The Red Flag Client
Hello All,
Anyone who has been in business for some time likely has clients that fall into one of three categories:
Pleasurable
Neutral
Huge pain in the behind
When you are in the earlier stages of being in business, you tend to be significantly less discerning with who you take on as a client (you have a business to build and you need to pay bills). Also, as an optimistic newbie, you don’t necessarily have the experience to identify clients who are going to be problematic.
Once you have been in business for awhile, you start to develop an intuition about clients that might be problematic. It might be the tone of their email which demands that you get back to them asap or their insistence that their friend told them something that contradicts your advice or the many other Red Flags for Clients that might crop up.
When determining whether to take on a new client or deciding if you want to continue working with one, I tend to evaluate any physical signs of stress (which tends to be a feeling in the pit of my stomach) that might emerge. Of course, this feeling could simply be a reaction to the challenging nature of the work which requires a different course of action. If, however, you are able to identify that the stress response is to a person, it is worthwhile to carefully consider if any action should be taken to mitigate it. Your choice, then, can be to not take on (or fire) the client. Another option, with these types of clients, might be to raise your prices as there is fairly direct relationship between how much you charge someone and how much stress you are willing to endure.
Of course, most of us can’t simply reject a new client every time we feel a little uncertain. It can also be difficult to predict how the relationship will evolve - some people are naturally gruff or blunt in their manner but can actually be great clients. Conversely, you might have great initial chemistry with someone who then turns out to be a bit of a monster. Ultimately, you have to run a business which at its core requires that you bring in revenues. But you must also be alert to your mental wellbeing, which is certainly worth more than the benefits of a bad client.
Blog Post
Qualities to look for in a good client and a good way to determine if a current or potential client isn’t that great:
7 Qualities of Highly Desirable Clients
When you are a business owner/freelancer, there are few things that are better than landing a great client. Ones that ask great questions, respect our work and make us feel happy to have chosen the
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