say “You can see many examples of this in my portfolio”.

Clients who are just cheapskates: It is generally understood that the cheapest clients who do not want to pay for your time and are always looking for a bargain will expect the quickest turn around and the most amount of work. If your client does not feel that your work is of value and that your time is worth something, equivalent to theirs, then you are not in the right place.

Exit with Grace…
• Always tell them of your intentions in writing. You have a captive audience. No one can cut you off.
• Let them know that as a professional you fully intend to complete all of the work you agreed on.
• Perhaps offer a referral to someone who may be better suited to work with this client in order to complete the project… (Poor bastard!)
• Don’t lie to them about the reason you are doing this. If it comes up, which you can be sure it will, find the most graceful way of telling them what caused this to happen.