If Clients Came With Warning Signs
Oh, what a wonderful world it would be if clients came with warning signs.
Every relationship is a give and take. Knowing your deal breakers is just as crucial in professional relationships as personal.
Micromanager
Please don’t feed-back the professionals.
The client, who doesn’t know how to do what they hired you to do, constantly questions and gives guidance on how to do your job.
It’s a partnership, not a manage-ship.
Information Hoarder
Control Freak
The client who tries to ensure they remain in control by holding on to specific details and critical information. By keeping others in the dark they believe they have the advantage and all the answers.
Request for Proposal (Free)
Do Not Respond.
This request is disguised as a way to get free information. RFPs are often shopped around for the lowest bidder to implement. Once, one was blatantly plagiarized by a board member’s prized candidate, who they hired!
A blueprint without the knowledge to execute is like a recipe with missing ingredients.
Puppeteer
Strings Attached.
Manipulative clients give multiple people one tiny piece of a project. Instead of allowing collaboration, they pull all the strings, leaving everyone’s hands tied.
Oh, what a web of mistrust, confusion and chaos they weave.
Listens to Respond
HDD - Hearing Deficit Disorder
You know the type, they listen to your response only to reply with exactly how they want you to do the work, ignoring your expertise.
Know-It-All
No clue.
While clients know their company and industry, they don’t know everything about running a business. For this reason, they hire CPAs, Lawyers, HR, Sales and PR professionals to help fill the knowledge gaps.
Interrogators
Questionable motives.
Colleagues aren’t competition. Discussions and healthy debate are constructive while constant pushback and questioning deflates innovation, trust and productivity. One company ALWAYS sent the first submission back. Note: the first submission was not the first draft.
Bargain Hunters
Discount Divers
What does the cheapest solution cost in the long run? Quality comes at a price, not necessarily the most expensive, but definitely not the cheapest. If you don’t want a discounted effort, don’t ask for a discounted price