Today, there are Clients That are Bad for Your Peace of Mind, and there are thought to be around 300 million yoga practitioners in the world. Why is this important for a business article? Because there are certain kinds of clients from hell are making yoga necessary for small business owners. And while “every customer is a good customer” and “the customer is always right”, there are still some of them who can give you sleepless nights and it’s better to avoid them than to entertain them.
Read on to see how many of these people have you encountered in your business or just to be aware of when to run the other way.
1. The Rusher
“I want an MVP first.”
“It should be aesthetically appealing”.
“It should be absolutely bug-free.”
“It should turn iron into gold.”
“And it will be great if you could arrange for strawberry flavor”
“Oh, and before I forget, I need it in an hour.”
Yeah, you know exactly who we are talking about. This client is perpetually in a hurry and wants the entire service package to be delivered to them in no time. The only silver lining about them can be that sometimes you can negotiate a fair price for their rushed services.
Not letting these clients shadow your mind with stress can be difficult but it is crucial for working and not giving in to a mediocre-quality of work.
2. The Devil’s Messenger
These are the clients that are (hopefully) unknowingly cryptic and unclear in their communications. They will send you emails with incomplete information, take forever to reply to your inquiries and will not answer your questions.
And just as you will be starting to think that maybe the client trusts you and doesn’t really mind what they get, as long as it’s top-quality work, they will prove you wrong.
They will tell you details that they never mentioned and you missed adding in their projects. Worse, they will become a nightmare for word-of-mouth marketing. Especially, if you are a startup, these clients can harm your morale in a severe way. It won’t matter if you have the best CRM for small business, these clients cannot be maintained.
So, unless you are a trained psychic and can read minds, there is no relief from such client but avoiding them.
3. The Know-it-all
This one can also take the form of “the perfectionist” some days but basically, they fit the same profile.
These clients have been in the industry for over 20 years, their entire family is in the industry, and if needed, they can single-handedly take over the industry. No matter which industry it is, they always know more than you do.
There are two conclusions possible with such clients:
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- They will question and argue about every solution you adopt, advice you constantly and ignore your suggestions. And there it is highly likely that no matter what you do, they will not be happy with the finished product.
- Diplomacy can work with such clients but only till the extent that their expectations remain realistic.
- If they happen to be the perfectionists, They might have unrealistic expectations, to begin with, and there is nothing much you can do about it.
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4. The Milkers
Just as their name suggests, their only intention is to milk you till the last drop. They expect the best quality of all the services that you offer for pennies.
You can recognize them at the beginning of your interaction with them if they
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- Act stingy every time you mention anything financial or even your fee.
- Negotiate heavily
- They are very excited to avail your services but keep pointing out reasons for why it should not cost much
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5. The Rude
Do they even need an introduction? These are the people who will invariably be “rude to the waiter”. They might even start out at your “buddy” but eventually, you will notice every time they will start losing their patience and become rude to your team.
These kind of clients are nothing but bad news and will unfailingly kill the morale of your team. So it is best to simply avoid doing business with them. If you are not sure whether a client will turn out to be rude during the project, scan through their social media channels. Generally, you will find enough evidence to know how a person is for working together.
Lastly, maybe not always you will be able to duck down from getting hit by a bad client. The only thing to remember is that whenever you do, keep encouraging your team. And if you have had this client for a long time, then you probably know your way around by now.
All we can say is, all the best.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
