When to Call it Quits with a Client
Young entrepreneur and freelancers often fall victim to insecure thoughts of "what if no other work comes my way?" As a result, they often try to obtain every client large and small, and do even the most unnecessary things to keep a client happy - even if that client is unreasonable. The sad simple truth is that oftentimes it's clients such as these that can drag a company down. Sometimes you just have to know when to call it quits.
The first rule of service-oriented business is that you don't have to accept a client. The fear is that if you don't, someone else will, and that's money you're giving away to a competitor. The reality is that if a client doesn't fit your criteria right from the beginning, you're only going to be causing yourself longer days and harder hours to live up to expections that aren't your own. You can say no.
There are hints as to whether you're getting a good client or not. Is the client enthusiastic and responsive? Do they take your phone calls or call you back in a reasonable timeframe? Or do they fail to respond to your questions and blow off meetings and conference calls? A big pet peeve of mine is scheduled conference calls. If a client makes an appointment for a conference and then doesn't answer the phone or call back in a timely manner that shows me that they don't really care about our business relationship or the project they want us to do. If they aren't taking the project seriously, how can they expect you to?
A lot of times, it's not the beginning that hurts a service-oriented company. It's the relationship itself. You may end up with clients that are never satisfied, or ones that change their minds two-thirds of the way through the project, and then complain when they get the bill. Often, these clients can be managed by maintaining a conceptual agreement about the goals of the project and providing a good scope to manage cost and resource expectations. These clients aren't all that bad, because they're passionate about their project, and they maintain communication - even if it's not the communication you want. Patience is a virtue here.
No. The real travesty is when young entrepreneur and freelancers fall victim to the non-paying client. If you're doing service-oriented work, ask for a third up front. Don't be afraid that you're going to lose them as a client if you ask them for money. You're doing this for money. If you end up losing them because you asked them for one-third up front, I have news for you: they were never going to pay you anyway. We've had plenty of contracts here at Overmortal that have been priced out, agreed upon and signed, but when it came time for the one-third deposit, we stopped hearing from them. It's disappointing, but not as disappointing as doing a large chunk of work, only to never get paid for it.
Another insecurity trap that entrepreneurs run into is when invoices are overdue. There are a lot of clients out there that have no problem asking and assigning new work, but then become radio silent when you email them about an overdue invoice. You can't be scared to put your foot down and stop work. Again, you are doing this for money. Don't feel bad about asking for money that is rightfully owed to you.
At Overmortal, we have fifteen day terms on invoices for our hourly work clients. The invoice has a five day grace period before we discontinue work on the project. Harsh? Not if you're trying to keep your lights on and food on your own table.
The bottom line is that real clients will be transparent and always work with you. If they're serious about the project, they want to pay you, because they want to get it done and they have faith that you can do it. These are the clients that you want - not the other ones.
As a professional, you should be treated like a professional. It's your right. To build a successful business, you have to manage it successfully, and that includes knowing which clients to take on and which to say 'no' to.
