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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="9082">How to promote good behavior when you see signs of a bad client</h3>



<p id="80a8">Last week I completed an online course from a friend of a friend. It included a fairly straightforward bicycling metaphor and a familiar refrain about growing your business: draw more good clients. It was a pilot of a course he intends to roll out this summer.</p>



<p id="5bfb">His advice, and I am sure you’ve heard it from other places too, went something like this:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Identify your best clients — that is, the ones with whom you enjoy working</li><li>List WHY you like working for them</li><li>Identify bad experiences with clients — <a href="https://thebestwordsllc.com/2019/09/12/you-can-learn-from-my-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-freelance-editing-project/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">I’ve certainly done this</a>!</li><li>List WHY they were bad experiences</li><li>Combine those “why” lists into the perfect client</li><li>Only work with those clients</li></ol>



<p id="e21c">Of course, there is a big missing piece there. Very few businesses are in position to determine who their clients are. None of us can really afford to simply turn work away at all, even when we see inklings of a potential “bad” client experience on the rise.</p>



<p id="27be">Small businesses don’t become big businesses by turning people way.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-style-default" id="d1dc"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*EiqgVaVpeKqrK7sH" alt=""/><figcaption>Maybe you can&#8217;t tell a bad cookie until you take a bite. But there is not reason to take a second bite.</figcaption></figure>



<p id="6d74">Similar advice came this week through my subscription to a copywriting newsletter. In it, Belinda Weaver — whose advice has helped me tremendously — <a href="https://copywritematters.com/say-no-to-copywriting-clients/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">offers her own take on this suggestion</a>.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow" id="7fd4"><p><em>It’s actually never too late to back out of a copywriting project. Lose money before you lose your mind.</em> </p><cite>Belinda Weaver</cite></blockquote>



<p id="0a09">But here is the deal. In the very few negative experiences I have had, I’ve been able to track at least some of the fault to me.</p>



<p id="9390">Backing out of copywriting projects can be disastrous to the bottom line, and to a reputation.</p>



<p id="2470">So, building on my belief that you can — and must — exert all of your influence to create positive outcomes for you and your client, here is my response.</p>



<p id="7b25">I know bad clients happen, but I want to work to make them better clients. But I also want to be objective about what I am observing, and look for a chance to get out.</p>



<p id="33e6">Here are the signs of a bad client, all exhibited by one particular client of mine. At the end, I offer a series of proactive steps to intervene when the warning signs appear. Hopefully an informed client will stay a good client.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="911c">Meet Bad Client. Sign #1: The ;Dangle</h3>



<p id="11cd">In this case, the client worked with Wall Street companies. His proprietary software helped sort through data to find and leverage specific pieces of information.</p>



<p id="6d7b">It was apparently very useful, and his company had been nominated for an award. Bad Client wanted a press release.</p>



<p id="3621">Bad Client also suggested that he might need an editor for ongoing blog posts over time. He said that the success of the press release would help determine whether he hired me for the blog work.</p>



<p id="7c9c"><strong>This was my first warning sign: the dangle.</strong></p>



<p id="347f">He offered the chance for ongoing work, depending on the success of the first project.</p>



<p id="61bc">Much like an <a href="https://thebestwordsllc.com/advertising-is-not-murder/">anglerfish offers a lure to unsuspecting prey</a>.</p>



<p id="905d">However, this is not a warning sign by itself. Many clients have hopes of expanding their site, and most do bring more work over time. I’ve had clients who planned to do more but were sidelined by events in their own life — including the death of a family member, and the loss of a major investor. Their initial plans to expand were true. And, in both of those cases, they did return to me to finish the work once things had stabilized.</p>



<p id="46fd">In this case, the dangle was used to prompt me to lower my price and to do a little more work for free. And I fell for it.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="13d0">Bad Client Sign #2: The false comparison</h3>



<p id="7113">“In my industry, we do work to get work.”</p>



<p id="f27a">That’s what he told me. And it is true. I am sure that as a data technician he occasionally did stock market mock-ups and preliminary income sketches that took a great deal of time.</p>



<p id="5215">So what he told me is entirely the case — for <em>his</em> industry where there are dynamic changes daily. But in writing, once you have delivered a product, the work is done. It exists forever.</p>



<p id="e1e2">A good piece of writing on a site can generate hundreds or even thousands of hits over a course of weeks. And at a particularly effective sales site, potentially converting 4% of hits to sales, this means writing can generate a great deal of income long after the cost of the writing has been recuperated.</p>



<p id="5c86">This is why copywriters and copywriting companies often charge very little for the copy itself, but enter into contracts to receive a percentage of the lifetime proceeds.</p>



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<p id="1ed9">However, Bad Client does not offer a contract or a piece of the pie. Instead, Bad Client offers hopes and plans for future work.</p>



<p id="63a7"><strong>So this was my second warning sign: the false comparison.</strong></p>



<p id="bb41">The best interpretation of his statement was that he misunderstood the writing and copywriting business. The least generous interpretation was that he intended to try and get work from me for free right from the beginning.</p>



<p id="3d24">He wrongly compared his industry, which he knew very well, to mine, which he did not. It was a false comparison, designed to keep money in his pocket and out of mine.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="e604">Bad Client Sign #3: “Do this one other ;thing”</h3>



<p id="0c37">Bad Client had some writing he had done, long form, and he wanted to break it out into smaller pieces. He was going to use them for a newsletter or a smaller blog to drive traffic to his site.</p>



<p id="49ec">It was a good plan, a common approach in an industry where the ;<a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/long-blog-articles/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">battle between long form and short form content</a> ;rages.</p>



<p id="f310">So he wanted my thoughts on how to break these larger pieces into smaller ones.</p>



<p id="2faa">Just for his consideration.</p>



<p id="4a03">To see if he wanted to hire me.</p>



<p id="e0d5"><strong>And this was my third warning sign: the “one other thing.”</strong></p>



<p id="2d8c">I recognize scope creep when I see it. I’ve had copywriting turn into white papers.</p>



<p id="5462">I once babysat the dog of an acquaintance three days past the day they returned from their trip. A mutual friend let slip that they had neglected to call to let me know they were home.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-style-default" id="9f36"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*2tTZWZTVi2kjAA2Wg1Qeyg.jpeg" alt=""/><figcaption>I am the cow. It matters if they want milk or if they want a coat. Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jeancarloemer?utm_source=unsplash&;utm_medium=referral&;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Jean Carlo Emer</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/cow?utm_source=unsplash&;utm_medium=referral&;utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>



<p id="44d3">But I was chasing the future contract he had promised. Consequently, I started this additional work and gave him some of the milk without getting him to pay for the milk.</p>



<p id="9d30">I should have made him pay the cow.</p>



<p id="33a8">In this metaphor, I am the cow. That’s me in the picture. And it matters whether he wanted milk or if he wanted a coat.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="1969">Taming Bad Client ;behavior</h3>



<p id="bb54">So what should I have done? I was a relatively new freelancer, working on a per-project basis for the first time in my life. It did not occur to me that he might be acting in bad faith.</p>



<p id="e1f9">Below are the steps I could have taken along the way.</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Develop immunity to the dangle.</li></ol>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Demonstrate that you appreciate the chance for future consideration.</li><li>Use phrases such as, “That would be terrific. However, I am focused on making this project excellent right now. I would love to talk about more work at the right time.”</li><li>Suggest a separate thread or time to talk about the other work.</li><li>Propose a timeline for the other work.</li></ul>



<p id="029c">2. Use the false comparison as a teaching opportunity</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Explain how copywriting is different:<ul><li>Copywriters and editors get paid for time.</li><li>Our work is permanent and complete once done — we can’t do a “mock up” of an effective press release or advertising strategy, because that IS the work. (You don&#8217;t do a mock-up of new brakes on a car!)</li><li>Describe how the integrity of editing and writing is based on creating a complete work that holds together well — it is seldom done in chunks or piecemeal.</li></ul></li></ul>



<p id="c6e2">3. Respond to the “one other thing” with a contract</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Include a description of the time and energy involved</li><li>Include stages for what the client requested and the “rest of the work”</li><li>Offer clear reasons why the client can opt out of the additional, ongoing portion</li><li>Require payment for the work requested</li></ul>



<p id="f18b">In an environment where you can’t reasonably simply turn clients away, these simple strategies should help create the boundaries that foster positive client / freelancer relationships.</p>



<p id="c37d">Of course, if these don’t work, you have a legitimately bad client. In that case you can either: raise prices until income covers aggravation, or get out altogether.</p>



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<p id="4c2b"><em>Originally published at ;</em><a href="https://thebestwordsllc.com/2020/04/13/a-cincinnati-writer-explains-the-early-warning-signs-of-a-bad-client-and-offers-suggestions-for-rescuing-the-project-and-relationship/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><em>https://thebestwordsllc.com</em></a><em> ;on April 13, 2020.</em></p>



<p>By ;<a href="https://medium.com/@jackmjose">Jack Jose</a> ;on ;<a href="https://medium.com/p/407b8aab69fa"><time datetime="2020-04-13T17:26:46.000Z">April 13, 2020</time></a>.</p>



<p>This article was also published on Medium page at this <a href="https://medium.com/@jackmjose/simple-steps-to-tame-the-bad-client-the-best-words-407b8aab69fa">Canonical link</a>.</p>



<p>Exported from ;<a href="https://medium.com">Medium</a> ;on March 25, 2021.</p>

Simple Steps to Tame the Bad Client
