When to Fire Your Client?

Kioken Fires Sony…

I remember back in the day when Kioken was one of the hottest web design shops around. (For a little background on Kioken read this blog thread on what happened to the gang over there after the Dotbomb) Kioken was the stuff of legends and myths online. One of the things that made Kioken so red hot on the design scene (besides their killer clients such as JLo) was the fact they fired a large client, Sony. It was rumored that Sony was fired because they where messing up the designs Kioken was producing for them.

Most small interactive shops would never consider firing a client such as Sony. Most of us would suck it up and jump as high as the client wanted us. It wouldn't matter if they wanted us to make their web page green, purple and brown... we would produce it with a smile. As freelancers and small web design shops we can’t afford to loose clients. The business climate is still weak so it is even more important to hang onto business.

Rules clients must follow

Should we produce work for our clients that we know is terrible just because they are paying? Should we endure suedo-creative clients who micro-mange design until it looks like something your cousin produced using Front Page and clip art? The short answer is to these question is “yes”, but you need to set some strict criteria for the clients that you are willing to put up with this type of behavior for. I have established some informal rules that I use to determine if a client needs to be “fired”. Sometimes these rules don’t apply to each and every situation, but they are a good benchmark for discovering if your client is a time waster.

1. Create a written estimate, and a contract.

Have the client sign the contract and the estimate, and have this returned to you no later than the first week you begin the project. I have found that clients that do not return the contract in a timely manner are often the same clients who do not pay. Also clients who are scared to sign a contract might have other issues. Paranoid clients always make me nervous… all to often if they are paranoid about people double crossing them, it means they have these thoughts them selves.

2. Get at least 30% up front.

For all my new clients I require 30% of the project up front on the first project. After they have paid the first project, I normally don’t require this on subsequent projects. But having the client pay money up front tests several things. First it ensures they are serious about the project. There is nothing worse than someone who is “trying you on” to see if you are a fit. You don’t want to spend hours designing something to find this out. (Read below on how I didn’t follow my own rules and got soaked) Second having them pay also ensures they actually have money. It’s amazing how many people will try to get interactive work done on credit. I’ve meet clients who try to get huge projects done hoping they will have the money at the end to pay.

3. Use your Jedi powers

I know this sounds like mystic mumbo-jumbo but in the 9+ years I have been doing freelance web design I have always know right from the first meeting that client was going to be either difficult (or not). Don’t ignore your gut feelings about clients. But this is not to say that you need pitch your client because they are acting a little strange. Spend a little time to get to know your client, maybe have another face to face meeting if possible to understand their personality.

The Client I fired.

I would never think that I would ever fire a client, after all I am a one-man-show freelancer and every project counts to helping keep the mortgage paid. But with many years of freelance and business experience under my belt I have learned when to cut my loses and run.

(The names and other information have been changed in this story to protect the innocent or rather the guilty as it is in the case of my past client.)

The project started when the client saw my web site (www.airgid.com) and liked the Flash work I produced. He sent me a very positive email asking me for an estimate for his construction billing Software Company. I called him on the phone and we talked at length about the types of websites he liked and what the vision was for his project. Overall the phone conversation was very upbeat and the client seemed very positive. The project was basically brochure-ware but the client told me he had other websites that needed to be built and he was looking for a freelancer for the long term. This is always exciting to here when you are self employed. I was so thrilled about future work I didn’t keep an eye on the ball in front of me.

The project proceed, I sent the client a contract and a request for 30% of the project upfront. The client (we will call him Jim for this article) told me his accountant would be in next week and he would have the check cut then. Because of all the positive energy in the air, and the continual flattering from Jim about how much he liked my portfolio I proceed with the project without a contract or the 30% payment, thinking it would go great.

I proceed to produce 3 interface designs for Jim and I also produced several logo design studies for his software. Two weeks have now passed; I call Jim up and ask him: “Did you get a chance to sign the contact and have a check printed?” Jim explained: “My accountant is off sick and he only works Fridays. I will get it to you next Friday I promise”.

This same week I presented Jim with the 3 design studies, and over 15 logos studies. Jim’s reaction was lukewarm to designs 1 and 2 but he thought design 3 with some modifications could be used. We discussed the modifications and I went back and retooled the design based on his feedback. I presented the design to him the next day via email. He responded to me that he felt that design #3 even with its modifications wasn’t “jazzy” enough for him. I emailed him back to setup another conference call to discuss the design with more detail so we could arrive at a better product for him.

The next day we had a conference call. Jim explained to me that he felt that I couldn’t produce the design he was looking for. He also commented that he didn’t like the logos I created either. (Also note I told him in the begging of the project I wasn’t going to charge him for the logos, as we where going to do more work together down the line, BIG MISTAKE) All during this period the client was calling me at all hours. 9pm, 10pm and even 11pm at night. Normally I don’t mind this for rush projects, or even for clients who are in different time zones. I am flexible as a freelancer, but he was in the same time zone and there was no urgency to this project. He was all over the place, and it showed in his behavior towards the project and the design.

Jim decided that even though I didn’t produce a stitch of design up to till now that he liked that we should continue our relationship. Jim said to me: “Kevin I really like your work, and I think you are a great Flash designer. But your interface designs are not what I want and the logos are really not what I am after either. I want to hire your to build just the Flash parts of my website.” At this point I was three weeks into the project and Jim had become the client from Hell. He hadn’t paid me a penny, he called me at all hours and didn’t like any of the design I had produced in the 3 weeks we where working together. At this point I didn’t know how I could produce motion graphics in Flash for him that he would be happy with.

For the first time in 9 years of doing freelance I came to a cross roads. I knew that I could probably proceed and get paid something for my troubles. But I also knew that this client would consume more and more of my time and I may never get paid. I told Jim that I felt we were not a good fit. I was honest and explained that it was better we ended our relationship now before he become frustrated with what I was producing for him. At this point most other small interactive companies I have worked for would have turned him over to a collection agency or gone to small claims court to get back the money Jim owed. I decided not to go this route for several reasons.

Being a freelancer I don’t have time to go through a collection agency or go to court. It takes away from the time I can spend perusing bigger and better clients.
The internet is a small place (even though the world is big) eventually if you send a client like this to a collection agency or to small claims court it will come back to bite you. This client was local to me, so I didn’t want the relationship to end badly, so I excited in polite manner.

Final Word

I have found as I have expanded my freelance business that small clients can be an excellent source of consistent revenue. But I am very careful about who I take on now. Clients need to pay up front, and sign a contract, if they don’t do these things the project doesn’t move forward. Stopping the business relationship was a good idea for both the client and my self. It served both of our interests for the project to be cancelled. Although the project ended poorly the client didn’t have any ill feelings towards me because I handled it in a professional manner. At the end of the day, it’s the customer service that will bring your clients back to you. It’s an honest and polite good bye.

Written by Kevin Airgid
Article from Creative Behavior