Taylor Gordon â November 4, 2018 â November 4, 2018
Difficult clients can make you want to pull your hair out. Iâve been fortunate for most of my freelance career. Most clients have respected me and my time. But there have been a few that were difficult to work with during a project. They didnât give me much direction. In one instance, the client held a conference call with other people on his team to review my work. Each one of them took turns talking down to me. No matter what I did, they had complaints. If youâre dealing with a difficult client, donât stoop to their level. Instead, follow these tips:
Be direct, but respectful.
The customer isnât always right, especially if theyâre treating you poorly. You have a right to stand up for yourself. Sometimes people step on your toes to see how far they can go without getting push back from you. Set boundaries with the client.
Tell them (respectfully) how they should be communicating with you. If theyâre sending curt emails, hop on the phone. If theyâre sending you work late at night and expecting you to get it all done, explain your office hours. In some instances, people are simply not aware of how their tone is coming across. If the way theyâre doing business is bothering you, speak up. Paying for a service doesnât give anyone the right to be difficult, condescending, or rude.
Talk to the person in charge.
Iâve been in a few difficult situations where the person I worked with on a project wasnât the main client. The client connected me with another person who I needed to work one-on-one with to deliver the assignment. Having multiple people giving directions can be a challenge. If someone who isnât the main client is giving you trouble, speak with the person whoâs in charge. They may be able to mediate the situation or they could come up with a better working arrangement.
Cut your losses.
At the beginning of my career, I took on work from anyone. I didnât have standards for working conditions because increasing income was my only goal. This is great for a while until difficult clients and projects start impacting your work-life balance.
Since taking a stand, Iâve developed a strict âcut my lossesâ policy. No amount of money is worth me being in a situation where I feel uncomfortable. Itâs too damaging to other areas of my business and personal life. Dealing with a difficult client can be terrible for productivity. It can also be terrible for your mindset.
If getting an email or call from the client makes you anxious or fearful, itâs time to rethink the working relationship. There have been cases where Iâve ended a project without charging just to put an end to the situation. I donât always recommend this. If youâve put in hours of work on a project, you probably want to get paid for your time. However, I decided that the small amount of money I was earning from the difficult client wasnât worth the trouble. Pull out your contract and consider your options.
The bottom line is, freelancing is supposed to give us the freedom of choice. Donât stick around and work in a situation thatâs making you miserable. Stand up for yourself, bring up your grievances to the right person, and come up with an amicable way to end the relationship if all else fails.
Losing a client isnât the end of the world either. My belief is that more clients will come my way whenever I need them. Adopting this mindset makes it easier to get rid of deadweight clients.
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