Difficult Clients & Managing Their Expectations

It was summer 2008, just about the time when Barack Obama had finally dispatched Hillary Clinton in his bid for the Democratic nomination. John McCain was running away with the Republication nomination with no one, perhaps even himself, expecting him to name Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

My eyes were scanning the political scene, trying to come to grips with all the changes coming to Washington. No matter who won that November, I knew America was about to embark on historic change by either electing the first president of African descent or the first septuagenarian since Ronald Reagan.

New Gig

I had just been contacted by someone who wanted me to write three articles each week for the next two months covering premium European automobiles. That’s right up my alley, because at least half of what I write is cars-related.

We discussed the parameters of the gig, negotiated a price, drafted a contract, signed it and got started on the work. Immediately, I began to feel the first wave of resistance.

Changed Plans

Case in point: customer initially requests the premium Volkswagen Phaeton sedan be included with my write-ups of the three German brands–BMW, Mercedes and Audi– recognizing that this car competes well with its upscale German rivals. Yes, Audi is a division of the Volkswagen Group, but the Phaeton does (or did) poach sales from that brand.

No sooner had I submitted the Phaeton article when I received an email saying she couldn’t use it, noting that Volkswagen isn’t a luxury brand. Well, no kidding.

Try Again

Undeterred, I submitted the next article I was working on–covering the Audi A8–and it was immediately accepted as was my third article written on the Volvo S80. I then moved down my list to the Saab 9-7x and was about to complete that article when I received a panicked call from my client saying she needed the replacement for the first article right away.

Turns out her “loose” deadline with me was a hard deadline with her boss and I had just two hours to get the article to her. No problem (at least this time), as I had written about this same Saab model for another client the previous month. I promised she would get what she needed within 90 minutes, just enough time to do quick edits and submit it to her boss.

I should have seen what was coming next, but I was truly blindslided by what took place.

Wrong Article

Upon submitting the follow-up article, client calls me back and tearfully says that it was the wrong article. Her boss wanted the article to be about the 9-5 sedan, not the 9-7x SUV. Oh, joy, I thought: this project is really going to be more of a hassle than what it is worth. My notes indicated the next write up was to be about the 9-7x, but I soon realized that she hadn’t cleared those titles with her boss.

Her boss was upset with her which meant she wasn’t too happy with me. When I explained that I was working with the agreed upon titles, she half-apologized and changed the subject.

Managing Expectations

That first batch of articles had me writing five titles and getting paid only for three. I knew if I didn’t draw the line soon, I’d have seven more weeks of battling through my work. Instead of shopping the two unused articles, I decided to place them on my blog. I then set out to clarify my position to keep this difficult client under control.

Yes, I began to manage her expectations by doing the following:

Stopping my work. I told the client that I would not write another article until she cleared those titles with her boss. There was no way I would continue to allow her problems to become mine.

Establishing kill fees. Though not part of the original contract, I told my client that if a previously agreed up title was changed after I had written it, then I expected to be paid for the title whether she used it or not. No pay, then no work.

Clear changes first. I also insisted that any other changes in our agreement, including the delivery of the articles, had to be cleared by me first. That “loose” deadline was firmed up; I began to get my completed work to her at least one full day before she needed them.

Moving On

The changes worked or at least they brought some sanity back into what was an obviously stressful relationship.  When I completed the gig, I was ready to move on.

Oddly, the client thought that the gig was open-ended despite what was spelled out in the contract, meaning that she could extend it at-will. I put an end to that thinking by rightly stating our original agreement had finished and that I was moving on to a new gig immediately.

Even without a new job lined up, I knew that moving on was the best thing for me. Sometimes the expectations of difficult clients can be too much to manage!

See Also — Planning to Collaborate? Think This One Through!

The 5 Steps Guide For New Bloggers

By Lior Levin

It certainly doesn’t take long before something hot on the Internet spreads like wildfire then the newbies joining the web only get to see the smoke. Take blogging for example, it has become so sophisticated that a newcomer interested in blogging is almost overwhelmed with all the information and where to start.

It is true that one can find anything on the Internet, and how to start blogging advice is no different. Another problem that arises though is that the interested party is often so enthusiastic about all there is to learn, that many times they are reading advice and information that dates back several years and they don’t even realize it.

Then when they go to apply what they have learned, it makes no sense and doesn’t work. This creates the makings for a real dilemma. What ends up happening is the would be blogger gives up and looks for something else to become confused about.

So what is the moral of the story here? Start at the beginning and say hello to blogging. Here are just a few basics to get the ball rolling. Once a newbie gets past this stage then they can consider themselves a blogger and leave some smoke behind for the next novice that comes along.

Step One:
Read some current articles and information that has a date on it about what blogging is about in general. Get a feel for it, then you will immediately start to generate your own blogging ideas about what you want to blog about.

Step Two:
Now you need to find some place to put your blog, so you need a blogging provider. Again do your homework. There are lots of them around and some are easier than others to use. Once thing you want is ease of use. This means they will have templates that you can use which is basically just filling in the blanks. Once you become a pro at blogging then you can progress onto the more elaborate concepts.

Step Three:
The easiest way to learn about blogging is from the pros. Once you have determined what it is you want to blog about then visit blogging sites that are in this niche. See how these established sites do it. If you have never posted to a blog before then now is the time to get your feet wet. You have a virtual voice so use it.

Step Four:
Once you get your blogging site set up then go back and visit the ones you were at in the above step and invite them to visit your blog, provided it is not a private blog site. Do it via comments, contact forms or messaging through twitter or facebook.

Step Five:
Research all the innovative ways to get your blog known. After all, blogging is not much fun if you are only blogging to yourself, its like a one way conversation.

When you look at it this way, blogging is not quite so overwhelming. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear about what you have to say, about anything you want to blog about, so go for it, here is your chance. Welcome to the world of blogging!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO company working with a nursing wear brand called Milk Nursingwear and also working with a task management start-up.