Spotting and dealing with trouble clients

Just read another post about problem clients from Allison Nazarian. She points out some great warning signs:

• Deadlines that show a lack of understanding of the process.
• Need total attention - confusing an employee with a service company
• Unwillingness to pay equal to the amount of work.

After thinking about how several startups I know hit this same issue, I think it is a matter of training yourself to respond properly.

First off, if someone has a budget there are two equally valid ways to handle this. The person providing the service has to work for less than they want. Secondly, and this is the one to focus on, they can reduce their expectations and do the portion of the project they can afford. Maybe the do the rest over time, kind of like the rest of us on a budget.

Present the second solution to the potential client. If they refuse to see the light, then they have communicated to you what they actually value the work at. If this is less than you value your time then you should not expect this to change in the future.

There is always the promise of future work, however, I don't think their valuation of your time will increase. If anything once someone has results, they tend to devalue the other person's contribution to the results.

The same on the timescale issue. Again it is a valuation of the work. Someone with unrealistic expectation on how long it takes to create your product, won't value the output. Since in their mind it should take little time / effort to produce.

The key is training yourself to recognize the warning signs and respond properly. Kind of like saying, "Hello, this is Will Bunker", when I pick up the phone at work. Make it a habit and you will save yourself a world of pain.